Someone once said that the business of doing business is a serious business that needs serious people. In business, it is not the number of disappointments you get that count but how many times you jump back up after every fall.
No business exists in a vacuum. Having a business and not talking about it, without letting people know about it through advertising is like winking at a very beautiful girl in total darkness. With this in mind, many businesses in Kenya have opted for online marketing. Despite the fact that many businesses are embracing the use of social media for advertising, according to Noah Miller, “many Kenyan companies do not fully grasp the power of social media, how it fits into their business and the impact it can make,”
Online marketing is a process. There are five stages that every online marketer should follow. The five stages make up the marketing funnel, that is, the visualization for understanding the marketing process that turns leads into customers. The stages are:
- Awareness
- Engagement
- Preference
- Impact
- Advocacy
Awareness
This is the talking to your audience telling them about your products and services. Many businesses in Kenya have resorted to social media hyping with the help of social media influencers. In this stage, the conversation is always a monologue coming either from the company or the influencers working for the business.
Engagement
This is the interaction that occurs in response to content shared on an owned channel. This is how the audience takes up the messages, sharing your content and talking about your products and services. This depends on the amount of awareness created at the Awareness stage. Engagement is a two-way mode of communication. The moment people outside the company start sharing messages about your brand, products and services, the engagement stage has kicked off. However, many businesses rarely reach this stage.
Preference
This is the ability to cause, change or sway an opinion or behaviour of people about your brand, product or service. The essence of marketing is to maintain the existing clients and be in a position to change the opinion of your competitor’s clients to start viewing your brand, product or service as better than what they might be using.
Impact
This includes financial gain. When the company or business begin to realize increased sales, increased profits increased brand preference, increased traffic on a company or business website among other factors, the impact stage will have been achieved.
Advocacy
This is where other people start making the case for you about your products and services. These are like natural brand ambassadors who upon using the product or service, talk well about it. This stage includes positive testimonials, call to action, recommendations that lead back to creating more awareness.
Featured image via techxb.com.
