Great business is sprouting online. We now have celebrities not created by traditional media, but by social media.
SUCCESS LIFE: JONAH NYONI
Some big brands are now online brands that have defied the laws of physical boundaries.
The question begging an answer is: Are companies or individuals in Zimbabwe fully utilising these cheap or free tools to exploit new markets and enter new frontiers?
The world is no longer limited to buildings, leadership structures, and walls, but we have better, faster and timely tools to use.
The IBDL Foundation posted recently on its Facebook page that: “Harnessing the power of the social media, digital marketing has become an essential tool for any business to thrive. In fact, if you don’t have a good digital marketing for your business, it is almost as if you don’t have a marketing for it at all!”
Many companies are missing out on this great platform called social media marketing.
More people are spending time on social media and their consumption patterns have changed and cultures are getting influenced by social media.
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Recently, my younger brother had his wedding, but could not get the suit he wanted locally.
He googled and found it at AliExpress, who delivered the suit to his doorstep.
He didn’t need to go to Dubai, but a click on a computer mouse got him there.
He did not use hard cash, but his MasterCard. This is how business has changed and some companies are losing money because they are missing out on this disruptive phenomenon.
To some, this sounds like a joke, but that’s the reality. What should companies do? Let employees be skilled and enjoy relevance.
Some years back, Merlin was doing well manufacturing nappies, but as time went by they lost business.
Why? Customers had shifted. I usually argue in my seminars that product quality is no longer enough these days.
We must understand our customers and build our products around what they want.
In addition, leaders should be intuitive enough to predict and create what consumers may want in future.
Cover the gap
How do we join this new trend? If you want to be effective, you have to cover the gap.
Listen to what consumers want and create the world they want.
Facebook understood that human beings are creatures of socialisation and they created a platform to fulfil that need.
These days, people don’t want to spend time shopping physically.
What should companies be doing? Create applications to allow consumers to shop from where they are and companies deliver to their doorsteps.
So we should always be looking for opportunities that big companies have failed to cover.
Focus your content
One effective way is to avoid being a jack of all trades.
Before you use social platforms, you must think first.
What do I want to be known for (product/ brand focus)?
As an author and a leadership coach, I’m sometimes tempted to write about anything.
But I have asked myself: What do I stand for?
Not every selfie or picture must be shared.
I’m very particular of the pictures of people I post on social media platforms.
Politicians are very famous, but I don’t need them on my profiles.
Why? As soon as you post a picture with a famous person, it seems as if you are endorsing them.
In so doing, you lose your true essence.
Don’t think you are losing an opportunity for people to see that you are connected to popular people. Think before you share.
Not every famous person should endorse you.
What are you posting?
Not every thought should be posted on social media. Esteem quality, clarity, and significance of your post.
Not every topic is worth commenting on. In addition, your spelling and grammar must be correct.
It could be on your blog, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, your brand matters and you need to value it.
Take advantage of free publishing platforms like LinkedIn, WordPress and Blogger among others.
These publishing spaces increase your visibility and your credibility as an expert.
How many likes/comments do you have?
It’s a human inclination to want to feel liked or loved.
At times, on social media, you might not get the number of likes or comments you want, but be patient and consistent.
Make your networks grow from quality
The more you post great content, the more people will admire your work and start to share with their circles.
The quality of your content will determine who shares your post.
Recently, I interviewed someone who advises Fortune 500 companies and has over 1,2 million followers on Twitter.
When I posted my tweet, she retweeted it and almost immediately I had access to a potential audience of 1,2 million people. Don’t just advertise
Many people are desensitised to adverts.
How do you feel when you are watching your favourite movie on TV and then suddenly an advert pops up?
That’s the feeling that people get on social media as well.
Provide great value and people will be interested in you.
Yes, you want to sell, but before you ask for money from people, give them something.
Build relationships
When someone reaches to you on social media acknowledge that.
In so doing, you are building a stronger relationship.
Sometime in 2016, someone from Morocco reached out to me.
I did not know her, but I acknowledged their reaching out. As the relationship grew, she ordered 20 copies of my book, which she wanted to give to her seminar attendees in Morocco.
The question could be: Are there no authors in Morocco? Why didn’t she just buy books by local authors?
The answer is: Money usually flows where there are relationships.
Acknowledge people that reach out to you.
Another great testimony is on a talk I will have in 2018.
Someone reached out to me on Facebook and that’s how the relationship started.
I will be talking to professionals at their annual dinner next year in the United Kingdom.
When you post something, make a follow-up and respond to people that have commented.
Don’t just post and disappear.
Remember, you are talking to human beings on a virtual platform.
Probably, they need your help and advice.
The old saying goes: Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.
If you want others to share your content, also learn to share other people’s posts.
This works wonders, especially when you want to grow your followers on Twitter.
Follow the right people
Follow people with similar interests. Over time, follow people in a specific field and the snowball effect will see you connected to more like-minded people.
Create visuals
People are attracted also by the sense of sight. Create visuals or content pictures that grab people’s attention.
Pictures and videos create a special feeling or atmosphere around your content.
A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.
It’s estimated that more than 6 000 tweets are posted per second on average worldwide, so creating great content becomes essential. Developers have come up with applications that can post scheduled tweets.
What you need to is just feed the feature with your content and those will be tweeted at scheduled times.
These will be automatically posted to any platforms that are connected to your Twitter account.
Let’s connect!
Jonah Nyoni is an author, success coach and certified leadership/business trainer. He is the author of Inspiration for Success and Success Within Reach. Contact details-Tel: 0772 581 918. Email: [email protected]. Twitter@jonahnyoni.
