Did you know there are 16 million active Nigerians on Facebook?

With many Nigerians turning social media to their second home, you have to plan on how to take your business to them. This means you need a well-structured social media strategy to achieve this.

Here are five reasons why you should put in place a social media strategy for your small business:

1. Nigerians are becoming more social media conscious

Improved mobile connectivity has increased on-the-go social activity in Nigeria. From catching up on a friends’ updates to sharing content and watching a video, social media is the place where Nigerians go to have fun, socialize, do business, learn new things etc.

Having a social media strategy in place can help you focus on using relevant platforms to connect with existing and new customers where they are.

2. Purchasing decisions are influenced by social media

With the growth of social media over the past few years, Nigerians are utilizing social channels to provide their feedback on products and brands. For you to be able to come up with a good social media strategy, you should know how influential social media channels are.

There are differences between the role each social network plays in the purchase cycle. For example, Instagram is a great place for people to find visually pleasing contents in images and videos. Facebook is well suited to people looking to share content and find promotions. You might want to consider the pros and cons of social channels while putting together your strategy.

A clear strategy will let you plan only to sell to people who are looking out for your products and services.

3. Your competitors will leverage on your lack of strategy

A social media strategy should have a framework through which to plan, prioritise, execute, measure and optimise. This will lead to better results because the activity has a direction it’s aiming at.

With no structured approach to communication and measurement, you risk wasting resource on undirected activity. Meanwhile, your competitors who understand how to strategize will be working smarter at engaging customers based on clear goals, objectives and targets so performance is being measured, rather than results reported.

4. There are key influencers on every social network

Don’t underestimate the power of influencer recommendation. As much as 74% of consumers rely on social media to help them make a buying decision.

Social media channels have influencers, from celebrities to users that command a high number of followers in their network. Some of your competitors are already having their marketing messages amplified by influencers, don’t be left out.

You need to be innovative with your social marketing campaigns. Include in your social strategy how to get one or two social influencers that will lead you to the audience interested in your business and its products.

Do you have a social media strategy for your business? Please share your social media experience.

Source: http://blog.vconnect.com/must-social-media-strategy-nigerian-sme/