Digital marketing in Kenya can be a daunting task for small businesses and established companies alike. This article provides a complete guide on the digital marketing landscape in Kenya, including how to best use digital tools and online strategies.
The question that SME’s want answered is, can digital marketing in Kenya help grow my business?
The simple answer is, YES!
According to GSMA Intelligence research report of 2019, in approximately five years’ time, there will be around 625 million mobile services subscribers in Africa. That’s three times the population of the United States.
Decreasing costs of data, smartphones and computers will increase access to the internet exponentially over the next decade. In short, the way people shop, and buy has changed and will continue doing so in the years to come. For marketers, it means that traditional marketing is not as effective as it used to be.
Marketing is all about the 4P’s
- Product
- Price
- Place
- Promotion
Meeting potential customers at the right place and the right time is the key to success for any business. You need to meet your prospects where they are most comfortable and already spending time……Today, it is the internet.
This is where digital marketing comes in. Business owners must apply digital channels to get the most out of the marketing strategies.
At TP MEDIA Marketing we get a lot of questions on online marketing. We believe its a really effective way to attract, engage, and nurture customers online Read this report and find out how online marketing can help your business grow in the new digital age.
What is Digital Marketing: A Definition
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.
~ Peter F. Drucker
Inbound marketing is the use of all forms of electronic devices and internet media channels to promote and market products or services. If we borrow from Peter F. Drucker, it means using digital media to understand your potential customers and brand your company as the obvious choice.
A company can use digital technology to connect with customers where they spend their time online. This includes the company website, online brand assets like logos, online brochures, pdf’s, search engines, online newsletters and more
The best internet marketers can achieve the company goals only when they have a clean understanding of each digital marketing channel. They should create a clear internet marketing strategy through free and/or paid channels online. The goal being to create brand awareness and sales or leads for the business.
Digital vs. Traditional
The days of traditional advertising are over. The sole reason for this is that the internet has changed everything.
Traditional advertising is still effective but it puts you at risk of spending a lot of money just to be seen by a few people.
Today, businesses can connect with their audience and convert leads by taking advantage of digital marketing strategies and tools.
Traditional methods either through radio, newspaper, billboards, brochures and others has worked for ages. However, it doesn’t allow for direct interaction with customers. The messaging is always one way. Compare that to internet campaigns that allow interaction either through email, online chats, blog comments and more. Digital advertising have the luxury of being able target campaigns, gather data and analyze data to the minute.
For some brands, it is impossible to ignore the traditional methods. However, for SME’s, online advertising has the best return on investment. Which is why many new and old businesses are leveraging the power of digital marketing and rethinking the marketing funnel.
It is is foolhardy for a small business in Kenya to ignore digital technologies.
Common Problems that A Digital Marketing Plan Can Solve for Your Business
If you are running your own SME, or represent an SME, it’s no secret that modern marketing can be overwhelming. To a business owner with limited digital marketing experience, the heap of emails and social media posts can be difficult to keep up with.
The good news is that once you know what your priorities are, we can help you with the rest.
There are so many ways that digital marketing can be used by SMEs, but here are the most common problems:
You want to be more visible online – When it comes to digital marketing, there is a lot of noise. We’d all like to have our business’ name top of mind when potential customers google for products or services.
You’re not selling enough – Even if you have great products and services, if customers can’t find you on the web or don’t know how to find you through social media, then they won’t be able to buy from you.
You want to increase customer loyalty – You’re doing what you can to stay visible, but your customers still aren’t buying the way you’d like them to.
You need more leads – Don’t look at this as a problem, it’s actually an opportunity! Even if all the other points were lined up perfectly, but you had no way of contacting interested parties, that’s a significant problem for your business.
If you’re struggling with any of the above, then now could be the perfect time to get in touch with one of our friendly Digital Marketing Specialists. It is important to note that the way you communicate with your customers and potential customers is important.
A successful digital marketing strategy should always be built upon a strong foundation, it doesn’t matter what type of business you have, there are certain principles that apply to all businesses. As a business owner you understand this; it’s your job to understand your audience and what they want.
Why digital marketing matters?
You may be wondering: “Why should I invest in digital marketing?” After all, you may already have a strong traditional marketing strategy.
