5 Unique Marketing Ideas You Can Try Out In 2021
Being an SME in Africa requires unique and effective marketing ideas to keep things going. Marketing is an integral part of generating leads for your business and establishing your brand. You have to research your target customers and make use of the perfect sales channel, e.t.c. to ensure the business is up and running.
The only way to achieve all of these as a business owner would be to try out these marketing ideas:
Establish Expertise in Your Niche
As an SME in Africa, you have several other businesses competing for the same space as you. However, one thing that can help you stand out is establishing yourself as an expert in your field. Marketing tactics are common with virtually all businesses, which is why you have to find ways to stand out from the crowd. What better way to do this than by proving how much of an expert you are.
Some ways you can achieve this include:
- Hosting podcasts and webinars on topics people will find relevant and useful to their everyday lives. To gain more reach and visibility, you can collaborate with experts in the niche.
- Join online platforms like Quora and provide answers to questions related to your area of expertise. When you do this over time, people will get to notice you and what you stand for.
- Start up a blog and put up relevant and informative content on various topics around your niche.
- Become active on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, e.t.c. Join in on conversations you have adequate knowledge about and share your knowledge with people.
Taking out time to engage like this will go a long way in enhancing your reputation.
Create More Video Content
Maintaining a personal connection with your clients is paramount, especially in this era of social distancing. The most effective way to maintain this connection is through video content. Unlike before, video creation has been made easier. It doesn’t require special equipment or technical knowhow to get started. Smartphones now come with high-quality cameras and the ability to share videos on various social media platforms.
Ensure your videos are authentic and do not scream ‘marketing’ as viewers can suspect when you’re all out for marketing. YouTube alone has over 2 billion active monthly users. Combining this platform with others is a great boost to your business.
Set Up an SEO Friendly Website
Businesses need websites where people can find information about the business and purchase products and services. With a website, being fully optimised for conversions and search engines is of great importance. While you can focus on other marketing tactics, ensuring organic traffic to your website should be a priority.
To ensure a website is fully optimised, take note of the following:
- Make use of local SEO and other long-tail keywords.
- Ensure content is of great quality and focus on topics that are trending in your niche.
- Carry out extensive research on keywords before creating content for your website.
- For your primary keywords, ensure they are properly incorporated into meta descriptions, landing pages, and content titles.
Setting up an SEO-friendly website requires quite a lot. However, adopting these tips will help set you on the right path.
Leverage Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is one of the most effective and cheapest forms of marketing available to business owners. If you can’t afford it on a large scale, you can always start small and expand as time goes on. The more your business grows, the more you can adopt social media marketing tools to manage the growth.
Below is a list of social media marketing to adopt:
- Discover your brand voice and stick to it.
- Update your social media bio to showcase all your brand stands for.
- Include a link to your website in your social media bio.
- Go for the perfect platforms where you’ll have an active audience.
- Make use of high-quality visuals to draw in your audience.
- Make use of relevant hashtags to reach more people.
- Create branded hashtags peculiar to your brand to help with tracking your campaigns.
- Show up regularly and consistently on your social media platforms.
Focus on Past and Present Clients
According to Huify, “when it comes to revenue, customer retention is hugely important to consistent growth and financial planning. The more committed customers you have for the next financial quarter, the easier it is to make budgetary decisions.” As an SME in Africa, your most essential marketing resources are your past and present clients. Also, they are your primary source when it comes to referrals and reviews.
If you’ve been spending a large percentage of your time and budget on customer acquisition, then you need to make changes. Channel this time and budget towards retaining your current clients and making the most out of them.
Conclusion
Running and keeping a business afloat as an SME in Africa can come with its own stress. However, with the right marketing ideas in place, you can cut down on some stress without losing your new customers and cutting down on engagement. Put the aforementioned marketing tactics to full use and watch your business take a positive turn.
