Do you want to start promoting your business online? Not sure how to do online marketing in Kenya? If that’s the case, cheer up!
In this guide, you’re going to find all the digital marketing basics you need to know about creating successful online marketing opportunities for your Kenyan business.
Online marketing is what will get your business right in front of potential customers. It’s easy to adopt online marketing in Kenya because;
- It is cost-effective,
- It builds your brand identity,
- It helps you connect with your audience,
- You can run campaigns on a variety of platforms,
- and of course, your competitors are doing it.
So, in case you are also contemplating taking your business online, but you are wondering where to begin, here are few steps to help you get started.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Build an Attractive brand
Branding in the simplest terms, is a practice in which a business creates a name, logo and corporate identity that sets its apart from competitors. You might not know it, but every person and business has a brand. Branding determines how customers and your team perceive your business.
In fact, the brand you choose is your reputation, and it can play a significant role in determining your business relationship with other businesses and potential clients.
A good brand can be a magnet that attracts customers into your business and make them want to spend their money on your goods and services. The brand can also help you stand a good chance of attracting loyal customers and thus put you ahead of your competitors.
Having said that, it’s no doubt that you need a professional in graphic designer to help to build a lasting brand for your business.
Step 2: Invest in a Website that is Customer-friendly & Secure
In the modern world of business, having a website for your company is as important as having a telephone number, shop, or office. Many clients expect companies to have content online that talk about their businesses and the goods and services that they offer.
So, in case you have not had a website for your company, it’s probable that many customers have been looking for you without success.
Also, a website can help you maintain a 24/7 online presence making it easy for customers to find you even past the business hours. In addition, the website makes it easy for your customers to get valuable information about your goods and services while at the comfort of their homes.
Having a good website will require you to engage a professional web developer with significant years of experience in this area.
Although this will cost you money, the benefits that come later supersede the cost of establishing a website. In fact, a website will help lower the cost of adverting significantly.
Also, you can use the website to sell your goods and services directly to consumers.
Step 3: Sign up with Google My Business
Google My Business is a free tool that lets you manage how your business appears on Google Search Results and on Google Maps. Your listing should include information like:
- Your business name
- Location and business hours
- Pictures of your business
- Customer Reviews
Today, many people find Google a reliable source of answers for any pressing issues that they may have. They will search information concerning their health, cooking methods, parenting, to mention but a few.
However, for your business presence to get noticed online, you’ll need a Google My Business account to help you enhance visibility when people go online to look for your goods and services.
The popularity of google my business has grown significantly over the years and it has marked its spot as the best search engine in the world. So without this tool, you are denying your business numerous sales opportunity.
Step 4: Start a Blog for your Business
You certainly need a blog to demonstrate your expertise by sharing high-quality and relevant information with your readers by featuring product updates, thought-leadership articles, behind-the-scenes looks at new launches, and even share testimonials from happy customers.
Basically, people want to invest their money in buying goods and services that add value to their lives. The last thing they want is to spend their money on people who have no clear understanding of what they do. If you are good at what you do, giving detailed and helpful information on your area of specialization through blogging can help customers build their confidence in you.
Also, you can use blogging to help clients searching for information online, find your website. When customers see valuable information that can help them solve their problems, they may want to buy goods and services from your business.
Having a blog post that can help you market your website can help direct traffic into your website and this may eventually make the clients develop interest in your goods and services.
The good thing is that you can use social media platforms such as Facebook to promote your blogs. After all, people will always go online to search for information. You don’t have to write the content yourself. You can hire professionals to it for you at very affordable rates.
Step 5: Try other Forms of Content Marketing
Creating a blog post isn’t the only technique you can use to offer important information to your audience. You can also explore other ways such as emails, presentations, eBooks, and videos.
Remember that the more information you are able to offer to people looking for answers, the more you are likely to attract traffic into your business.
You can never separate online marketing and content creation, and thus you have to continually create information that you think will benefit your potential clients.
You want your client’s to think of your business whenever they require goods and services similar to what you offer. Ensure that you offer information that is relevant to the current times.
Regular updating of information is very important if you are to remain relevant. And since content creation may be challenging to you as an entrepreneur, you can always hire professionals such as graphic designers and content marketers to create the right content.
