8 STEPS TO BREAK INTO THE LUCRATIVE NIGERIAN BUSINESS MARKET

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "8 STEPS TO BREAK INTO THE LUCRATIVE NIGERIAN BUSINESS MARKET"

Transcription

1 8 STEPS TO BREAK INTO THE LUCRATIVE NIGERIAN BUSINESS MARKET A Special Report by Rita Okoye

2 Table Of Contents Content Page Introduction 2 Define Your Marketing Solution 2 Align Your Message To The Nigerian Market Place 3 Design A Winning Launch Strategy 4 Grow Your Community 5 Create An Effective Publicity Plan 6 Build A Strong Customer Referral System 7 Conduct Strategic Networking 7 Find An Expert 8 Introduction I am Rita Okoye, the CEO of Majestically Rare Limited. I am an International Marketing Strategist whose marketing career has spanned over 18 years. I have worked in a marketing capacity for the likes of BBC, FT Magazines and Channel 5 in London. I relocated to Lagos, Nigeria in In Lagos, I have consulted for CBO Capital, Landmark Group, Ignite Resources, Genevieve Magazine, Xclamations, MTN, MCO Real Estate, Slim with Ease, Resourcey plc just to mention a few. The Nigerian market place is filled with opportunities. A small percentage of business owners both locally and internationally know that you can enjoy good success here in a short space of time. They understand the business landscape. They know that Nigerians like to spend money. In this report I will lay out the steps to breaking into the Nigerian market. If you apply these techniques, you will capture market share in this dynamic environment. Read through each step, one after the other and apply it to your campaign.

3 1. Define Your Marketing Solution Know the Market Most business owners both locally and internationally, go into Nigeria with products or services that they think people will like without conducting market research. There is a better approach to entering the Nigerian Market place. You need to have a very clear idea of your target market and what triggers them to buy. Understand what they need. Not what they want. A business solves a problem. In Nigeria you need to know what problems they need to solve so desperately. Know exactly what it is that you are offering to consumers in Nigeria. Messages need to be to the point without long winded grammar. The communication needs to be clear and concise. Target the Market Targeting is crucial. Nigerians are community based. A lot happens by word of mouth. The Nigerian market place is not yet as sophisticated as countries like the UK, where there are many steps towards making a profit. In Nigeria businesses need to see an immediate impact on their bottom line. In the Western world, marketing leads to sales. In Nigeria marketing is sales. Define Your Ideal Customers Create An Ideal Customer Profile Target Communications Towards Your Ideal Customers 2. Align Your Message To The Nigerian Market Place Communication Peculiarities If you want to succeed at penetrating in Nigeria then you need to understand the communication peculiarities and the best way to get your message across. Be clear and concise. Some English terms are used differently in this environment. For example, a person here may say, I received an inflow (a large sum of money) which outside of Nigeria would mean a deposit. Nigerians are known be to visual. Budgets are used for branding and image, so using images, videos and pictures to tell your stories will grab audience attention.

4 Branding A well packaged brand will do well in the Nigerian market. Nigeria is an emerging market and there is plenty of room for launching great products or services. Nigerians appreciate branding and associate value with having a good product name. Next steps Do Your Research Read Nigerian Publications, Magazines Etc Research Branding 3. Design A Winning Launch Strategy A lot of momentum is required for a launch strategy in Nigeria. A well thought out marketing campaign will lead to the desired results. Nigeria is a large country so you need to identify who you are trying to reach. You should identify the target market by State, age, gender, occupation, career level, hobbies, relationship status and values or a combination of these. Once the target market is identified, plans should be made to penetrate the market. This should start at least 6 months before the date of event or launch so that the target market identifies with the brand and understands benefits of the products or services. Case Study An international company came to Nigerian to launch a product and win market share. They tried to use the same marketing strategy that they used in another African county but their campaign flopped. The campaign flopped because they didn t align their strategy to this environment. They didn t create marketing materials that reflected their target audience and their timing was wrong. In addition, in an environment that is very strong on relationships, they didn t seek to build them. They came and expected to grab market share but their campaign was not a success. Do Your Research Create a Launch Plan Source A Publicity Firm

