Social Media: You reap what you sow

"Is the time injected in social media worth the value you get out"?

This is a great question and we've been hearing it over and over again. The best way to get value
out of social media is to plan what you want to get out of it.As social media becomes increasingly popular, companies are jumping on board without planning a strategy. If your goal is to grow sales, you will probably use the differently platforms differently from business whose goal is to get customer feedback.

It is important therefore to understand that it’s not about spending 24 hours blogging, tweeting and wall posting that's going to bring value-rather it’s about planned, scheduled networking with a specific goal in mind.

For example we have two clients who we are developing strategies for: one is a tours and travel company while the second is a charitable organization. Although they are both going to be using Facebook, their pages are going to be customized with different features that are designed to attract different fan bases.

If you sow in a discriminatory manner your harvest will not be clear but if you plan to sow your time in a very strategic way, you will be able to measure the effort quite clearly.

The Fairest Electorate

While I have to admit that I am not the most conscientious of voters, I am surprised that even with the widespread availability of technology today, the gimmickry of salt and soap politics are still very much at work in politics in East Africa- specifically Uganda. Whereas technology serves as a great tool for knowing exactly how and where one should expend their campaign coins, politicians and newbies alike are still depending on the trusted henchman and cursory observations to determine where and how to campaign.

Uganda's electoral commission posted details about every single registered voter (albeit a tentative list) along with their names, divisions, parishes and date of birth on the Internet. Interesting. After mining that data for Makindye division, we generated a summary picture of the number of voters- give or take 100 and about 5% margin for error, the age group with the biggest number of registered voters and somewhat not surprising- the percentage of voters who are female.

The parliamentary campaigns are doing 'Business as usual' and unfortunately the only people trying to use some numbers are the usual suspects with poll results skewed in favour of the loudest vendor.
That's why I love Ory Okolloh- she set a precedent; using technology to capture the political atmosphere. If technology cannot be used to mine readily available data to inform the political campaigns, then perhaps the election has already been called and we can all get back to business as usual.
To view Enterprise Technology's Makindye Electorate Fact file, click here and then give us your feedback. Hell, hit us with all you've got.

Why East Africa desperately needs Social Media

We know that the Fortune 500 of North America have prominently used Social Media to extend their brands, engage fans and encourage more brand loyalty but even without mounting the SM wagon I'm pretty sure they would still continue to mint out the millions and billions.

Some of East Africa best brands on the other hand are still swimming in mud ponds and at best shallow waters. Case in point, East Africa is still mostly known for Safaris and Idi Amin and in most cases it is notorious events like political violence and corruption that put the region on the global agenda. How many know of Def.ini.tion? East Africa's brands need to make money, not coins and that wont happen while they are tucked away in the modesty of a small office in downtown cities.

Social Media is a great tool not because it's the best new thing after websites (which i have to admit in East Africa's case have become online brochures thus losing the whole point) but because it relies heavily on social connections which is a key human need. The need to connect with people with whom you share common interests or with people you like and to spread that knowledge is what empowers Social media like Facebook, Blogs, Twitter and a host of other platforms like YouTube.

A well managed Social Media strategy has the following benefits for little known brands that want to get their word out there:
1. Get the company face out there. The more people see your logo and the faces behind the team, the more likely they are to choose you even when your services are wanting (Plenty of telecoms do this)
2. Get your voice heard. You're only as wise as the number of people consulting you for wisdom. Even if you have the best ideas and no one hears them, you're just as empty as the tin you're sitting next to.
3. Sell your services in multiple ways as many social media platforms are integrated and this helps to magnify your online 'ad' especially since information on the net tends to spread much like a virus.

The key to a successful online campaign however is that it must be planned and managed as well as customized to the needs of the specific company.

Here's what we've done with Enterprise Technology

Must you push boxes?

A month ago I had a brief but revealing conversation with a brilliant technology salesman. He had just quit his job in a leading technology vendor (because they were fidgeting with his commission) and had landed a better salary paying job which was being frustrated by the lack of tact of the 'boss'. This brilliant salesman said to me:
"Some companies think it's useless to sell boxes--pcs, laptops, printers. If you look at if face value, it does look so but in my previous company where we used to sell boxes, we got high value business out of customers who after buying boxes would ask us for high end solutions-license maintenance, data centre set up, network management and so forth."

I say: "Go on."

"In this new company, the MD says he does not want to push boxes because the margins are too low--but he does not even have operating capital and he is not bringing in new customers because he only markets the company as a services vendor- not boxes."

I say: "If you've got it flaunt it! Give customers a reason to step into your shop."