Step 6: SEO Your Business Website
People go to google in search of answers to their specific problems. This is called search traffic which business owners can tap into and increase revenues.
With Search Engine Optimization (SEO) you can make your website rank on the first page of google for desirable keywords in order to bring in search traffic.
Don’t worry if this terminology sounds intimidating. You don’t have to be a coding genius to learn small business SEO,
What SEO boils down to is creating valuable content that your audience wants to read and share. That means researching what your audience is searching for, writing content that answers their questions, optimizing that content with the technical aspects Google likes and attracting boatloads of traffic to your site.
Related: Getting Started with SEO in Kenya: How it works in 2024
Step 7: Post Regularly on Social Media
When used in the right way, social media can be a great platform to reach potential customers. You can use social media to reach out to new customers, talk to them about your goods and services and then convince them to consume what you offer.
Again, social media can help enhance your customer relations as you can use it to receive feedback from the clients. Basically, when people know that you will respond to their concerns, they will be more willing to buy your goods and services. They will also develop trust with you and your business.
But for you to be able to engage your customers on social media, you have to be a regular visitor to the relevant social media platforms. When you are actively involved in marketing your products on social media, you will find it very easy to create brand awareness of your company.
You can also use social media to enhance the visibility of your website. Remember that millions of people interact with the most popular social platforms daily. So if you use the platform well, you could expose your business to the world while at the comfort of your home or office.
Step 8: Collect Emails & Send Newsletters
Sending newsletter through the email can help your subscribers remain up-to-date with the latest products and promotions your business has released.
Newsletters will also offer the customers helpful and detailed information about these products so that they can make informed decisions.
You certainly don’t want to go mute on your customers after they subscribe to your business email. You should keep them engaged through regular emails and newsletters.
When they see emails from your company, they will always be conscious of your business and are less likely to turn to your competitors. Regular communication can also help the customer build trust of you and your products.
Also, make sure that you regularly check your email so as to reply to any concern they may have as people want to feel that their feedback is taken seriously and necessary changes made.
Step 9: Spend some Money on Paid Advertising
Many successful entrepreneurs will tell you that they use money to get money. Although the internet offers many free advertising platforms, it’s also important to invest in paid advertising.
This is because organic online marketing techniques such as sending Newsletters on email, business blogging, SEO, and posting on social media, may require some time to yield.
You should consider backing up these techniques with paid advertising techniques such as Google sponsored ads and Pay per Click so as to get faster results.
Combining valuable content with proper advertising techniques, will definitely put your business in a competitive edge online. The good thing is that online marketing is timeless. In fact, it gets better with time. The money you invest in making your presence felt is always worthwhile.
Step 10: Start a Referral program
Basically, growing a business to the level of success is not a piece of cake.
For you do so, everyday should be a day of strategizing and investing new and better mechanism to reach to clients.
And although online offers you numerous techniques to reach clients, you also need to be at the top of your game in using the various platforms at your disposal.
Today, you can easily grow your business customer base through referral programs.
This involves having happy customers refer customers to your business.
With proper tracking of these referrals, it will be easy for you to find out where your business gets more referrals, and the goods and services that attract numerous referrals.
Step 11: Monitor Your Online Marketing Progress
After you have followed the aforementioned steps, you should regularly evaluate your progress. This is because evaluating your success rate will help you know what works and what doesn’t work for your business.
This will enable you make the necessary changes and thus avoid time and money wastage on strategies that don’t yield. Be positive when evaluating and remember that not all your techniques will work.
Have a realistic yardstick to evaluate your success to avoid feeling like you have failed. Also, some strategies might take time to yield and thus will require you to be patient. When it comes to online marketing, every day is a learning day and with persistence and being flexible enough to implement necessary changes, you will surely succeed.
Final thoughts about Online Marketing in Kenya
Without a doubt the future of doing business is online. Many Kenyans today have access to internet and have a smart phone or computer. As a result, they spend many hours online, searching for valuable information to help them solve their daily problems. As a business owner, you need to adapt quickly and enjoy the benefit of doing online marketing in Kenya.
If you have any burning questions concerning marketing your business online Feel free to get in touch I’d be glad to answer as soon as i can.
