Speedy internet sparks e-marketing talent wars

Business opportunities arising from the recent landing of high speed internet in Kenya are causing major skills realignments as companies seek to hire people with specialised knowledge of the emerging virtual markets.

Competition for people with new media skills has intensified in recent months as key players reorganise their operations for visibility in digital and online markets that are expected to drive growth in the next decade.

Kenya is one of the African countries with the highest number of social media websites such as the popular Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz and LinkedIn, according to the State of Mobile Internet in Africa’ report released by Opera Mini last month.

Consumer market research firm Synovate estimates that at least two million Kenyans are on social media, giving it a larger fraction of the eyeballs that producers of goods and services are looking for to build their brands and boost sales.

Facebook’s own statistics show that 800,000 people who live in Kenya are on the website.

That number mainly comprises of people aged between 15-44 years.

Although only 17 per cent of the Kenyan population has access to the internet, that number is expected to rise to nine million in the next five years, making it the most accessible technology in the country after the mobile phone.

This combined with the ongoing advancement in mobile technology and the experience from early adopters is promising to open a multi-billion shilling market that businesses have to capture to grow market share.

Last year’s landing of the fibre optic cables and the subsequent explosion of internet use had initially sparked the race for audiences, but analysts say there has been a realisation that turning those audiences into new revenue sources requires different types of skills and mindset.

“Progress beyond growing the number of Facebook fans or Twitter followers requires a rethink of ‘social’ as a key part of customer relationship management process,” said Muchiri Nyaggah, the director of Semacraft in an online discussion forum.

That number has since grown to 31 per cent, with 56 per cent of marketers using social media for 6 hours or more each week while 30 per cent use it for 11 or more hours weekly.

These numbers have forced technology and media companies into the race for control of on-line audiences, intensifying competition for people with the skills to market products and services in the new landscape.

It is, however, emerging that when it comes to on-line or electronic markets, consumers have outrun the suppliers.

Companies that have moved into the new media space confess that there is an acute shortage of people with the skills to develop and use the emerging electronic markets.