Adoption Without Strategy: The Strategy Implementation Gap in SME Digital Marketing in Zambia's Secondary Cities

Cornelius Sichinga and Kelly Chungu
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Cornelius Sichinga: Mulungushi University
Kelly Chungu: Mulungushi University

African Journal of Commercial Studies, 2026, vol. 7, issue 4

Abstract: Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies are rapidly adopting digital marketing platforms, yet the gap between adoption and strategic utilization remains critically under researched. This study examines the strategy implementation gap in digital marketing among 101 SMEs in Kabwe, Zambia, using a convergent parallel mixed methods design integrating survey data and 12 semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal a significant 33 percentage point gap between basic digital tool adoption (75.2% use visuals) and strategic optimization (41.6% adjust strategies based on results). While 89.1% of SMEs use WhatsApp and 82.2% use Facebook, only 22.8% post daily, 21.8% respond to customers within one hour, and 16.8% invest in paid advertising. Content strategies remain overwhelmingly transactional product posts (80.0%) and promotions (37.9%) dominate, while educational content (17.9%) and testimonials (13.7%) are underutilized. Regression analyses reveal that content quality perception (β=0.593, p

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Strategy Implementation Gap; SME; Customer Engagement; Technology Acceptance Model; Diffusion of Innovation; Zambia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L26 M15 M31 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cwk:ajocsl:2026-044

DOI: 10.59413/ajocs/v7.i4.10

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