Digital Marketing Transformation of China’s SMEs in the Post-epidemic Era: Crisis, Trends and Strategies

Research Article
Open access

Digital Marketing Transformation of China’s SMEs in the Post-epidemic Era: Crisis, Trends and Strategies

Xijin Xu 1*
  • 1 The University of British Columbia    
  • *corresponding author eelina@student.ubc.ca
Published on 13 September 2023 | https://doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/12/20230610
AEMPS Vol.12
ISSN (Print): 2754-1177
ISSN (Online): 2754-1169
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-67-6
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-68-3

Abstract

The influence of the coronavirus pandemic on China is complicated. A great deal of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling economically. As a substantial amount of customer demand transfers online, people are beginning to see the hidden economic opportunities brought by the epidemic. In the post-epidemic period, digital initiatives have helped small and medium-sized enterprises adapt to the shifting market conditions, recover, and succeed. The use of digital technology has emerged as an essential component of SME growth strategies, and the deployment of digital marketing represents the initial step in their digital transformation process. SMEs contribute significantly to the growth of the national economy, the alleviation of employment-related stress, and the promotion of social stability. Based on the existing research, this study will focus on the impact of the epidemic on the operation of China’s SMEs and the difficulties and demands faced by them. This paper will investigate the new potential for China’s SMEs to contribute to the growth of the digital economy using digital marketing as an entrance point. This study aims to help SMEs discover potential opportunities in the complex environment; nonetheless, they should still adopt the most appropriate strategies for their particular circumstances.

Keywords:

SME, digital marketing, digital transformation, pandemic, Internet

Xu,X. (2023). Digital Marketing Transformation of China’s SMEs in the Post-epidemic Era: Crisis, Trends and Strategies. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,12,126-133.
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References

[1]. Holzmann, A., & Kärnfelt, M. (2020). Supporting China’s SMEs affected by covid-19 is crucial to avoid a socioeconomic disaster. https://merics.org/en/analysis/supporting-chinas-smes-affected-covid-19-crucial-avoid-socioeconomic-disaster [2022-9-17]

[2]. Ma, J. (2021). Explainer | China’s SMEs: How important are small firms to the economy, and what challenges are they facing? https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3155660/chinas-smes-how-important-are-small-firms-economy-and-what [2022-9-17]

[3]. Ma, Y. (2021). China: Likelihood to go offline shopping as often post covid-19 restrictions 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1272100/china-likelihood-to-go-offline-shopping-as-often-post-covid-19-restrictions/ [2022-9-17]

[4]. Ma, Z., Liu, Y., & Gao, Y. (2021). Research on the impact of covid-19 on Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises: Evidence from Beijing. Plos one, 16(12), e0257036.

[5]. Kannan, P. K. (2017). Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda. International journal of research in marketing, 34(1), 22-45.

[6]. Veleva, S. S., & Tsvetanova, A. I. (2020). Characteristics of the digital marketing advantages and disadvantages. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 940, No. 1, p. 012065). IOP Publishing.

[7]. Shankar, V., Grewal, D., Sunder, S., Fossen, B., Peters, K., & Agarwal, A. (2021). Digital marketing communication in global marketplaces: A review of extant research, future directions, and potential approaches. International Journal of research in Marketing.

[8]. Minculete, G., & Olar, P. (2018). Approaches to the modern concept of digital marketing. In International conference Knowledge-based organization (Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 63-69).

[9]. Dwivedi, Y. K., Ismagilova, E., Hughes, D. L., Carlson, J., Filieri, R., Jacobson, J., ... & Wang, Y. (2021). Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions. International Journal of Information Management, 59, 102168.

[10]. Khan, S. A. R., Umar, M., Tanveer, M., Yu, Z., & Janjua, L. R. (2022). Business data analytic and digital marketing: Business strategies in the era of covid-19. In 2022 7th International Conference on Data Science and Machine Learning Applications (CDMA) (pp. 13-18). IEEE.

