Purpose This paper aims to investigate small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) adoption of social media platforms and how they integrated them within their marketing strategies during the COVID-19 outbreaks. Dynamic capabilities – observed as the interplay between sensing, seizing and reconfiguration capabilities – represent the principal theoretical framework used in this research to explain challenges in social media adoption and their effects on these businesses. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the grounded theory approach to analyze semistructured interviews with 19 key informants from Italian SMEs belonging to diversified industries. Findings The findings of this research are summarized in a holistic framework that explores three types of capabilities (i.e. sensing, seizing and reconfiguration capabilities) and the marketing outcomes of social media adoption among SMEs. Originality/value This study attempts to unpack the specific dynamic capabilities that allowed SMEs to be successful in social media adoption during COVID-19 outbreaks.

The rapid diffusion of the Covid-19 worldwide has accelerated the need for companies to address the sustainability issue at different levels, as nowadays the attention of stakeholders with respect to this theme has grown considerably. As a result, companies had to set up CSR communication strategies to build and strengthen their legitimacy and reputation. Among the communication channels to convey messages of firms’ CSR initiatives, social media are becoming increasingly important and, particularly, Twitter is the social media platform where more CSR-related content is generated. By adopting the theoretical lens of constitutive communication of organization, the aim of this paper is to investigate with a textual approach how the CSR communication in the energy sector has evolved in the post Covid-19 scenario. Specifically, our attention will be focus on: (1) the exploratory analysis based on the hashtags; (2) the identification of CSR communication topics and (3) the proposal of topics network in order to discover subgroups of topics. Findings of this research show that the CSR communication on Twitter has undergone changes compared to the pre Covid-19 era. Particularly, we identified 11 CSR related-topics which, as the proposed topic network demonstrates, are interconnected. On the one hand, our results corroborate previous research regarding some CSR-related issues; on the other hand, we identified some topics such as safety, people and work which have exploded in Twitter conversations in the post Covid-19 scenario. Finally, this study provides managerial implications for professionals dealing with CSR communication, digital communication and social media marketing activities.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how business-to-business (B2B) companies operating in durable goods use digital communications after the COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, this paper focuses on the objectives of these digital communication tools for the marketing strategies of B2B white goods firms. Design/methodology/approach As the research objective is explorative, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis by collecting 13 semi-structured interviews with B2B marketing professionals working for white goods firms in Italy. Primary data was triangulated with secondary data about the white goods industry, such as sector reports. Findings The findings of this paper show an acceleration in the adoption of digital communication tools among B2B firms after COVID-19. The authors also discuss the effects in the use of such tools both in the short and long term. Originality/value This paper attempts to contribute to the B2B marketing literature by providing an original analysis of the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak focusing on the use of digital communication tools among white goods firms. It also provides managerial implications for firms operating in B2B.

Digital technologies automating marketing and sales activities are rapidly spreading. The adoption of Sales & Marketing Automation (S&MA) systems allows companies to improve their marketing campaigns, track their customers' journey and generate real-time insights to respond to customers more efficiently and effectively. The Covid-19 pandemic has further increased the importance of S&MA as customers have massively shifted towards digital channels to interact with businesses and purchase products and services. In this paper, we investigate how S&MA generates value for companies in the post-Covid-19 scenario, adopting the perspective of the buyer organization. Based on insights generated through a qualitative and quantitative research, we propose a conceptual model explaining the value drivers of S&MA in terms of benefits and sacrifices. Our research highlights that a mere focus on the technological side of these platforms limits the assessment of value generation as it is crucial to also consider customer-centric, operational and integration-based value drivers. By segmenting the S&MA value perceptions of different companies, this research also provides guidelines to develop, promote and implement S&MA solutions for buyers and vendors operating in B2B.