I wake up with possibilities each day. I am passionate about making entrepreneurs and brands succeed in their efforts despite the economy. Money is not available to do everything we want to do. If I am correct there has never been anytime when money goes round to do all that human desire to accomplish. The peculiarity of now is that budget has become tighter than before for most brands. The banking reform in our country is not helping matter presently. Banks are no longer granting loans as before. Many brands now improvise on what they have. For many brands today, most jobs that were   contracted out before are now being handled by internal audience. These have all affected flow of cash to big agencies that used to handle those jobs.

The reason above is telling on small scale as well as medium scale brands. The only option to reach clients now with zero or little cost is through engagement marketing. Engagement marketing offers a great platform to brands because it involves dialogue and sustained relationship building. When this is properly done the buyers help you drive the brand in a way that your brand’s huge budget can never have achieved. Engagement marketing helps brands to stay at the competitive edge of creating dialogue and solid relationship with potentials as well as actual.

According to a whitepaper by Silverpop, engagement marketing offers  new landscape of marketing channels on a one-one relationship( that is powered through the web) and allows, empowers clients to participate in a brand’s marketing messages. To excel in engagement marketing, the followings need to be in place

Brands must worth listening to: the attention span today is about nine seconds instead of sixty. So brands need to first work hard to get the attention of the prospect in today’s hyper active, internet based communications tools and trends. Too many things are clamouring for clients’ attention online. Each brand is competing for that customer’s attention. What will help your brand is the level of your brand’s credibility

Sound Strategy and tactics:  getting their attentions is not enough today. The joy and euphoria may lead to inertia that will make you forget the purpose of getting the attention in the first instance. So efforts must be made to engage them in taking a positive action that will lead to achievement of your brand’s goal. Opportunities to be known for their efforts, contributions to your brand’s success must be included in your strategies too. Otherwise they will feel used for a selfish brand’s ambition.

Place value on long-lasting relationship: never forget that relationship is the bedrock of every business today. Engagement marketing will be based on mutually beneficial relationships between those who help you promote your brands and the brand itself. Your internal audience must be trained to value your stakeholders’ effort so that they do not soil the relationship along the line. Consider customer life time value before you over react to simple misdeed. What do you think? Use the comment section.

A couple of days ago I was discussing with a client from banking industry about the level of fast phase changing technology and why many are not taking advantage in the technology to bond. Despite the level of noise with regards to insecurity occasioned by constant allegation of low liquidity level, de-marketing in the industry among other factors. Our banks here seem to be interested in making money. They work on the population and level of docility that is attributed to our people. Some western countries have population of two hundred and eighty million people yet no one dare to take them for granted. Here we are more in the business of showing off in terms of how much budget we have for mainstream media advertisement. Many will still continue to believe that hanging to the old warrior tools is the major thing to do. Interestingly since some of their advisors will want to make more at the expense of their ignorance, they will rather keep quite and reap them off.

The level of changing technology is offering greater visibility platform to reduce cost and it is still  effective. One may say that we are still coming up in terms of access to internet, but as soon as people are moving, brands should move with them. The Facebook phenomenon has remained a mystery. The success of facebook over age-long Hi5 can not be denied. More importantly, there are several other platforms where brands can build a strong community but they are not using them. Gradually, our environment is moving toward online relationships building yet our brands have stayed with the old terrain. The best options brands have today is to go through the demands of age of adaptation that we are. Marketing communication is already in that age. With changing technology and all its new advancement, there is need for adaptation. It is high time brands make the necessary U-turn to be relevant. When it comes to effective brand communication today, brand must adapt, plan and execute. Martin Allsop says “Social media is not going to go away anytime soon. But the businesses(brands) who dismiss it as a passing fad just might”.

Engagement has become a buzz word now. It is built on trust plus positive perception. We are no longer in the old landscape where customer satisfaction rules. We are now in a new landscape where that is the minimum requirement. Value acceleration is the order of the day. The new landscape has fused marketing with conversation. This entails listening and engaging the customers to be co-creators of the brand.

