The effect of international marketing communication tools on performance of SMEs’ exporters in Tanzania: the case of Tanzania handcraft industry.

This study assesses the effect of international marketing communication tools on the performance of SME exporters in Tanzania. The study concentrated on three marketing tools, which are personal selling, direct marketing and Trade fair participation. The research took place in Dar es Salaam region. A well populated area with firms that export handicrafts as stated in the report by the board of external trade of Tanzania under the Ministry of Trade in 2010.The study adopted an explanatory quantitative methods based on Personal selling, direct marketing and trade fair participation, quantitative data were supplemented by qualitative data. Data collection was done using questionnaires and in-depth interview, the data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings were interpreted into frequencies and percentages and were presented by way of simple tables and pie chart and graphs. Furthermore the data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and multiple regressions. Qualitative data were collected using interview guide to direct the interview between the researcher and the key informants. The data was edited, coded then analysed in relation to study.The findings reveal that direct marketing and Trade fairs had a positive and significant effect on the performance of SME exporters in the international market. On the other hand personal selling had positive but insignificant effect on the performance of SME exporters in the international market. It is recommended that all SME exporters operating in the international market should adopt trade fairs participation and direct marketing in enhancing their export performance. Authorities responsible for promotion of exports should focus on educating SME exporters on ways to effectively perform their marketing communication particularly through effective trade fair participation and direct marketing efforts.