PurposeDespite the relatively long research continuum on IT capability and performance, the “IT capability-performance” link has remained hazy especially related to the mediating role of IT-based communication and networking overall. Therefore, this study investigates how IT capability affects Internet interactive practice and how it further affects marketing effectiveness and firm success.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected the survey data from 504 manufacturers in China, and structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate that (1) IT capability has positive effects on both interorganizational systems (IOS)-enabled and social media (SM)-enabled interactive practice; (2) IOS-enabled interactive practice has a significant positive effect on both marketing and financial performance while SM-enabled interactive practice has a positive effect on marketing performance but no effect on financial performance; (3) IOS-enabled interactive practice mediates the effect of IT capability on marketing and financial performance while SM-enabled interactive practice only mediates the effect of IT capability on marketing performance; (4) marketing performance mediates the impact of IOS-enabled and SM-enabled interactive practice on financial performance.Originality/valueThis study has highlighted the role of social media practice in the relationship between IT capability and firm performance, which makes certain theoretical contributions to the existing research.