Marketing is
an important part of getting customers to the point of sale. Marketing is an
indirect cost of production of goods and services. Typically marketing accounts
for 10% of Total costs of production per unit. Not marketing is like winking at
a girl in the dark. Traditional marketing is classified into above the line and
below the line marketing. The latter is also called experiential marketing.
Most SME’s consider Traditional Marketing as unaffordable.
A growing
percentage of purchasing and the decision making path is now taking place
online from smart –phones and other devices. Increasingly marketing and sales
has to be in this digital space. Most SME’s understand the power of Social
Media in moving product. One can learn how to navigate Social media platforms
by yourself. With lockdowns and social distancing becoming the new normal the
traditional Do It Yourself approach to social media has to be revised. In this
article we will explore the different social media spaces where a SME needs to
have a presence and how these spaces can be leveraged to drive sales.
In theory it
all starts with a website. A website acts as a full time sales person. Most
SME’s do not have a website which costs KES 30,000 for a very ordinary one to
hundreds of thousands for more complex ones which have been Search engine
optimized, with the right key words, tags and meta tags, with an online store
and the other bells and whistles. With lean budgets most start-ups skip this
step. Finding them online is near impossible.
The good
news is that there is always Facebook which also owns Instagram and What’s App
to market and sell your products and services. Remember even in these spaces
the fortune is in the follow up. Anyone who likes or comments positively about
your posts and status is worth following up. One can and should budget for
Facebook (FB) and Instagram(IG) sales campaigns which allow you to target the socio-demographic
group with variables like age,
location, interests and gender to whom your potential clients belong. It’s no longer
“one-size-fits-all” when it comes to marketing campaigns; you can now become a
lot more personalised. It can however get pretty
complicated converting the interested into sales.
Facebook and
IG campaign analytics will point a business towards a sale or a need to tweak
the campaign. Visual graphics attract more attention for online bombed
audiences who are overdosed with posts just like yours. The language has to be
spot on with a definite call to action even if that action is just to think
about your company or your product. The aim is to remain top of mind. Let your
posts be regular and relevant.
What’s app
groups are the easiest places to exercise DIY posts of your products. Just post
a picture with a little text. You can grow your followers by changing your
what’s app status daily. I have 50-60 people who check out my daily What’s app
status. I hope to convert this interest into some sales activity.
Twitter is
another social media platform for marketing activity. It is an excellent
Customer Relationship Management tool. Remember to choose the right hash tags
and not ride on trending hashtags.
Being on all
these social media platforms is good. The question is: Is this part of a
Marketing and Social Media Strategy informed by a Business plan and Business
strategy. Which are the missing pieces in your business? Do you want to start
from the head or the tail of the Social Media Action plan? You are obviously on
social media if you are reading this article. Passion Profit and its social
media partners can hold your hand wherever your SME is in the Social Media Strategy
– action loop. We all need help in our non-core business strategy and processes.
Call/Email us for a chat.
Dr Melvin D’lima
MD Passion Profit
Cell 0720297433
Email: melvindlima1@gmail.com
Nairobi
April 26, 2020
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