₦airaland Forum

I teach digital marketing to beginners, and 9 out of 10 people I meet waste money for the same 3 reasons.

1. **Selling to everyone**
“My product is for all Nigerians” = Your ad will not work. Pick one person. One problem. Talk to them only.

2. **No clear offer**
“Buy my course” is not an offer.
“Learn TikTok Ads in 7 days and run your first campaign” is. People buy results, not features.

3. **Quitting too fast**
You spend ₦2,000, get 0 sales in 2 days, then stop. Ads are data. Test 3 versions first before you call it “dead”.

Fix these 3 first before you boost another post.

My question for you:
Which of these 3 are you guilty of right now? Be honest 👇

Thank you, I appreciate 🙏

On the card issue: ALAT, Geegpay, Payoneer, and Klasha are USD virtual cards a lot of us use for TikTok/YouTube ads because Nigerian naira cards fail on USD billing.

ALAT is easy to start with because you can open it from your phone in minutes with your BVN. You’ll fund it in Naira, it converts to USD, then you add that card to TikTok/YouTube Ads.

For more details, check my profile. I dropped my phone number there

digitaliz:
You have been so helpful with this information and I am thankful.
Walk me through this other options you use like the ALAT
How can I message you without violating nairaland policy

My contact should be on my profile

Omo this one happens a lot in Nigeria 😅

Google Play bills in Naira, but TikTok/YouTube Ads bill in USD + they force 3D Secure OTP every time.

3 things to check first:
1. Call your bank and ask them to enable "international online transactions" + USD payments on your card.
2. Make sure your TikTok/YouTube Ads account country is set to Nigeria, not USA.
3. Try adding the card again with your bank app open so you don’t miss the OTP.

If it’s still failing after that, it’s usually the bank blocking ads. Most of us here use a USD virtual card like ALAT, Geegpay, or Payoneer for ads.

What bank is your card from?

digitaliz:
Tiktok and Youtube not letting me use my Master card to pay for adverts, can you help tell the problem. Says card invalid but this is a card I use daily for other online purchase on google play

I've been teaching digital marketing to beginners , and I keep seeing the same 3 mistakes.

1. **Boosting random posts**
Facebook boost button is not a strategy. If you don't know your buyer, you’re just paying to waste your money.

2. **Copying big brands**
Big companies can run “brand awareness” ads. You cannot. As a new seller, your ad must have 1 job: Get a message, a call, or a sale. Not likes.

3. **No feedback loop**
You run ads for 7 days, get 0 sales, then say "Facebook ads don't work". But you never asked 10 people why they didn’t buy.

The people who actually win online do this first: They talk to their buyers before they run any ad.

Question for my fellow marketers here:
What’s the dumbest ad mistake you’ve made so far? Let’s learn together.

Lack of product knowledge is a killer. But I've seen people who know their product 100% still make zero sales.

The real trap is this: We choose a product first, then beg people to buy it.

People winning online flip it. They find a group of people with a painful problem first. They listen to how those people describe the problem.

Only then do they find/make a product that fits like a glove.

Quick test: Before you sell anything, can you list 5 places online where your buyers are already complaining about the problem? If not, don't pick a product yet.

What's one product you think Nigerians need more knowledge about before selling?

jaguns:
Lack of knowledge about the product

A lot of people want to earn extra income online.

But after working with 50+ students, 9-5 workers, and stay-at-home parents, I noticed a pattern:

Most people don’t fail because of "no opportunities".
They fail because they spend 6 months jumping between opportunities without learning one skill properly.

Take affiliate marketing as an example.

The business model is simple:
1. You find a digital product that solves a real problem
2. You connect it with people who already need it
3. You earn a commission when they buy

Sounds easy. So why do 90% quit?

From what I’ve seen, the #1 problem is audience-product mismatch.

Example: Trying to sell a ₦50k social media course to market women who just want daily sales.
Or promoting “how to get jobs abroad” to civil servants who want side income but can’t relocate.

The product isn’t bad. The targeting is.

The people who actually get results do 3 things differently:
1. They pick ONE problem to solve
2. They learn where that audience already hangs out online
3. They focus on education, not just dropping links

I’m a marketing consultant, and this “audience first” approach is what I teach clients before any ad or funnel.

Curious — from your experience, what do you think stops most Nigerians from earning online?

Is it lack of skills, wrong mindset, or something else?

Lol 😂 una too get bad month

Lol 😂