by Abasiama Idaresit (@Abasiama) Actually, no. I continue to be surprised, and frustrated, sadly, at some old stalwarts of the marketing world in Nigeria and Kenya who’ve still to realise the massive potential of digital marketing — the power that it yields on the continent and that it is truly, truly the future for brands and advertising. I still, to this day, come across marketeers who are simply happy with a print advert, full page if they’re feeling flush, in a national newspaper. That is all.
For these people, fully integrated means print, TV and radio. No alignment with their digital marketing strategy, because they have no digital marketing strategy.
Shift perceptions
Part of my role as a marketeer and entrepreneur is to help shift perceptions — and to help digital virgins understand the power of digital advertising, taking them out of their comfort zones and into a brave new world. Now, I’m not 100% eschewing print media; certainly in Nigeria still, the daily national newspapers and magazines continue to boast decent audience numbers; however, what I do tell clients is that they need to think beyond those channels, and reinforce their brand recognition across a number of media — to enhance the overall impact.
My go-to weapon of choice, when attempting to break the bonds of traditional advertising, is usually ROI and measurement. With the rise of digital marketing, the measuring and tracking of marketing efforts have improved tremendously, and it is much more challenging to measure ROI (both short-term and long-term) on traditional (broadcast) media channels. With an integrated marketing strategy including digital, measurement and tracking improve significantly. This is vital as businesses must create shareholders’ value while ensuring accountability and transparency in all operating expense (OPEX). It seems obvious but, for the older school of marketers, many of whom still hold the purse strings of significant budgets even in today’s more financially straightened times, they’re not au fait with what’s involved.
“Abeg, but what does it mean? What do I tell the board?”
It’s that simple
I’m regularly asked this on my quest to make the digital realm a less daunting. Simply, I tell them that they can see where their money’s going, easier, faster, with analytics and tracking. Interactive media channels (especially mobile) — when integrated with traditional channels, say TV, billboard or print — enable marketers and advertisers’ impact on consumers better, while reinforcing key messages across multiple touchpoints. And it’s that simple. If conversion (final goal or the action an advertiser wants a consumer to make) is online (eg downloads, purchase, lead generation or interaction), then ROI may be measured from touchpoint to conversion and marketing spend vs returns may be evaluated.
It’s a simple formula, one that will no doubt be simplified yet further in the coming years as monitoring and tracking tools become ever more sophisticated. But, in essence, and this I say to all of those dipping their toes in the digital waters for the very first time: you can see where your money goes, in almost real-time. Measuring and tracking marketing spend will enable advertisers to iterate messages, channels, visuals or creatives to improve on the efforts to deliver on their marketing objectives.
Traditional marketing channels also have long-term value in terms of building brand equity, which is essential, but branding, perception and awareness value are difficult to measure accurately. While these areas are crucial and it is important to consider these when evaluating marketing returns on spend, data around them may not be so clear-cut. Measuring and tracking marketing efforts are key to improving business returns while showing a real business case.
No sugar-coating
Without integrating digital and mobile into your strategy, you will struggle if looking to reach Africans. I have no sugar-coating for you. Digital, digital, digital. And under that umbrella, especially for Nigeria and the entire continent, I must iterate mobile. It is a key driver for communications and commerce in Africa. In Nigeria alone, 80% of online traffic comes from mobile. Literally. And yet, I continue to come across marketers who’ve no thought whatsoever about embracing a new digital world. So I say to new clients, let the data do the talking; and it usually wins them over as the numbers are very compelling.
This is the future of marketing and the full service agency with a digital core is the agency of the future.
Abasiama Idaresit (@Abasiama) is founder and CEO of Wild Fusion, a digital marketing leader with offices in Lagos, Accra and Nairobi. He is an expert and a leader in the fields of technology, marketing and business. From building technology businesses to enabling organisations to succeed with technology, he has been at the front-line advocating, building and funding to drive early adoption in the field of marketing technology.
“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.
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