Digital marketing has significantly grown in Uganda over the past five years. Jumia, the online marketplace, contributed a lot to this when it opened shop in the country. It provided an opportunity for businesses to operate online without having to deal with the huge capital investment it would take to set up e-commerce websites on their own. The platform is currently the most used website in Uganda, an indicator of the power of online sales.
Online selling also saw a great jump in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic with half a million new users registered in the first quarter of the year.
It is evident that more consumers are utilizing e-commerce and Social Media platforms to find and buy products and services. Businesses therefore need to think long and hard about how to adapt their strategies to tap into this.
In the SHONA SIGNAL Webinar on how to grow online sales, John Babirukamu and Vaolah Amumpaire, Founder and CEO of Wena Hardware share their insights on how businesses can effectively sell on Social Media by reaching and efficiently communicating with their target audiences.
How to market your business on social media
John shared two main ways to market your business online;
1. Call to action
“Here you’re telling someone what to do if they like your product,” John said, “This could be click here and pay with Mobile Money, or Visa. You could also direct them to a number to call you directly or send a WhatsApp to.”
As a last resort, you could direct potential buyers to your location for them to make a purchase. However, only use this option after all others have been exhausted because people shop online usually for the convenience of not having to go to a physical location in order to buy something.
2. Lead Generation.
“Here you get potential clients’ information through mediums like forms and schedule an appointment to speak with them about the product or service.”
You are basically telling them you will go to them, they don’t have to look for you. You need to be specific on who you’re targeting and ensure to get back to them after they fill out the forms.
Cold Calling is another option for you to do lead generation. Get an appointment with a person you know to be influential by getting into their inboxes. This is a hit or miss because some people might not give you the time of day. Others might find this intrusive. Platforms like LinkedIn give you access to a number of people you might ordinarily not be able to meet. If you do this, make sure your page looks professional because they will most likely check it out before responding to you.
Lead Generation when marketing to other businesses
Both Business to Business (B2B) marketing as well as Business to Consumer (B2C) marketing can utilize the lead generation approach.
As the name suggests, in B2B marketing, you are selling your product or service to other businesses while in B2C, your target is individual people or customers.
Account based marketing is used when targeting another company. In this approach, you focus your efforts on the key decision makers in the business that would choose you over your competitor.
“Say you’re a business that wants to sell network cables to MTN. You need to know who makes the decision to buy network cables. This is probably the procurement team,” John said, “Then who decides if they are good quality cables? Probably the IT person. So those are the decision makers you’re going to target your ad to. End it with a link where they’ll fill in a form to set up a time for you to speak directly to them. This process is called lead generation.”
Don’t target your ads to people who won’t make the decisions because that would be a waste of your time and resources.
This is also the reason why choosing the right platform is important. Let’s look at how to do this.
Choosing the right platform
The main platforms in Uganda are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and WhatsApp. People also use search engines like Google to find products and services.
Facebook is the most visited social media platform with about 3 million monthly active users. The platform has a wide reach with everyone from the corporate class to boda boda riders. It is therefore a good channel for mass marketing. It would also be a good channel for B2B marketing for the more informal businesses.
Wena Hardware utilized Facebook mainly when they were just starting out and couldn’t afford to set up an e-commerce platform.
LinkedIn is a fast growing platform with about 900k Ugandans on it. It is mainly used by professionals, business owners and students looking to join the corporate world. It is ideal for B2B marketing, specifically for the more corporate businesses.
Platforms like Instagram are good for more visual businesses like those involved in tour and travel. It is also good if you are targeting the middle to higher class Ugandans on social media. Twitter is great for customer engagement through conversation or to create buzz about an event happening in real time by creating a hashtag that trends.
Consider the time in which your target audience will most likely see the ads you post. You’ll get few reactions and even less sales if you post at a time when many people aren’t online. Check the analytics of your page to find out when the biggest percentage of your followers are likely to interact with your posts.
Creating the right content in order to sell on social media
Creating content doesn’t have to be expensive. If you can’t afford to hire a designer to create visually appealing content, you can do it yourself with platforms like Canva. It has a number of templates you can use to create professional looking posts.
Customize your content to suit your audience on each of the platforms. Do not copy and paste the same text across all your platforms.
“The way you would phrase something on Instagram isn’t the same way you would present it on Twitter, for example,” Vaolah pointed out.
All social media platforms have advertising platforms. We focused on Facebook because it’s currently the most visited of the platforms and could provide insight on how to sell on social media.
On Facebook, you can target a specific list of people that would be the only ones to view your ads.
This ensures that your target audience sees your ad more than once. It is said that you need to see an ad or concept about 5 times before you actually pay attention to it.
Using Google to reach your target audience
When creating content for your business, take into consideration the different reasons people search for content on Google. This is referred to as micro-moments.
Google defines a Micro-moment as “an intent-rich moment where people turn to a device to act on a need – to know, go, do or buy.“
You might go to Google because you want to;
· know something (e.g. what makes a good omelette?)
· do something (e.g. How do I make an omelette?)
· go somewhere (e.g. where can I go to eat the best omelette in Kampala?)
· buy something (e.g. what does it cost to buy the best omelette in Kampala?)
Make sure your content to fulfills these needs. If you know the micro moments where your business is coming in, then you can create content for it.
For example, imagine someone searched the internet for how to make the best omelette. If you were a rolex seller with a video on your website showing how to make the best omelette, Google would pick this up. At the end of the video, you could mention that you also make rolexes and share how the viewers can place orders. This way, you would have fulfilled their desire to know but also pushed them directly to buy your product.
Using Google business, you can also ensure that when someone searches for a specific product or service, your business name is in the top listings.
Social media is a huge channel for small businesses. It is essential for you to utilize it as much as possible. Start with whatever you have but ensure to keep your posts professional.
Follow John on all social media platforms for more social media tips at @babirukamu and visit Wena Hardware for all your home improvement and hardware needs.
*Many thanks to John and Vaolah for sharing with us their insights! Keep an eye out for the next SIGNAL Webinar!