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Marketing effectiveness, a technique aimed at improving marketers' outreach to customers to optimise marketing expenditures, has consistently demonstrated efficacy in a highly competitive landscape. Nonetheless, its empirical mediating function continues to be a subject of inquiry among many experts. This study aimed to examine the mediating function of marketing effectiveness in the relationship between interactive marketing and the marketing performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the Nyanza Region, Kenya. A cross-sectional survey study approach was employed, targeting a population of 3,211 registered MSE owners in Nyanza, from which a sample size of 356 was determined using Yamane's (1967) formula. Data were gathered by questionnaires and analysed utilising descriptive and inferential statistics with SPSS version 26.0. The analysis reveals that interactive marketing significantly influences marketing performance (t = 19.933, p < 0.5); interactive marketing also significantly affects marketing effectiveness (t = 19.331, p < 0.5); furthermore, marketing effectiveness significantly impacts marketing performance (t = 15.238, p < 0.5). The indirect test indicates that marketing effectiveness, as an intervening variable, can mitigate the impact of interactive marketing on marketing performance.