The Impact of digital marketing on SMEs business performance in Zimbabwe

Author

Jere, Blessed

Title

The Impact of digital marketing on SMEs business performance in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study serves to assess the impact of digital marketing on SMEs business performance in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the study was to achieve the following objectives: To investigate the impact of mobile phone marketing on business performance of SMEs (customer base, sales volume and profitability performance). To explore the effect of social media marketing on performance of SMEs (customer base, sales volume and profitability performance). To determine the influence of internet marketing on performance of SMEs (customer base, sales volume and profitability performance). The researcher employed a causal research design and collected data from a sample of 300 survey participants. A questionnaire was utilised as the main data collection tool, using measurement scales adopted by Kawira, Mukulu, Odhiambo and Kenyata (2019) to measure digital marketing (mobile phone, social media, internet and business performance) and they all used a 5-point Likert scale. Multiple regression analysis was employed to examine the hypothesis. The testing of the hypothesis indicated that there exists a positive correlation between the independent variables, which include digital marketing (mobile phone marketing, social media marketing and internet marketing), and the dependent variable, business performance. The results from the study revealed that H1 there exists a meaningful correlation between mobile marketing tactics and the overall performance of businesses. This could mean that a greater number of customers are actively using mobile services. Additionally, the study emphasized that H2 there is a notable effect of social media marketing on business outcomes. The results also suggested that H3 there is a measurable influence of internet marketing on business performance.

Date

June 2025

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

Digital Marketing

Social Media Marketing

Mobile Phone Marketing

Internet Marketing and Business Performance

Supervisor

Mr. Chirimubwe