BUSINESS AND TRAVELING

DIGITAL MARKETING: A CRUCIAL TOOL IN BOOSTING YOUR BUSINESS.

Going through my various social media platforms at the end of everyday which has become a trend for me, I came across this invitation for a digital marketing training class in the historical city of Benin, Edo state. As someone who loves travelling and learning, I had cause to attend as I was going to benefit from this event seeing that I was looking to promote my blog. Benin was amazing, (I would write about my stay in Benin sometime in the future), and as a fast learner, I learnt so much that I would like to share a few titbits about the information I got from this event . I wrote down a whole lot so I don’t forget. By the way, I also won a facebook customized t-shirt and $100 worth of Facebook ads money like how cool is that!!! So my ads would be coming across your device screen in no time! Yay!!!

Facebook in conjunction with SheLeadsAfrica are conducting training seminars around the country. Go to their website, register and check for dates in and around your city. It’s for both genders. We wouldn’t want to miss it now, would we?

The main speaker of the day,Mr Okemini Otum, who spoke mainly about digital marketing started by explaining the intricacies of a business before proceeding further. I would talk about it in 3 parts for better, easy and efficient communication.

PART 1: THE A B C’s OF A BUSINESS

WHAT IS A BUSINESS?

He defined a business as an economic system where goods and services are exchanged for one another or for money. I defined it personally as whatever we engage in that brings income. We can see from the definitions that profit is the main aim of engaging in a business so if you aren’t venturing into or already into anything with the aim of making profit, then that is not a business.

A.

IS YOUR BUSINESS REALLY A BUSINESS?

Mr Otum made an effort to clarify our understanding some more by saying that apart from trying to make profit, is your business really satisfying all the criteria of being called a business? If you have a good business and nobody knows what you do then you are sure heading to failure. This is why we need customers. People that know what you do and are ready to patronise you for this is how you make your profit. Customers are people who have needs or problems you want to solve. Know your customers and identify what their problems are, what you think they might be struggling with. In order for a business to grow, you must understand who will value your products. Not everyone is your customer if not we wouldn’t have the term “Target Customers”.

We were also given exercises from time to time to make sure we understood what was being taught.

Exercise 1.) Create your ideal customer profile.

Explanation: This is a summary of information about your supposed customer. It is a blueprint of what your customer should be like. Important properties of your customer profile includes A sample name Age bracket Occupation Hobbies Main pain points(problems) How to solve their problems

B.

PRODUCTS:

The facilitator zeroed in on solution finding and tools of research which would point you in the right direction on your journey to finding the right products or services for the customer. Once you understand the problem(s) the customer is facing, then you decide what product or service would be the best solution. Tools that aid in deciding the products or services are; Person interview Blogs, websites, social media Google forms, survey links, survey monkey, etc.

Exercise 2.) Create a question survey pertaining to your business idea that could be used to understand customers and their preferences.

Explanation: What kind of environment are your customers found? What are their likes (their interests)? How do they like their products or services? What they love to see Duration of service or how long the product should last?, etc.

C.

Like a magician, he kept everyone captivated with this part because this is the main reason of venturing into a business and nobody wanted to miss out on this it. I sure didn’t want to.

PROCESS OF *CONSTANT* REVENUE GENERATION: Emphasis on the “constant” because nobody wants to make just short term profits, except you are running a charity.

After identifying products and services suitable for your customers, the next step is to sell it to the identified customers for revenue generation. This is, after all, the main aim of doing business. When selling to people, appeal to their emotions and logic.

EMOTIONS: This is how they feel about a product.

LOGIC: These are the features and properties of a product that customers are always on the look-out for.

Some useful points he gave were;

1.) Put your products where your customers can see them.

2.) Always have an understanding of who your customers are and their various shopping habits as this can help your market and distribute your products.

3.) Know your business. Is it a B2B ( business to business) or a B2C (business to customer)?

4.) Identify the best distribution channels to get your products to your customers. What are the best or most efficient marketing channels?

Note: Before marketing your business, make sure you have done your research. Different distribution or marketing channels work for different businesses. Know what works for you. This is where we went on our first break. I had already written down a whole lot and I was still yearning for more.

The lunch we were served was just what was needed to go on. It was a buffet  and you know what I did obviously?… I took normal portion, lol, I didn’t want to fall my hands after all we were in a professional gathering and everyone was forming professionalism, I just had to join in.

In my next part, our journey would lead us to ” HOW TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS THEREBY MAKING IT STAND OUT” I would share with us ways to go about boosting our businesses, the differences between a B2B and a B2C, which of them works for which business, which one to opt for and reasons why. I would also give us careful steps to take, what-to-do and what not-to-do and point out several common business mistakes we make in running our businesses.

 

Just stay glued to this blog for the concluding sections and don’t forget to share, like and retweet on my various Social media handles. I hope this was helpful. For questions and enquiries, drop a comment. You can also reach me through my contact information.