The answer is simple.
According to Google, 91% of online experiences begin with a search engine and 64% of all customers start researching on the internet before visiting a store.
As you can see, people are looking for options online before they even start planning their next purchase.
A study reports from pathfinder show that 92% of B2B buyers use a search engine as their main research tool.
To put this into context, this is the same as saying that 92 out of every 100 potential clients are conducting research online before they contact businesses for business-to-business sales.
This data suggests that SMEs should adopt digital marketing strategies in order to position their businesses at the forefront of online and offline sales.
Digital Marketing Channels – Online Methods to Build Your Business Online
As online marketing channels grow by the second, it can be tricky to get a grip on the best methods to market your business online. In recent years, there has been a rise in the number of methods people can use to increase traffic to their website. It can be confusing for a business owner to pick from the thousands of available options.
The good news is that by learning the basics of SEO, PPC and social media marketing, you can learn how to use the right methods and tools to market your website. These are some of the tools you will need to build your online business.
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process involving the management of search engine results and other on-site elements to improve search rankings so that the website or web page owners can gain more traffic and, subsequently, earn more revenue.
It has long been used as a primary strategy for drawing new customers to a company’s products or services.
A good example of search engine optimization (SEO) is the Google search. Most of the time, it can be seen at the top of result pages.
For instance, if a user queries for a product by typing, “red shoes” on Google search engine, it would redirect them to stores offering red shoes in their apparel section. They will also be shown localized results; and thus making it easier for the user to make an informed decision.
Content Marketing Strategy
Content marketing is the marketing of content with the intent of generating leads, sales, or increasing website traffic.
There are many different kinds of content which could be used for this purpose. These include articles, videos and images. The important thing is to make sure that the content is interesting, useful and relevant to the intended audience.
A good example of content marketing is how the Huffington Post attracts its huge readership. They publish a lot of articles, including celebrity interviews, industry news and political commentary pieces to attract their audience.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing incorporates social networking platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram among others. It aims to increase brand awareness and build relationships between the business and its intended audience. Doing so will increase the likelihood of making sales.
Examples include the use of hashtags. Tweets with a specific hashtag will be listed on Twitter’s “Trending Topics” section. Twitter users can also subscribe to this list through the “Follow” button.
Another example is the social network Facebook. Businesses can create fan pages and subsequently share posts about products or services that they offer. Facebook users can then like and share this post to get more exposure for the business which could ultimately lead to an increase in sales.
Email Marketing Campaign
Email marketing is a form of online marketing which allows sending information or updates to your customers via the email addresses you already have on record.
As well as the obvious advantage of being able to reach a wide audience in no time, it is also easy and highly effective, as long as you get it right.
A good example of email marketing is the weekly newsletter from The Economist. It comprises of interesting articles, as well as its own research and analysis.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay per Click is a form of internet advertising which pays you only when your ad is clicked by potential customers.
It requires the setting up of a PPC campaign by the advertiser. This campaign can be set up on any of the PPC websites. Examples include Google Adwords and Facebook’s advertising platform.
To understand PPC marketing, see how television commercials run on TV and radio, which are only a few minutes long. This allows businesses to create and manage further mini campaigns for each of their product lines.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing is the process of gaining attention and interest from targeted audiences by collaborating with influential bloggers and content creators.
An example of this is using bloggers who have a large following to post about your business or product on their social media channels. Since these bloggers are known to have a large following, it will take a lot less time for people to see your content.
Why Influencer Marketing matters?
Research shows that of all influencer marketing campaigns, up to 58% of them were successful**.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing refers to a marketing system in which the advertisers work with associates to sell their products or services.
Visitors to a website may get there by different paths and often have different interests; this is where affiliate marketing comes in.
Affiliates essentially showcase these products on their websites, blogs and social media platforms. Visitors interested in any of these products, will be redirected to the advertiser’s site for direct sales.
The best example would be Amazon . It links individuals to products on its site via affiliate marketing.
The affiliate then gets a commission based on the number of products sold and the value of each sale they make.
Native Advertising
Native Advertising is the integration of advertising into media content through paid sponsorship.
