B2B growth and sales · Exploratory longitudinal, multi-country qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with knowledgeable informants, follow-up interviews and secondary-data triangulation; grounded-theory analysis.
The integrated use of social media, digital, and traditional communication tools in the B2B sales process of international SMEs
Sara Fraccastoro, Mika Gabrielsson, Ellen Bolman Pullins (2021). The integrated use of social media, digital, and traditional communication tools in the B2B sales process of international SMEs. International Business Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101776.
Plain-English take
Social media and digital tools are used jointly with traditional sales communication, blending the traditional selling steps into three main phases: identifying new opportunities, persuasion and relationship management; follow-up interviews reported increased social-media use. For your marketing: Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
How much weight to give this
2.5/5 Evidence needs cautious interpretation
The 1–5 evidence-check score is a practical reading aid, not a formal peer review or a probability that a conclusion is true. It combines design strength (2 points), sample reporting (1), comparison/control clarity (1), and how much of the paper could be checked (1). Access affects how confidently this directory can assess a study, not the study's underlying quality. Blinding is reported separately because it is not relevant to every design.
Exploratory longitudinal, multi-country qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with knowledgeable informants, follow-up interviews and secondary-data triangulation; grounded-theory analysis.
International SMEs in service industries across Finland, Italy, Poland, Brazil and the United States; interviews involved sales directors, marketing managers, CEOs or the most knowledgeable available employee.
Based on the publisher-described design and comparison; see the article for complete analysis.
Publisher record was fetched directly; full text was not assumed open.
Double-blind? Blinding was not established from the retrieved publisher record.
Research question
What the authors investigated
How do international B2B SMEs use social media, digital and traditional communication tools across the sales process, and how do these tools affect that process over time?
Design
Exploratory longitudinal, multi-country qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with knowledgeable informants, follow-up interviews and secondary-data triangulation; grounded-theory analysis.
Sample and setting
International SMEs in service industries across Finland, Italy, Poland, Brazil and the United States; interviews involved sales directors, marketing managers, CEOs or the most knowledgeable available employee.
Reported result
What the study found
Social media and digital tools are used jointly with traditional sales communication, blending the traditional selling steps into three main phases: identifying new opportunities, persuasion and relationship management; follow-up interviews reported increased social-media use.
This is a paraphrase of the source. Check the original paper for definitions, estimates, statistical uncertainty and analysis details.
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
The publisher text explicitly notes that small firm size limited the availability of diverse perspectives, so two interview rounds were judged sufficient.
Possible founder application
Use it as a B2B mechanism or sales-process design reference. Validate the relationship in your deal size, buying committee and sales cycle.
Evidence access
Publisher abstract/metadata retrieved; consult the linked paper for full methods and tables.
The publisher’s empirical-process table reports that the B2B sales process can be improved by social and digital tools, that use varies across phases and is joint with traditional tools, and that the model was confirmed in longitudinal follow-ups. Direct publisher-page retrieval was recorded on 2026-10-09; profile summarizes the accessible record and does not claim independent review of inaccessible full text.
If only an abstract or metadata was available, the profile is limited to claims supported there. A paper's paywall does not change its evidentiary status, but it limits what we can substantiate from accessible text.