From Traffic to Retention: Can Digital Marketing Enhance Export Stability?

Does digital marketing support export stability? Using 26,932 Chinese listed-firm observations from 2012–2024, we estimate firm and year fixed-effects models linking annual-report digital marketing measures to a weighted index of overseas revenue shares. Digital marketing is positively associated with the index across robustness checks. Channel regressions suggest links with supply chain stability and strategic responsiveness, without establishing mediation. Acquisition and retention measures both show positive associations; their coefficients do not differ significantly. The findings connect digital marketing to sustained overseas business engagement, while overseas revenue remains an imperfect export proxy.