It aims to help readers easily identify such content as promotional and can also help to convert them. This is because such ads will be in line with the theme of the content. The main aim of native advertising is to deliver brand messages, in an unobtrusive way.
There are different types of native advertising, including:
Sponsorship: the advertiser pays for an association or sponsorship deal with media outlet or event.
Marketing Automation
In Marketing Automation , lead generation and customer communication are handled through a backend system.
The leads can be passed down to the sales team for follow up. The software can also identify such leads, record their information and also track their sales history. This will increase the productivity of a company’s sales team by automating repetitive tasks which otherwise would take up time and effort.
For example, a lead may respond to a special offer via a form on your website. Once you have captured their details, this sales lead will be fed down to the sales team for contact.
The automation software can also help to evaluate the effectiveness of different campaigns by monitoring the activity of people who have interacted with your brand. It can also track what they like and dislike about your company and what actions they take, including which social media platform they use the most often to interact with your brand.
Online Reputation Management
Online reputation management (ORM) is the process of controlling and managing an organization’s presence on the internet, including social media sites.
It encompasses a wide range of activities aimed at addressing issues which might negatively impact an individual’s or business’ online reputation.
An example would be negative reviews on the TripAdvisor website for a hotel you own. This will affect your online reputation, as it attracts other potential users to avoid booking at your establishment.
Most small businesses do not have the resources to manage their content and are unaware of how their brands are perceived online. Online reputation management aims to change this traditional approach.
An ORM agency will build a corporate identity for a company, and handle its social media presence through a strategy known as ‘earned media’.
Online PR
Online PR is a subset of what is known as ‘business communications’. It aims to help companies and individuals communicate with the media in an effective and personal manner.
Public Relations are typically aimed at getting your news out to a wide range of publications which may cover your product or service, including newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Online PR takes this one step further by trying to get the news out not only through offline methods but also online.
A great example is the creation of a news page about a business on media.com.au, which is the website for News Corp publications in Australia.
Does Digital Marketing Work? – What Benefits Can I Achieve Through Digital Marketing
Every time a new technology comes around, there are benefits that can be achieved through it. Sometimes, these benefits are minor (like cleanliness and sanitation during the industrial revolution), while other times, these benefits are fundamental shifts in the way we live our lives (like computers and mobile phones).
Digital marketing is one of the latest technologies, and these benefits are no less significant. Let’s take a look at some of the results you should expect for your business in Kenya.
Quantifiable results
Digital marketing is unlike any other kind of advertising out there. When you’re relying on the old printed page or television screens, it’s impossible to tell which ads are working and which aren’t. But digital marketing comes with its own analytics dashboard, ensuring that you know every time someone clicks through to your site and what they do once they get there.
Lower costs
It’s actually much cheaper to run a digital marketing campaign than a traditional one. Not only do you not have to pay for printing or airtime, but you also don’t have to rely on third-party companies to handle your information. This is because everything you need is in the cloud, which means it’s cheaper and more convenient than ever.
Improved relationships
The world of digital marketing is all about networking, building connections with other businesses and organizations. It’s possible to reach out directly to anyone with an email address or even just a Twitter profile. You can connect with people all over the world and forge mutually beneficial partnerships.
Better access
When you want to spread the word about an event, digital marketing is a good choice because it gives your business better access to people who might not otherwise be able to attend. For example, if you’re holding a concert at a venue that’s very far away from any other cities, you wouldn’t be able to advertise it very well. But if you put up some posters on Facebook and Twitter, people in other cities will see them.
A broad geographic reach
The people who see your digital marketing materials don’t have to live in your neighborhood. Every single one of them has access to the Internet, which means they can view your posts, your images and all of the content you’ve uploaded. This is a great way to get the word out about an event or start promoting an idea more widely.
Greater exposure
Digital marketing helps you grow a business extremely quickly because it increases visibility both online and off. If you put up a billboard in the middle of nowhere, it’s very unlikely that anyone will see it. But if you upload a video to YouTube or write an article for your blog, people around the world can see it.
Better insights
Digital marketing makes it easy to figure out what works and what doesn’t. You can tell which posts and ads are the most popular and then adjust your strategies accordingly. This ensures that you’re not spending money on something that isn’t paying off.