Participation in web 2.0 and social media is no longer optional for brands, but compulsory-that is for those who see the future from now.

Interestingly whether we are there or not, the conversation continues on the web 2.0 and social media is taking the lead. Though the development is still trying to take off here in our country. But we must note when something has become a vogue, the early entrant will have taken position and plundered the markets/options. Web 2.0 and social media offer greater opportunities for brands to start a conversation. Conversation is the beginning of engagement.

Prior to web 2.0 the only way brand owner get to know about customers complaints, request is through physical contacts or telephone at best. The climate has changed here too .Any brand that ignores web 2.0 now is on its way to obscurity, obsolescence. Out of sight is out of mind now.

A good idea sells like hot cake. During Christmas, a text message went round the country at least my family got several. The text has Christmas tree as the major icon with text in various forms but the following is very common: ‘I set up this Xmas tree just for you and your family. It will bring joy, hope, love and peace…merry Xmas’

From the social media effect with emphasis on the mobile, this idea sells. If a monetary value is attached to the use of that text message, the creator will be in money now. I mean consider a copyrighted version where you pay to use that text message. How much do you think the creator of the idea have worth just in the last three days? This is a pointer to those who ignore social media to enhance their brands’ visibility and profitability. I guess someone should begin to think along this line and take advantage of every season as every season throws up its own opportunities.

The point I am trying to make here is that when an idea/brand is good, it must use great channels to communicate it. No one pays attention to a good idea/brand that is not properly communicated. When social media is engaged the visibility become great, the viral effects are great and the followers will spread the news through word of mouth and social media outlets. This will become far cheaper than spending heavy money on advertisement.

My question today, can your idea/brand benefit from social media viral effects? This depends on suitability, ‘userbility’, creativity, innovation; cost. Each platform has its own opportunity. Find the one that is relevant to your niche and maximize it.

In the past three years I have being involved in ongoing research of cyberspace with regards to how brands can take advantage of the cyberspace to enhance visibility and credibility. My focus though had been on social media implications. With the result gotten so far, I can say with all modesty that I am becoming an expert on how social media can be used to enhance visibility and how to handle online reputation damage. I do know Google do not lie. Many brand generals have concentrated on owning the physical space but time is coming when owning the physical space will not matter again. One’s ability to own the cyberspace will count as our economy develops more. Presently out of hundreds of brand and Public relations generals we have in Nigeria, I am at the topmost list. When you search Branding and Public Relations, which are my keywords in Lagos Nigeria, Google put my name at number one. When you search the same keywords for Nigeria, Google puts me among first ten. That is a signal for future leader in the industry.

To own the cyberspace, the future business arena, you need to study and understand the rules; then identify your tactics. When this is done, integration will follow. To own the cyberspace in your niche, there are few guidelines:

1. Determine the vocabulary: The first process is to search your name and your niche on google and find out what google has for you. After this, determine the vocabulary you want to use when others google you.

2. Understand the upside, downside of not being consistent: You need to be consistent with this vocabulary otherwise you will be wasting your efforts. I suffered from this when I initially started. My effort was not focused so I constantly used olaito oluyinka and olaito yinka as my name online. This, google do not believe it’s the same person, so my initial efforts were scattered in google.

3. Listen and understand market needs: To be effective and own the cyberspace, you need to listen and understand market needs in the cyberspace. That will help in how  to join the conversation and still be relevant.

4. The purpose: since the purpose of owning the cyberspace is to gain credibility and maximum visibility, the name with good grasp always lead and wins.

5. Digital communication: This put you on the lead. In fact this is where the heavy work is. Most people do not want to pay the price. Good content, good marketing is vital.

My admonition today is that you jack up your image and strategize to own the cyberspace in your niche. The person who holds the gavel in each platform will rule. It may not sound wise today, but tomorrow will tell. If you need help, we are available.