Business experts are urging entrepreneurs to embrace digital marketing strategies to grow their businesses while increasing profits.
The experts, who spoke at the startup training organised by the French Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) in partnership with Zenith Bank, Lagos, said startups need to harness digital marketing tools to promote their business and create value for customers.
Speaking at the event, KPMG’s Manager, Tax Managed Services, Ufoma Edward-Ating said implementing online marketing strategies was another major challenge faced by new businesses due to a lack of expertise.
Edward Eyting said marketing helps build a sustainable business while increasing revenue.
She said startups need to create compelling content to generate leads to customers while using lead tracking software to measure the results of their digital marketing campaigns.
According to her, startups need to invest in cost-effective marketing strategies such as social media, influencer and video marketing to grow their business.
She said startups need to constantly monitor industry trends and competitors, adopt marketing strategies, gather customer feedback and continuously improve in order to scale.
She advised startups to develop buyer personas to customise their marketing strategies and resonate with their ideal customers, as well as outsource marketing tasks to freelancers or agencies and invest in training to stay up to date.
Elda David Samuel, Global CEO of ProconnectPAY, said startups need to invest in five low-cost, high-impact marketing strategies to promote and grow their business.
Samuel, who is also the coordinator and operations head of the Nirmala Chellaram Entrepreneurship Skills Centre, University of Lagos, advised startups to master social media marketing, harness the power of content marketing and build a strong community.
Secretary-General of FNCCI, Moses Umolu, said supporting start-ups was a means to economic growth and the chamber had registered over 100 start-ups and supported them in expanding.
He instructed start-ups to take advantage of the Chamber's business directory and collaborate with multinational companies already operating in the business world.
He said start-ups need to identify gaps in their marketing and fill them with the skills the chamber can provide to them.
He said the chamber had organised training for start-ups to help them find their niche in this challenging economic climate and increase revenue despite economic headwinds.
