How to Market Your Small Business in Nigeria

In my five years online I have learnt very many things . One of those things is the power and importance of marketing .You see, marketing is as important (if not more important) as the business itself. You need it whether you have an online business or offline business.

You need it whether you want to start a fish farm , or whether you want to start a bulk sms business but most people don’t give attention to marketing.

Many people don’t even think it is important. Many just think if they have a business or open shop , customers will come flooding in just like that. They hope and pray that people will patronize their business and they do nothing about marketing . Big mistake.

If you don’t think about marketing, you are making a BIG mistake, a grave one for that matter because, marketing is very important. When I say ‘Marketing’ I don’t mean marketing you read in school.

This is what marketing means to me.

Marketing is how you position your business so that you can communicate the right message to persuade your target market to patronize your business.

Marketing is essentially persuading someone to take a desired action.
So If You Have A Small Business , How Can You Market It?
That’s what I will be discussing now . But before you start a marketing campaign for your business you need to identify your target market .

A target market is a group of people that will be very interested and can pay for what you have to offer. Danny even says you need to identify the one person who is your best prospect and then target your marketing messages to him or her.

Now after you have identified your target market ,you can now create your marketing messages to communicate directly to them. The communicating part (what you say) of your marketing message involves copywriting. Copywriting  is a monster skill to learn.

These Are 5 Sure Ways To Market Your Business.

Before I start , I must warn you, some of these method will sound familiar . That does not stop them from working greatly.
Alright . let’s go.

1. Sales letters/proposal letters

Although in Nigeria many people rarely use this .It is quite effective. After you have identified your target market ,you can prepare a sales letter and mail to them. Writing a good sales letter involves knowing copywriting or paying a copywriter. It is usually worth it.

2. Posters and flyers

This is cheap and also effective, (if you do it properly). You can post flyers and posters in places where your target market can see. As always ,what you write is more important here than how fine the print out is.

3. Newspaper adverts

This also works. You need to place adverts in newspapers and magazines your target market reads. It is crazy to place an advert about where to buy fish in an gossip newspaper or magazine.

Now Let’s Talk About Marketing Using Online Tools And Methods..
If your target market can be found online ,then you can also use online marketing strategies. The cool thing about online marketing are: There are many free ways to market online you can easily track what you do and know if your efforts are yielding fruits.

Here are some effective ways to market online.

4. Forum marketing

This is the free way to market your business online using websites called forums. It is not just blatantly going to forums to advertise your small business. For forum marketing to work you need to first create value by helping people who are asking questions around what your business is about.

For example ,if you have a poultry farm and someone asks in a forum about where to get poultry birds in your locality . You can help the person by answering the question and directing the person to the best place. Some forums even give places for members to advertise. Find forums around your target market, join and start making posts.

Julia in recent years, has played a pivotal role in Africa’s economy. And with a large part of the population shifting to online purchase, Jumia market is gradually transforming into a household name.

As a vendor, the Jumia platform gives you an opportunity to market and boost your brand to millions of people in Nigeria.

Watch this step by step Youtube video guide on how to set up a Jumia account 

5. Blogging

This is a great way you can market your small business online. If you look online ,you will notice that many businesses have a blog . This is because a blog can help your credibility and authority . It can get free traffic from search engines.

If you have a small business and your target market can be found online , consider starting a blog. WordPress blogs are the best blogs to have because it is easy to set up and administer.

Finally, there are many ways to market a small business, but these 5 ways work fine. Start with them and improve later.