The sheer size and scale of the internet is almost incomprehensible. But the internet is more than a safe space for adorable videos and tutorials: it is a dream come true for brands in Kenya. Companies in Kenya have swarmed the internet in recent years to take advantage of this, a strategy known as Digital Marketing.
But what is digital marketing really? Digital marketing is the act of promoting and selling products and services by leveraging online marketing tactics and channels such as social media marketing, search marketing, and email marketing. If you’re new to digital marketing, it may feel overwhelming. We get that… But in many ways, digital marketing is no different than traditional marketing.
In both, smart organizations seek to develop mutually beneficial relationships with prospects, leads, and customers. Now, think about the last important purchase you made. Perhaps you purchased a home, hired someone to fix your roof, or changed paper suppliers at your office. Regardless of what it was, you probably began by searching the Internet to learn more and find your best options. Your ultimate buying decision was then based on the reviews you read, the friends and family you consulted with, and the solutions, features, and pricing you researched.
Why every Kenyan Business needs Digital Marketing
Each company will have different specific goals in mind, but most are trying to achieve growth by reaching more consumers and convincing them to purchase. To do this effectively, you have to take advantage of all the most valuable marketing resources and technologies, and in the modern world, the internet tops that list. This makes every business in need of digital marketing. It’s necessary you understand the benefits of digital marketing for businesses, which include:
- Lower costs and higher flexibility for your marketing efforts
- Access to consumers who rely on their mobile phones or do all their shopping online
- The ability to speak with authority on topics related to your product or industry
- A chance to engage with influencers, earn their respect and get them to endorse your company
- Opportunities to incorporate multiple types of media into your marketing
- The ability to track customers’ purchase journeys
Digital Marketing Techniques in Kenya
What is a Digital Marketing Strategy? This is perhaps best answered with a question. Can you sum up in one sentence what you will be trying to achieve over the coming years? If not, then you don’t have a strategy. If you can articulate that but you don’t know how to get from where you are to your end vision, then you don’t have a strategy. If you have a vision and a path to get there then you have a strategy. There are various important digital marketing strategies applied by various businesses in Kenya. They include the following:
- Search engine optimization
- Search engine marketing
- Content marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)
- Affiliate marketing
- Email marketing
- Video Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
- Programmatic Advertising
Top High performing content used in Digital Marketing in Kenya
Content marketing has become one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes and industries in Kenya. However, when it comes down to developing your marketing strategy, it can be difficult to decide what kind of content marketing you want to use to grow your business. Here are the most common types of content.
- Blogs
- Videos
- Infographics
- Case Studies
- GIFs and Memes
- Surveys
- Ebooks
- Client Testimonials and Reviews.
- Contests
- Forums
- Interviews
Best Digital Marketing Tools for businesses in Kenya.
Marketing tools vary in form and cater to specific functions to help you carry out your marketing strategy.
With so many tools out there, marketing teams can easily get overwhelmed by choosing what they should have in their arsenal. Before jumping off the deep end and giving everything a try at once, consider the following: Who’s your audience? Where’s your audience most likely to be found? What materials will your audience find most useful/engaging? How can you deliver your materials to them in the most efficient way?
There are various marketing tools out there that can take some of the workloads off of your shoulders. These tools are especially valuable for small businesses that don’t have the resources to dedicate a team to in-house marketing, or the budget to outsource the work to a marketing agency.
- Email marketing automation platform– Email marketing platforms, such as MailChimp and Mailerlite, give marketing teams a one-stop-shop for their email marketing needs. With these email marketing tools, users can not only build custom email campaigns, but they can also use list segmentation to build smarter email lists, make use of our analytics and insight feature to monitor the success of campaigns, and test it all before sending.
- Social scheduler platform-These tools are designed to help marketers plan, schedule, and send content out through various social media channels. One platform well known for this is Hootsuite.
- Image design platform-Content is highly crucial in digital marketing and having top-quality imagery to accompany your content is what’ll get you noticed. Canva is one of the image design platforms that offer marketing teams many different options for creating branded materials. Apart from stunning images, you can create various branded materials from posters to fliers.
- Communication and organization platform- Finally, another vital aspect to consider is having a platform that allows you to easily organize your business projects, while also being able to communicate with your workmates. These platforms help you have a team calendar, a team chatroom, and a Project organizer
What does a Digital Marketer do in Kenya?
A digital marketer — or a Digital Marketing Manager — is responsible for crafting a marketing strategy, as well as implementing and managing it.Regardless of the focus of their work, any digital marketing professional needs to be able to:
- Understand the opportunities presented by different channels and devices
- Maintain a competitive edge by staying up to date with ever-evolving trends, tools, and behaviors
- Know how to decipher “big data” strategically and capitalize on insights
- Gauge why consumers use different channels and devices and for what purpose
- Manage dynamic customer relationships to create meaningful interactions
What type of content is better for each stage of the buyer’s journey in KenyaThe buyer’s journey is the active research process a buyer goes through leading up to a purchase. In a nutshell, it’s everything that someone would need to do before deciding whether or not to purchase from you. It follows them through four stages: becoming aware of a need, considering different solutions to fulfill that need, making a decision between the different solutions, and becoming loyal to a brand.Stages of the buyer’s journey involve- Awareness, Interest, Consideration, Purchase, Post-purchase then Repurchase. For more in-depth details on Buyer Journey read: What is the Buyer’s Journey and Why it Matters
How B2B and B2C companies can use Digital Marketing strategies in Kenya
Digital Marketing is applied by different companies in Kenya in different ways, each to a different degree of success.Therefore, different companies — B2B and B2C (Business to Business and Business to Customer) — use Digital Marketing in very varying ways.So, what are some of the differences between B2B and B2C Digital Marketing strategies?Social media has helped bridge the gap between B2B and B2C strategies since companies can now advertise to both companies and customers alike with the same platform and the same strategies.The difference between these strategies comes in how they have used and the type of content.
