ABSTRACT: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are a pillar of the Indonesian economy and have been most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic due to their limited capacity, including online marketing. Much research has been conducted with a focus on online marketing and the marketing performance of SMEs during the Covid-19 pandemic, but there is still very limited research that quantitatively analyzes the role of government. This research fills this void intending to analyze the relationship between online marketing and SME marketing performance during the Covid-19 pandemic with the government’s role as moderator. Data was collected online from 245 SMEs in Malang Regency, East Java, Indonesia, then analyzed with moderation regression. The results of the analysis show that online marketing and the role of government are partially negatively related but not significantly related to SME marketing performance during the Covid-19 pandemic, whereas moderation (interaction of online marketing and the role of government) is positively and significantly related to SME marketing performance. These findings prove that the government’s role is very important in improving market outcomes, especially during times of economic turbulence such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS -SMEs, online marketing, marketing performance, government role, covid-19