Measuring the Influence of Interest on Digital Marketing Performance among SMEs in Sarawak with Data Management Capabilities as the Mediator

Abstract

Digital Marketing has gained spectacular popularity amongst the Small and Middle Enterprises (SMEs) in Sarawak. This phenomenon was triggered due to how much they struggled to survive during the recent impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, not many among those digital players realize that the abilities in data management are the key to the success of any digital marketing activities. Using “Interest” as the influencing factor, this research would like to measure the performance of Sarawak’s SME digital marketing players through actions that would trigger consumer interest in products or services. Activities such as retargeting, duration, number of visits, up-to-date information, gathering information, and page seen have been proved as activities to be performed on digital marketing platforms to attract viewers’ interest. Using data management capabilities as the mediator, the research concludes that none of the mentioned activities that caused interest related to digital marketing performance. However, data management capabilities are found to mediate the relationship between interest and digital marketing performance.