[11]. Tan, Y., She, X., Zhou, C., & Wang, F. (2022). The motivation of media users and China’s national media digitization construction in the post-covid-19 era. Frontiers in Psychology, 13.

[12]. Guo, H., Yang, Z., Huang, R., & Guo, A. (2020). The digitalization and public crisis responses of small and medium enterprises: Implications from a covid-19 survey. Frontiers of Business Research in China, 14(1), 1-25.

[13]. Jin, Y. (2018). Study on Marketing Strategy System of SMEs under Internet Background. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 8(3), 638-644.

Cite this article

Xu,X. (2023). Digital Marketing Transformation of China’s SMEs in the Post-epidemic Era: Crisis, Trends and Strategies. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,12,126-133.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Business and Policy Studies

ISBN：978-1-915371-67-6(Print) / 978-1-915371-68-3(Online)
Editor：Javier Cifuentes-Faura, Canh Thien Dang
Conference website: https://2023.confbps.org/
Conference date: 26 February 2023
Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences
Volume number: Vol.12
ISSN：2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

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References

[1]. Holzmann, A., & Kärnfelt, M. (2020). Supporting China’s SMEs affected by covid-19 is crucial to avoid a socioeconomic disaster. https://merics.org/en/analysis/supporting-chinas-smes-affected-covid-19-crucial-avoid-socioeconomic-disaster [2022-9-17]

[2]. Ma, J. (2021). Explainer | China’s SMEs: How important are small firms to the economy, and what challenges are they facing? https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3155660/chinas-smes-how-important-are-small-firms-economy-and-what [2022-9-17]

[3]. Ma, Y. (2021). China: Likelihood to go offline shopping as often post covid-19 restrictions 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1272100/china-likelihood-to-go-offline-shopping-as-often-post-covid-19-restrictions/ [2022-9-17]

[4]. Ma, Z., Liu, Y., & Gao, Y. (2021). Research on the impact of covid-19 on Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises: Evidence from Beijing. Plos one, 16(12), e0257036.

[5]. Kannan, P. K. (2017). Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda. International journal of research in marketing, 34(1), 22-45.

[6]. Veleva, S. S., & Tsvetanova, A. I. (2020). Characteristics of the digital marketing advantages and disadvantages. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 940, No. 1, p. 012065). IOP Publishing.

[7]. Shankar, V., Grewal, D., Sunder, S., Fossen, B., Peters, K., & Agarwal, A. (2021). Digital marketing communication in global marketplaces: A review of extant research, future directions, and potential approaches. International Journal of research in Marketing.

[8]. Minculete, G., & Olar, P. (2018). Approaches to the modern concept of digital marketing. In International conference Knowledge-based organization (Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 63-69).

[9]. Dwivedi, Y. K., Ismagilova, E., Hughes, D. L., Carlson, J., Filieri, R., Jacobson, J., ... & Wang, Y. (2021). Setting the future of digital and social media marketing research: Perspectives and research propositions. International Journal of Information Management, 59, 102168.

[10]. Khan, S. A. R., Umar, M., Tanveer, M., Yu, Z., & Janjua, L. R. (2022). Business data analytic and digital marketing: Business strategies in the era of covid-19. In 2022 7th International Conference on Data Science and Machine Learning Applications (CDMA) (pp. 13-18). IEEE.

[11]. Tan, Y., She, X., Zhou, C., & Wang, F. (2022). The motivation of media users and China’s national media digitization construction in the post-covid-19 era. Frontiers in Psychology, 13.

[12]. Guo, H., Yang, Z., Huang, R., & Guo, A. (2020). The digitalization and public crisis responses of small and medium enterprises: Implications from a covid-19 survey. Frontiers of Business Research in China, 14(1), 1-25.

[13]. Jin, Y. (2018). Study on Marketing Strategy System of SMEs under Internet Background. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 8(3), 638-644.

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