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How to Leverage Digital Marketing in B2B: A Study on Italian SMEs During the Covid-19 Outbreak

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Advances in Digital Marketing and eCommerce (DMEC 2021)

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Abstract

In this study, we analyze the digital marketing tools activated by SMEs operating in B2B during the Covid-19 outbreak in the first half of 2020. Before the health emergency, SMEs used social and digital media in a limited way as compared to traditional tools, such as printed material and client visits. In order to understand how the pandemic changed the digital marketing strategies adopted in B2B, we conducted a study on nine Italian SMEs. We collected semi-structured interviews with key informants belonging to companies operating in different sectors. Findings suggest new relational approaches and opportunities based on digital marketing and they discuss the main objectives of the main digital tools adopted during the initial phase of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

    Lala Hu

  2. IULM University, Milan, Italy

    Mirko Olivieri

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  1. Lala Hu
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  2. Mirko Olivieri
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Correspondence to Lala Hu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration 1, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Francisco J. Martínez-López

  2. ESADE Business & Law School, Barcelona, Spain

    David López López

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Hu, L., Olivieri, M. (2021). How to Leverage Digital Marketing in B2B: A Study on Italian SMEs During the Covid-19 Outbreak. In: Martínez-López, F.J., López López, D. (eds) Advances in Digital Marketing and eCommerce. DMEC 2021. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76520-0_12

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