A few days ago on my way home in traffic, I saw a bus covered with an advert for a brand of mattress here in Lagos, Nigeria.
The advert caught my attention because it looked professional and friendly.
But to my utmost dismay, there was an error in the link given to the company’s Facebook business page! The URL was Facebook/brandname.com*.
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Anyone familiar with links to Facebook business pages does not need a soothsayer to tell him that there’s an error in that link.
As a digital marketer, I felt sorry for the brand. They must have spent a lot on this campaign only to have this small mistake ruin it.
It was a waste of time and money. It is evident that whoever gave the final approval for this advert doesn’t know much about digital marketing or social media.
Brands in Nigeria need to have an integrated approach to their marketing campaigns.
Those in their marketing department need to work as a team and not in silos. Working as a team will help prevent such embarrassing mistakes.
Everyone makes mistakes. I’m guilty too. Over the years, I’ve seen and had my fair share of online marketing blunders. It’s essential to learn from these errors and prevent them from happening again.
It was in this light that I decided to contact the organisation to highlight their mistake.
I went to Google to find their contact details. No website! No official contact details. Nothing! The links on Google are to other sites and forums!
Come on, guys; this is 2017. Your brand has no excuse not to have an official presence online! Your brand needs digital and social media marketing.
The world is now digital. Brands in Nigeria need to step into their online community and interact with customers through social media. It’s a two-way interactive conversation.
According to this article “brands that devote more resources to interactive channels are on the right track”.
The article noted that people are more likely to trust your company’s social media communication than your advertisements.
Gone are the days when you leave social media to a teenage intern in your marketing department.
The management and staff in your organisation need to get involved. Social media’s not a child’s play.
According to the article above, successful brands see themselves as part of society. These brand are willing to get into meaningful conversations on social media. Your brand, too, needs to have an active presence on social media! No excuses.
This incident of the advert on the bus has disturbed me a lot and motivated me to write this post. I see no reason a brand today (a known Nigerian brand at that) should have no official online presence.
They are missing out on a tremendous opportunity to grow their business and be more successful. You, too, will miss out on opportunities to grow your business if you’re not engaging in meaningful conversations on social media.
I hope that as a business owner in Nigeria, you are giving digital and social media marketing the priority it deserves. The internet and social media have provided you with a level playing ground for your brand to compete.
How do you expect customers to trust your brand if you don’t have any visible presence online?
Don’t sit back and leave digital marketing and social media to your competitors or other big brands. You, too, can grow your business and be more successful in using digital and social media.
Nobody is perfect. Have you made any marketing or advertising blunder? How did you correct it? Do you know of another Nigerian company that’s doing this well on social media? Share in the comments below.
* The actual brand name has been omitted in the link so as not to embarrass them further.