Conversion tracking
Once you’ve started a digital marketing campaign, you can track all kinds of things to see if they’re working. For example, you could see how many people are clicking through to your download page or where they come from. Collecting this kind of data can help you figure out how to improve your business in the future.
Making more money
In the end, digital marketing is all about making money. You can start by selling a few things on your blog, or you could start an entire store online. It’s entirely up to you and what you’re trying to accomplish. If your business is failing, using online marketing techniques might be exactly what you need to save it.
Better ROI
A lot of people struggle with the return on investment (ROI) for digital marketing campaigns because they’re not sure how things are calculated. But in general, digital marketing has a better return on investment than any other type of advertising out there. If you want to see a huge ROI in your business, digital marketing is the way to go.
Knowledge sharing
Part of what makes digital marketing great is that it’s so much easier to share information with people all over the world. People no longer have to wait for television shows or magazines to publish new content — they can just log into Facebook and Twitter themselves and see what’s happening.
Common Internet Marketing Questions
For better or worse, digital marketing is changing the way companies do business. There are many reasons for this, with many of them centering on the internet. While it is easy to get caught up in all of the hype, you can’t help but notice that there are a lot of things that are new to everyone. That is because digital marketing is a relatively new endeavor.
Like anything else, there are going to be common questions that pop up. Here we hope to help answer some of them.
What’s the future of digital marketing?
Digital marketing is expected to grow by 18% in the next three years. Digital marketing has not only grown over the last few years but it will continue to increase exponentially into the future.
What are some different types of digital marketing?
The different types of digital marketing include google ads, search engine optimization, email marketing, social media advertising and more. The more popular methods of advertising on social media include Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads.
What’s the difference between search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and social media?
SEM is part of digital marketing. SEM includes different strategies such as SEO, PPC and display advertising that are used to generate pay per click traffic. Social media marketing uses different strategies such as Facebook ads and Instagram ads to promote a product, brand or service in a social network.
How Much Will Digital Marketing Cost My Business?
Digital marketing can cost as little as $2.50 per day and up to thousands of dollars per day. A digital marketing company can help you determine how much it will cost your business to get noticed online.
How Can I Improve My Digital Marketing Strategy?
In order to improve your digital marketing strategy, you must first create an actionable plan and have someone who can execute it for you. The execution of this plan will help increase your brand’s awareness, visibility and popularity on the web.
How can I get started in Digital Marketing?
Just like any other business, you need to start with an idea and create a strategy to execute it. You should then find someone who can help you get online and start promoting your product, brand or service on the web.
Who Should I Hire for my Digital Marketing Needs?
There are many digital marketing companies out there that claim to have the best experts. When choosing a digital marketing company, you should hire someone with extensive experience in internet marketing and also someone who can bring value to your business and objectives.
Where Can I Get Free Digital Marketing Training?
There are many free digital marketing training videos online that can help you learn more about internet marketing. You should take time to watch these videos and use the resources they provide.
What’s the Difference Between SEO and SEM?
SEM is a part of SEO, meaning that it is an extension of SEO. SEM includes different strategies such as SEO, PPC and display advertising that are used to generate pay per click traffic.
What Are the Benefits of Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing helps businesses increase their brand awareness, reach more people in a specific niche, provide information about a product or service and give more credibility to their website or social media platform.
How Do I Create and Implement a Digital Marketing Strategy?
First of all, you should create a digital marketing strategy that includes your business objectives. You should then research how to execute this strategy and get help from experts and an expert who can help you successfully complete your plan.
How Can I Get My Business Noticed Online?
You can get your business noticed online by finding the right digital marketing company. This company should be able to help create a well-defined online marketing strategy and execute it for you.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is a tricky subject to master, and with so many new platforms and technologies emerging all the time, it is easy to get lost in the noise. This is exactly why we’ve spent the past six months researching the digital landscape and creating this ultimate guide to digital marketing.
As we conclude our journey, there is one last thing that needs to be said: there’s always room for learning.
As technology develops and new marketing methods are invented, we will have to adapt along with it. Even Google, the king of digital marketing, is always looking for ways to improve their service and deliver better results to businesses and consumers.
If they’re working on it, you can bet we will have to as well.
