Africa does not need to create another Facebook just to engage customers on a social platform as other channels and technologies for marketing campaigns already exist, according to Mike Sharman, owner of South Africa-based Retroviral Digital Communications.
Speaking at Mobile Web East Africa (MWEA) in Nairobi, Kenya, Sharman said:“I don’t think Africa needs to create another Facebook because there already exists a unique platform on which we can successfully engage our customers online.”
This follows recent moves by Facebook to monetise its platform via mobile and desktop ads, where it currently has over one billion active users.
Sharman added brands need to engage their clients with the simplest methods possible, including SMS text messages, as well as ensure that they invoke them to respond actively so as to get more insights from them.
“Unless a marketing process involves engaging the user, then most of the advertising we do will not necessarily capture the imaginations of the client,” he added.
Ali Hussein Kassim, CEO of 3Mice Interactive Media, said with new technologies like responsive website design brands will be able to engage their clients optimally regardless of the device they are using.
Kassim however agrees that there is no need for Africa to build another Facebook, saying it is possible to utilise the new upcoming technologies to get the messages clearly out there to their customers.
With most Africans still on feature phones, digital marketing can further be optimised to reach more people at the bottom of the pyramid.
