In developing countries particularly, Tanzania, SMEs act as a vehicle for creating equal income distribution in both rural and urban areas and hence they are sources of poverty reduction and in the liberalisation and globalisation of the economy. Nevertheless, the
performance of SMEs is linked with the marketing practices leading to some of them growing into large firms. The manner in which different marketing activities are executed at SMEs are the major determinants of any organisation’s short and long-run success in
various marketing environment.

This study analyses the impacts of marketing efforts on performance of small manufacturing firms in Tanzania. It does so by assessing among others, the extent to which marketing activities have influenced performance of small manufacturing firms in Tanzania. The
critical empirical question addressed by the study is that ‘What are the marketing practices of Tanzanian manufacturing SMEs and how do they affect firms’ level of performance?’ In so doing the study accounts for the role played by both socio-economic environment and the internal operating capability of the manufacturing firms.

Further, a theoretical model was developed and used to depict the important marketing variables that form the main marketing activities and eleven hypotheses were developed from both the literature and theories reviewed. Within a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, both analytical survey and explanatory designs were respectively adopted through cross-sectional approach. This way, primary data was obtained from 200 business owner/managers based in Dar Es Salaam region using a semi-structured survey questionnaire and 12 semi-structured interviews. On the same note, secondary data was gathered through document analysis.

Both qualitative and quantitative tools of analysis were applied to the responses depending on the type of measurement and information obtained from both the primary and secondary sources. The statistical analysis for the relationship between marketing activities and SMEs growth was then executed through Spearman rank-order correlation, Independent sample Ttest,
chi-square and cross tabulation tests and regression analysis with the help of statistical packages known as the SPSS: 20. On the other note, the interview transcripts and secondary data were coded and analysed using a thematic framework through Nvivo qualitative analysis software (version 10).

Therefore, several findings were found to be consistent with the underlying theories of marketing by SMEs as they view marketing as a dynamic, socially embedded process. Likewise, the analytical results and hypothesis testing confirm that:

1. The majority of the Tanzanian manufacturing SMEs do not include marketing as part of their formal decisions, and that their marketing activities are seen as unplanned, loose, and unstructured. Further findings reveal that SMEs that adopts structured marketing planning appear to have improved their performance than those which adopts unstructured marketing planning. Besides, for those SMEs that do apply formal and structured marketing plan, more than half (78.3%) do it for the short-term only and 18.8% do it on medium term basis. This is contributed by the nature of the market which is characterised by stiff competition and the size of the business.

2. With regards to marketing research activities, it has been established that SMEs managers/owners are facing more pressure and market challenges than ever; meaning that they are constantly trying to gather information on competitors’ activities and ascertain
changes in the marketing place through their market networks. The findings confirmed that SMEs in Tanzanian manufacturing industry perceive marketing research as an important activity for developing competitive advantage and corresponding market strategies; though the majority do perform marketing research tasks in a loose and unstructured format.

3. The majority of manufacturing SMEs in Tanzania tend to use computer(s) and the statistical analyses confirm that high performance in SMEs is more inclined to the use of computers technology in business operations. However, certain challenges like lack of ICT knowledge, increase in internet crimes, lack of trust and transaction security, difficulties in accessing the internet (to mention a few) have been identified.

4. As far as the types of marketing mix activities that would be appropriate for improving SMEs growth of the Tanzanian manufacturing sector are concerned; it is evident that several marketing activities are being employed by small businesses to gain differential advantage(s). Statistically, a positive relationship between growth performance of Tanzanian manufacturing SMEs versus distribution decisions, promotional activities, pricing decisions and product development were established. This suggests that SMEs
which has a good marketing mix practice will perform more effectively than those without marketing practices. But, with multiple regression analysis the results indicate that the four marketing mix activities performed at the Tanzanian manufacturing SMEs do not altogether have positive and significant influence on growth, and it signifies that the marketing mix activities of the most manufacturing SMEs in Tanzania show a greater focus on managing promotion and distribution efforts as compared to managing product and pricing activities.

5. SMEs perceive internal environmental variables as important ingredients for developing appropriate market strategies and achieve competitiveness and growth. Nevertheless, the regression results show no statistical significance and conclude that the good internal
organisational environment has no positive effect on the growth of the Tanzanian manufacturing SMEs. What is more, the empirical findings from this survey indicate that there is a difference in the growth level for manufacturing SMEs with high and low delegation environments. Worth to mention, growth of SMEs is influenced by among other things, different forms of external relationships with various institutions, due to the necessity of sharing resources and knowledge. In this regard, the relationship marketing theory is supported. When looking at the SMEs’ relationship with other selected institutions such as research institutions, SIDO, VETA, TIC, TISCO, Universities and Colleges, and NGOs; then it was discovered that some of the SMEs do not realise the existence of these external institutions and for those that are aware of these institutions they do not know the kind of services they offer and as a result, there is very limited interaction between manufacturing SMEs and these institutions.

6. Accordingly, the extent to which growth in the Tanzanian manufacturing SMEs is affected by the socio-economic indicators was analysed and the results from both analytical survey and semi-structured interviews show that a relatively high percentage of SMEs perceive external environmental variables as impacting their market strategies and operations negatively. Further evidences from the interviews reveal corruption as one of the most troubling factors which affect severely SMEs. Based on these research findings, measures, policy issues, and implications for promoting and enhancing SMEs marketing practices and growth efforts have been suggested and recommended for policy design, planners of economic development, as well as stakeholders in the SMEs sector including the owners/managers of SMEs in Tanzania.