Social media marketing in Zimbabwe is a reality, wishing it away or ignoring it will not make it go away. In this article we aim to allay the fears of all business owners and acquaint them with the opportunities that can be leveraged and used to catapult their business positioning. If you are a business owner and you are reading this article, then we are talking to you.
Increases Brand Awareness and Visibility
The main reason why most businesses thrive is that they have managed to identify a need or problem within the market, and not only that, but have managed to make their target audiences immensely aware and uncomfortable with this need that the only solution is to buy and fill the gap. It therefore goes without saying that all businesses are in need of a platform that allows them to make such a connection. The platform? Social media! Social media platforms allow businesses to access customers in their personal spaces and at times they would not normally be able to access them, in creative and fun ways that traditional media does not normally allow for. Once your business is on this platform with relevant and exciting content millions of Zimbabweans will connect with your brand and give you measurable value.
Social Media Marketing Is Cost Effective
This year 2024, may perhaps be the hardest for Zimbabwean business. Exchange rate fluctuations, decreases in disposable income are all problems prevalent in the business environment. Every marketer knows that when the company has to tighten its belt, the first few inches that are cut off are from the marketing budget. Well, this year imagine presenting to your boss or board a cheaper way to advertise, cheaper than the traditional forms of marketing like radio, print and television but with the same or even more value. Creating profiles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter is virtually free except maybe for the data charges. If you decide to go the paid advertising route you can set any budget you wish and there is no minimum, any amount can serve you.
Better Market Segmentation and Targeting Options
When your advert is placed in the paper the only thing that the newspaper sales department can tell you is the circulation, which is how many people bought the paper on that particular day. A radio station cannot tell you how many people were tuned in when you advert aired. Social media can. With audience insights, social media platforms will tell you how many people your advert reached, their gender, age, which device they were using and even their location. This works in reverse too. A wedding planner for example can target females and males in the market for wedding planning services using Facebook Life events; those recently engaged. Target whichever location you wish, choose your preferred age group and craft language appealing to that target audience and most often times than not you will win.
Thought Leadership and Market Authority
How many times do you go on social media, Facebook or Instagram? If you are like most people then the answer will be several times a day for hours on end if you have the time. We will even acknowledge that social media has become the go to place to search for answers to our questions. A smart marketer will post relevant, insightful and well researched content on topics such as industry trends, hot news items, how to guides, info graphics social media as a way to become an expert and leader in their field. By connecting with audiences in meaningful ways and sharing content that resonates it’s easy to promote your authority. If your social media strategy is on point, within no time you will find yourself with scores of followers and a notable influencer in your industry and circles of influence.
Brand Loyalty
Let’s face it, faced with a well known brand and an obscure one, which option would you go for? The well known one of course. What insights do you get if you are unfortunate enough to be the owner of the obscure brand? You need to find ways to make your brand just as well known. This is where social media comes in, giving you ways to place your brand in front of customers faces even when they aren’t thinking of your products or services. Through creative content you can build conversations and ultimately relationships with customers that will serve you well when they are eventually faced with the choice between your brand and that of a competitor.
Increased Sales
We probably should have started with this point. All the above points harnessed properly will lead to more conversions. Although social media marketing platforms call for businesses to be more social and avoid aggressive selling, there is a leeway to actually promote your products and services. Using the eighty twenty rule which dictates that only twenty percent of the posts on a business page be sales related, means that done right social media is a platform to sell!
Increase traffic to the website
A website by itself is good. A website together with social media is even better. A well thought out social media strategy that aligns perfectly with your marketing objectives will help drive traffic to your website and garner valuable actions. Post exciting content and embed call to actions that add value to your business such as sign ups to your news letter or email updates or App downloads. Once you have managed to lure your social media user to your website an opportunity to cross sell and up sell is presented. Of course for maximum results you need a well-designed website that priorities user experience. If you do not have one, find out how it might be costing you by reading all about it in the 3 Reasons Why Not Having A Website Is Costing Your Business blog.
At this point in time, it’s important to note that these benefits can only be accessed when social media marketing is done right. The best way is often to hire the experts and that’s us, Reset Digital Consultancy.
