How Digital Marketing Capabilities Drive Performance of SME Sector in Northern Province: Mediation by E-Marketing Orientation and Strategic Agility

The research aims to investigate the nexus between Digital Marketing Capability, Electronic Marketing Orientation, Strategic Agility and the Performance of SMEs. The researcher employed a quantitative research methodology to achieve the study's objective. The population of the study is the SMEs in the Northern Province. The sample unit is the owner or manager of SMEs. A convenient sampling technique was applied to select the study samples. The researcher planned to collect data from a sample of 400 SMEs from the food-based, carpentry, cloth, palmyrah-based, leather-based, coconut-based, printing, education, and hotel industries. The researcher collected data from 264 SMEs. The researcher used the questionnaire to collect data. The data analysis was performed using AMOS 24. The findings revealed that digital marketing capability significantly influences the electronic marketing orientation, the performance of SMEs and strategic agility. Electronic marketing orientation and strategic agility have a significant influence on the performance of SMEs. Electronic marketing orientation mediates the relationship between digital marketing capability and the performance of SMEs. Strategic agility mediates the relationship between digital marketing capability and the performance of SMEs. The findings of this study reveal a significant mediation effect of Electronic Marketing Orientation but an insignificant mediation effect of strategic agility on the relationship between Digital Marketing Capability and the performance of SMEs. This study contributes to the literature by embedding the digital transformation, electronic market orientation and strategic adaptability to improve the performance of SMEs. The findings emphasise the need for SMEs to invest in digital marketing capabilities while fostering a strong e-marketing orientation to maximise the benefits of digitalization.