What about us back here in the third world ?
Back here we ’ re faced with a precarious situation in terms of fully embracing digital marketing and creating a meaningful e-commerce value chain . Very few of us can afford to access the internet outside of a bundle , we have a transportation network that barely makes sense and in other scenarios , any fuel to move around .
The current situation presents many of us with a rare opportunity to utilize this time to strategize how we can reach our customers with our message and put their money into our pockets or Eco cash . The one thing I ’ m going to emphasize the most in this video is engagement , how do you engage your customers online ?
So , let ’ s start with the simplest problem :
Where are your customers right now ?
Which online platform is your target market spending their time on . Is it Facebook , YouTube , Twitter , LinkedIn ? Let ’ s say you ’ ve discovered your clientele spends more time on Facebook , where on Facebook are they ? What are they doing there ? Because don ’ t forget in as much as we can all be on the same social network we consume content differently , use it for different purposes .
Once you figure out where your customers are and what they ’ re doing , the next step is grabbing their attention . Say I ’ m selling clothes and my target customer is spending time on Facebook commenting on posts in the group Fashion Police Yevarume Nevakadzi , how am I going to get that person ’ s attention in a meaningful way that ’ ll get me a sell ?
CONTENT ! CONTENT ! CONTENT !
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You need to have a content plan that speaks to your audiences ? In the case of my example I ’ m most likely going to create a post that asks people for a blue dress or yellow dress which is better and put my details on the post . You not only get their attention but you ’ ve made them aware of your presence and what you ’ re selling and you just keep on creating fun and exciting ways to present your offering from there . Maybe I ’ ll create a makeover video at home , maybe style tips etc .… the possibilities are endless . You only need to fuse your expertise in your field with a bit of creativity and in no time , you ’ ll win your customers over . Use their interest as an opportunity to engage them in conversation and lead them into your DM and close the deal . While having great customer service and some experience with social media marketing is imperative , the alignment of sales and marketing teams to successfully execute virtual events and digital engagement will be the differencemaker in maintaining growth rates . Below are some great tips to help you fine tune your online assets across the board :
• Website content – Ensure that it contains the right marketing messages with the right call to action .
• Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) – Check your current website organic search rankings . Benchmark with competitors . Optimize for search engines to improve the quality and quantity of your web traffic .
• Content marketing – Generate ideas for new blog posts , video storyboard and start writing the next newsletter for your customers . Build marketing material that can be part of social conversation and is easily shareable .
• Press releases and articles – Build opics you can inform the media and your clients about e . g . measures in place to fight the current situation .
• Social media engagement – Exploring social and search channels such as Facebook , Instagram , Google AdWords , LinkedIn and strategizing how you can improve engagement . topics you can inform the media and your clients about e . g . measures in place to fight the current situation .
• Social media engagement – Exploring social and search channels such as Facebook , Instagram , Google AdWords , LinkedIn and strategizing how you can improve engagement .
The biggest headache now is DELIVERY !
Unlike our counterparts in the US & Europe we don ’ t have much in terms of an efficient home delivery service like UPS , FedEx and Amazon Prime . As other African countries have begun easing lockdown measures , I ’ m fairly optimistic ours will be eased with enough leeway for us to get our products to our customers . With a lot of mushika-shika vehicles parked I honestly believe this is the opportunity to create meaningful synergies with most of these operators and develop a home delivery system . I ’ m just spitballing ideas here , we have many talented developers who can be persuaded to develop an Uber style app that links vehicles to parcels that need to be delivered or maybe our brothers at Vaya are reading this and can co-opt that into their ecosystem .
The bottom line is , in times like this we need to do what we do best as Zimbos and improvise . With that I say stay safe , stay productive and all the best .
About the Contributor
Gashirai Nyemba
Gashirai Nyemba is a Digital Marketingf Specialist . His career started during his days as a student at Midlands State University ( MSU ). He started an interactive forum , an entrepreneurship hub at MSU and wrote articles in the Sunday mail to inspire youths into entrepreneurship . A self taught website designer , graphic designer , Gashirai has used his skills to climb the corporate ladder one company at a time .