5 4. Grow Your Community Attend Events Nigerians are very social people and in order to grow a sizeable community you need to consider attending business events or employ representatives that can act on your behalf, as part of your entry strategy. You should attend product launches, seminars, speaking engagements where you will see your prospects, face to face. Make sure to exchange business cards and use the information to build a database of targeted contacts. Build Relationships In Nigeria you have to do a lot of relationship building to build trust. People do love to talk about business issues especially when it comes to goods and services. Nigerians tend to spend money on things they really value. Networking is vital to growing your community in Nigeria. The more events and occasions you attend, the more you will find your target market. In addition, speaking at events, engaging the press, creating more presence on social media, seeking joint ventures and developing a blog with valuable content are all great ways to grow a community in Nigeria. Nigerians are using marketing more as a business tool. Potential clients will pass on their address if they can see a benefit to an offer. When you build relationships with Nigerians and offer great service, there is a natural tendency for them to tell others how great your products or services are. Nigerians consumers like to be treated well as respect is very important here. Treat clients as valued partners. Be transparent and genuine and reward loyalty. Sponsorship In addition, you can offer partnerships by way of sponsorship to companies that are already established in Nigeria to draw awareness to your product or service. Offer free services where you see an opportunity.

6 Join Nigerian Business Groups On Linkedin/ Facebook Attend Networking Events Seek Partnerships Grow Your List Of Contacts 5. Create An Effective Publicity Plan Launch Strategy In order to have a successful launch in Nigeria, you need to be aware of all the three aspects of the publicity, as they are all important; Prelaunch, Launch and Post Launch. Hype is big in Nigeria. Once the hype stops then the buzz for the products or service fizzles out. There needs to be consistent hype even after a product launch to maintain the buzz. A well thought out publicity strategy should take place at least 6 months before the event in Nigeria. The momentum should be very high at least 3 months to the event. This is very important in an environment like Nigeria where so many business events take place. Also the publicity should be spread out over a period of time via the press, social media, speaking engagements, supporting charitable causes and blogging. Please note: Any attempt to launch a product or create massive attendance without a sizeable community, will not get the results desired because Nigerians need to trust the brand. Media Awareness Traditional media is still the norm in Nigerian. Nigerians listen to radio more than TV because the average executive is not at home for most of the day. In busy States like Lagos, most white collar workers leave their homes early and come back late. Even after office hours, you find executives still networking and seeking new business. Newspapers are generally read by the middle to upper class market. The Nigeria media are not that difficult to reach. If you have very valuable content and you have access to the editor, it is likely to get published. Create A Publicity Plan Build Relationships With The Nigerian Media Form Strong Vendor Relationships

7 6. Build A Strong Customer Referral System Word of Mouth Word of Mouth Marketing is a powerful free tool and in Nigeria it is used and accepted widely. Referrals carry a lot of weight because there are no other means of assessing service quality. In Nigeria, professional quality standards are lacking, so competence can only be measured by the quality of service provided in the past. The only way you can confirm the quality of a professional is from a trusted referral. Nigerians respect what others tell them because it is tried and tested. Research indicates that up to 61% of Nigerians buy the same brands as their friends. Raving Fans Businesses that offer great service are known to create raving fans in Nigeria. Raving fans are those who talk about how great your products and services are to other people. Ask your satisfied clients to also write testimonials about your product or service and refer you to at least 5 new clients. Social Media Nigerians are frequent users of social media. According to research 11 million Nigerians are on Facebook so it is a great platform to reach them. Share testimonials on social media by customers who have used your products or services. This is a good way to build credibility through social media in Nigeria. Establish Strong Relationships Ask For At Least 5 Referrals Build Your Networks On Social Media 7. Conduct Strategic Networking Nigeria is a networked society. Business is built around relationships. You can find local graduates who are computer savvy who can act as your ambassadors on twitter and other platforms. Find events that suit your company s vision and try and attend at least one a month. There is power in networking and you may meet a potential client. There are benefits to collaborating. Joint ventures are on the increase in Nigeria. You can run a seminar together and provide different skills as thought leaders.

8 In Nigeria, relationships are normally formed in person. Due to trust issues, you only win business when you have seen the person, face to face. Nigerians are very good at returning favours especially if there is a monetary incentive. The standard referral fee is usually 10% for bringing new leads that lead to business. Attend Targeted Events Seek Referrals Look For Joint Ventures 8. Find An Expert Majestically Rare Business owners, who achieve great success in Nigeria, align themselves with experts who have knowledge of this environment and who can deliver results. Majestically Rare have helped all sorts of businesses both local and international to penetrate the Nigerian market place from investment consultancy firms, publishing outlets, charitable causes, interior outlets, training conferences, fashion designers, personal stylists, health products, authors, schools, just to mention a few. We are a marketing consultancy in Lagos with valuable experience and who help our clients gain results. Please visit our website for client testimonials. We look forward to working with you to achieve your goals. Dedicated to your success Rita Okoye Contact details Rita Okoye rita@majeticallyrare.com Mobile or Website Follow us at