Effect Of Marketing Strategies On Performance Of Small And Medium Enterprises In Kitengela Township, Kajiado County

Abstract

Small and Medium Enterprises like other large enterprises have increasingly used various marketing strategies in their operation. This study sought to find out the effects of marketing strategies on the business performance of SMEs in Kitengela Township, Kenya. Companies are continually faced with the need to meet the challenges that arises from the ever changing markets and continuous competition that they face nationally, regionally and globally. As a result companies have to develop clearly defined strategies and plans for survival and growth. This research adopted a descriptive research design, with target population of 62 SMEs in Kitengela. Census sampling method was used to select the SMEs, with the sampling size of the study being 186 respondents. Data was collected using questionnaire and analysed by aid of Statistical Package of Social Scientists (SPSS). The findings were summarized using statistical measures of dispersion while data is presented using tables, graphs and frequencies. The study found out that place marketing strategy, promotion marketing strategies, and product marketing strategies have a positive and significant relationship with business performance. It further found out price marketing strategy to have a positive but insignificant relationship with business performance of SMEs. The study thus recommends that SMEs need to pay attention to the 4Ps marketing mix in general and on the place marketing strategy in particular (since it had the largest coefficient) to improve business performance.