The ABCs of successful social media marketing

Whether you are a clueless aspiring entrepreneur, a small business just starting out, or one that has been in existence for a number of years, going online is bound to expand your horizons.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Telegram, WhatsApp, Viber, LinkedIn and other social media platforms come in handy whether you are a one-man-run shop, an established corporate with global presence or just trying to become an influencer in the social space.

Mark Kaigwa, founder of digital research firm Nendo says entrepreneurs can start out their businesses online without ever having physical address shops.

“There is a growing trend of online businesses of ‘icommerce’, where business owners are taking to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to showcase their products to users and sell them without the overhead costs that come with running an actual shop,” he explained adding good quality products are likely to sell much faster with word of mouth recommendations.

Generation Y and Z are more tech savvy and able to access almost anything online from the basic skills they have and making them a potential market for whatever product or service one wants to sell, whether locally or internationally.

As more young people become independent and start having their own incomes, they change the consumer behaviour trends and companies that have been in existence for long find they no longer enjoy large market share.

Through Nendo’s experience Mr Kaigwa says companies are just beginning to appreciate why they need to be online and that it is more than just having likes on their pages.

“You need to take time to understand the habits of your customers and their expectations vis-à-vis what you are as a brand or as an individual then leverage upon,” he says.

By knowing who the online audience is, there likes and preferences as well as other behaviours, Mr Kaigwa says it is possible to tailor-make messages as well as time centred offers and promotions.

The return on investments when looking for clients online is much bigger than having physical marketing campaigns.

“Once you have a crowd following you have to find a way to monetise those likes and convert the attraction to actual sales, make them see that their needs can be satisfied by your products not just push messages about what you have to offer,” he says.

This means rather than have back to back messages of what you are selling on a Monday morning when people are more likely to orient themselves with their work schedules, he advises one could provide public information that is related to the products that could hint to their core business.

Similarly Friday evenings might not be ideal to go all out on a social media marketing spree unless the business is food or oriented to the entertainment industry.

Roy Wachira owner of Camouflage Media says like in other marketing campaigns, content placed online is king.

“The content has to resonate with the audience you are targeting, they must feel like they own it or that it affects them one way or another. If you can get the clients themselves to generate the content especially photos it can go a long way,” he advises.

And with every social media used nowadays being a publisher, he cautions against the unauthorised use of copyright content. At times the reverse can happen and the company might end up having their online content pirated.

“In such cases you need to get in touch with the particular individual and warn them about using your copyright stuff, you could choose to allow them to use it or have them pull it down. If this does not help contact the administrators of the platform and they can take drastic measures like suspending their page as well,” Mr Wachira says.

One advice he gives is to look for influencers within the social media space who can help your company drive the agenda in a way that is in line with the business and morally acceptable.

Ms Isis Nyongo the chief executive of Mums Village notes that messaging applications within these platforms can help one make more personalised advertising to the audience which makes them more inclined to buy what is on sale “as though you were speaking one on one amidst a crowd.”

Through the platforms it is possible to do more than just sell products. It is the perfect place through which management and individuals can receive feedback from clients and users of their services.

“At times you think that you are doing well when your systems are not running efficiently, there are technical glitches, or the products are being delivered damaged, being counterfeited or there is a lapse in quality control which might be hard to trace,” she says.

As much as businesses anticipate good outcomes when they interact with their clients online, they should also be able to anticipate the backlash and negative feedback that might quickly turn into a crisis.

Some businesses have hard to learn the hard way that being online is inevitable, unscrupulous businessmen and individuals have come up with parody and fake accounts through which they have tarnished the companies name and at times even sold counterfeits.

Moses Kemibaro founder of Dotsavvy says that if companies fail to take up their space on social media, others will try and fill that void which might end up sending a different narrative from their values and what the business stands for.

“The first thing is to authenticate your businesses so that the audience can know who the true voice is and not just coming out when there is a crisis,” he explained.