These steps are all you need to make it work!
First Impressions are what sells your brand, period. With over 100 million Nigerians online and billions of content to keep them pre-occupied, your brand online has to hit its mark hard and fast. Clicks are simply not enough to turn your idea into alerts. If “DM to Order” is starting to feel like the last stop for prospective customers, then it’s probably because your brand didn’t make a lasting first impression.
How to turn clicks into paying clients? There are three simple steps: know what to sell, where to place your business and how to avoid delivery wahala.
STEP 1: KNOW WHAT TO SELL.
Before going headlong into any business, the number one rule is to know what to sell and what services you want to offer. Nigerians are simply not going to buy what they think they don’t need. Which means that you can’t sell what people are likely never going to buy. The main aim of any business online is to make profit. Once that aim is out, the business will crumple.
Do your research. Ask the right questions: what services can I offer that will be beneficial to Nigerians? What products can I sell that will feature in prospective customers’ daily lifestyles? Nowadays it is not just enough to sell. Is what you are selling of any immediate benefit?
STEP 2: KNOW WHERE TO PLACE YOUR BUSINESS.
The key is to choose your sales channel. Online business thrives on knowing how to reach your target audience using the right method of communication. Selling second hand dresses, also known as thrift or okrika, might not do too well on Whatsapp but perform exceedingly well on Facebook. This is because there is the factor of distance in Facebook sales which can limit embarrassing or uncomfortable feelings your customers might be experiencing.
This is not always the case, however. Some businesses thrive better when there is the presence of closeness. Most Nigerians shopping online want to feel like they know you on a personal level. They don’t want the detached feeling where they can’t even be sure if you’ll stand on your promises to deliver. Knowing the right channel to place your business will help to build trust.
The main thing is to set up shop in spaces that the average Nigerian trust and can easily assess:
● WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram: These are social media tools that can come in handy depending on your branding voice. After choosing the right social media tool, the next thing is to create a business page and a catalog, complete with pictures and prices for a lasting positive first impression. If you slap a few blurry pictures with “DM for Price” then be prepared to have your brand and business doubted and discarded from the very first click.
● On these social media channels, absolutely make use of their reels function. For example, on Instagram, display your business or at least a part of it to prospective customers using reels. On Whatsapp, use the status update functions to make people see what they are going to get. You do not need fancy websites if you want to start selling in Nigeria but you most definitely need a channel people trust and see on a regular basis.
STEP 3: HOW TO AVOID DELIVERY WAHALA.
This is the part that almost certainly destroys trust in a brand when not handled properly. After ordering, the next step most people expect is to be able to get their products delivered as at when due. When delivery isn’t done, people get worried and when they get worried, it leaves them feeling like they can never put their faith or trust in that particular brand. Often times, delivery issues do not stem from the owner of the business but from the channels and methods used in the delivery. As such, business owners and people just starting out in the online business sector must take into consideration the right and best channels for delivery. Again, use channels such as trusted dispatch riders so that the delivery of your products does not fall through.
NEW BRAND?
Taking your business into the digital world means that, when done right, your reach is limitless. People from different places can click on your business profile and order products from you. But first, you must know how to package your brand professionally. People often say “Don’t judge a book by its cover’’but the fact is: people will judge your product by how you package your profile. If it isn’t professional, it leaves the clicks as just that: clicks. No purchases and certainly, no referrals.
By abiding to the three steps of business accountability, you can get your business started up right out of the bat.
KNOWING HOW TO MARKET YOUR PRODUCT
To sell online in Nigeria follows the three major steps listed above but following those steps without proper marketing will limit your reach. Offering legitimacy in your business is how you sell. Market your product by doing the appropriate research. Use content creation to get your brand out to the world. In Nigeria, there are over a hundred million people online. Use this to your advantage and create relatable contents.
For example, if you are going to sell cosmetics, make content that is all about the pitfalls of using the wrong or fake cosmetics. Make content that shows how a person will look when they use the right one. Don’t spoon feed your target audience by insisting that your brand is the best there is out there. They will come to that conclusion through the subtle hints you leave in your contents.
Nigerians rely on contents and products that are relatable. That is what they buy. Focus on that. Build your brand on that singular step because that is what will give you community engagement.
So think. What am I offering to the Nigerian digital market? And, now, how do I make my brand and product relatable? As stated earlier, make use of Whatsapp status to post your products. Engage your viewers by asking questions and answering questions that may be asked. Brand loyalty is a thing even though there might be hundreds of the same product floating around. This is how you maintain brand loyalty and keep the referrals coming in.
Make use of Instagram reels. Real Nigerians spend time consuming contents on Instagram. Post your business there using professional and well-defined pictures to hook and grab their attention.
MISTAKES THAT CAN HINDER YOUR BRAND SALESWhen selling online in Nigeria, here are some common mistakes to avoid
⮚ Keeping prices a secret. When posting your business online, bear in mind that once prospective customers click on your brand and see a product they like, they want to see the price without having to send the first message. “DM for price” makes your brand feel like a secret and chances are, once people feel you are not transparent, they go for something else.
⮚ Communication pitfalls: You can never be able to outrightly guess when customers will send you messages concerning your business or a particular product but you can timely respond to these messages. Slow replies or late replies will hinder the growth of your business and kill sales.
⮚ Overstocking a product that is not a bestseller. Check to see which product is getting the more clicks and views before stocking on that product. By overstocking, you make the mistake of relying on one product without validating demand.
Selling online is not without its risks but these risks can be mitigated once you follow the necessary laid down steps. What differentiates a growing business from one that is failing is not the capital or how much you’ve paid for advertisement. It is the infrastructure used in the execution.
