Broadcasting
5 Ways Brands are Winning on Twitter
By Brian Abel, Twitter Team Lead Greater Africa, Ad Dynamo by Aleph
Over the past decade, social media has become one of the single most momentous technological developments the world has seen. This ever evolving phenomenon continues to change, not only how we communicate with one another, but also how businesses communicate with consumers.
This is particularly true for Africa, with the exponential growth of mobile phone and internet penetration across the continent in recent years. According to the GSMA report on the mobile economy, 495 million people (46% of the population) subscribed to mobile services in Sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2020, an increase of nearly 20 million from 2019.
The report also projects that 4G adoption in the region will double to 28% by 2025. Furthermore, it is evident that social media users across the continent are also becoming more engaged and active online, with increased conversations occurring surrounding brands, businesses, and services, as well as involvement in social and political discourse.
In Nigeria the number of social media users is on the rise, reaching 32.9 million users in January 2022, a vast comparison to the 18 million users registered in 2017. What’s more, with the country boasting a large and growing youth population, Twitter has emerged as one of the most significant tools for businesses, enabling them to connect with the younger generations through advertising and marketing campaigns. This increased activity and access to online communication platforms has positioned Nigeria as the ideal market for various targeted social media campaigns by corporate strategists.
Reaching a vast array of consumers
Twitter has a significantly large audience base that savvy brands and marketers are able to tap into. In fact, the social media platform reported a total of 229 million global monetizable daily active users (daily users who see ads).
Additionally, 57% of the total 104 million internet users across Nigeria, aged between 16 and 64, actively used Twitter during the third quarter of 2021. In fact, the youth of the country is now considered one of the most active users on social media around the world.
However, it is important to remember that simply having a presence in this growing marketplace does not guarantee the success of any social media marketing campaigns. To assure the effectiveness of such campaigns, brands need to ensure they’re reaching the right audience, not just ‘spraying and praying’.
In the vast and diverse African market, leaning on an experienced partner can help businesses acutely understand how the social media market behaves. By partnering with trusted industry expert Ad Dynamo by Aleph, brands will be able to take full advantage of platform capabilities, including Twitter, connecting with consumers on platforms best-suited to their needs, and achieving advertising goals.
Through these partnerships, brands will not only have access to dedicated support from specialists in the industry, but also perform seamless cross-border transactions, and be able to advertise on both a local and global level, without limits.
Building brand recognition
According to Hootsuite’s Global State of Digital 2022 report, 16% of internet users between the ages of 16 and 64 use Twitter for brand research. By ensuring that brand messaging is consistent, stays on top of the relevant latest trends and conversations, and is being posted consistently, brands are able to build greater awareness of their business, products, services, and values with consumers.
But, this is only the first step. Brand recognition is about more than knowing who a brand is or what they do. By creating a holistic image of the brand, from colours and logos to tone and messaging, brands are able to ensure that consumers can quickly recognise a brand in whatever they do or put out onto the platform.
Developing trust and establishing relationships with consumers
Building an effective social media presence, and successful social media campaigns, on Twitter requires more than just shouting your messaging into the void. By consistently, and positively, interacting and connecting with consumers and potential customers, brands are creating deeper relationships with customers and are building rich communities.
The latest research on perceptions of brands by Twitter found that 77% of users on the platform feel more positive about brands that are community and society focused.
By sharing insights and messaging around the latest industry trends and news, brands project a voice of authority. By interacting with customers who are having issues with your brand, products, or services, or need help, brands showcase that they value their customers. And, by authentically engaging with customers, brands are able to humanise the business to their customers.
Improving customer experience
By implementing all of these tactics and strategies on the social media platform, many brands are able to deliver a better customer experience.
As customer expectations continue to evolve and consumers have access to increased choice and information at their fingertips due to the proliferation of technology, customers are no longer looking to interact with a corporation or business. Essentially, they want authentic and personalised experiences that demonstrate the value that a brand has placed on each and every customer. Social media platforms like Twitter are enabling brands to provide this to customers and meet their needs.
Generating new revenue streams
As we’ve already discussed, through Twitter, brands are reaching wider and more diverse audiences as the number of users on the platform continues to grow, particularly in Nigeria and across the African continent. But, more than this, the audience that brands are able to reach on Twitter have a higher spending power than those on other social media platforms. And, according to Twitter Business, 26% of people spend more time looking at ads on Twitter than other leading platforms while 54% of the platform’s audience are more likely to purchase new products.
It’s clear that many brands and marketers are leveraging Twitter to increase their brand awareness, build new relationships with consumers, improve customer experience, and translate all of this into measurable returns. Taking into consideration Nigeria and Africa’s growing youth population and increasing connectivity, in conjunction with Twitter’s rising popularity, now is the perfect time for brands to reach a larger, more diverse, and brand-aware audience both in the country and on the continent. So, what’s stopping you?
Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) has established six committees to help strengthen and modernize the country’s broadcasting industry.
The committees will focus on content creation, skills development, digital transformation, sustainability, policy and commercial opportunities
The initiative aims to support industry growth and improve collaboration between broadcasters, regulators and media experts
The official launch recently, was led by Tony Akiotu, president, BON and attended by media professionals, program directors, former journalists and heads of specialized media organizations.
The event brought together several prominent figures in Nigeria’s media industry, including veteran broadcaster and trainer Bimbo Oloyede, Tony Uyah of M4S TV, Kingsley Uranta of Channels Television, Ismael Sani of Platinum TV and Ibrahim Shehu of Trust TV.
Together, they are expected to help drive innovation and support the growth of Nigeria’s broadcasting sector.
According to Akiotu, the committees are intended both to help shape industry policy and to provide a forum for dialogue between BON and broadcasting experts.
Akiotu said the ad hoc committees were intended to strengthen BON’s work and ensure that the umbrella body for Nigeria’s broadcasters played a more direct and meaningful role in developing the country’s broadcasting sector.
The six committees reflect the sector’s main priorities. The first focuses on collaboration and innovation to promote content creation.
The second is dedicated to training and talent development, while the third focuses on industry sustainability by improving the sector’s long-term financial viability.
A fourth committee will focus on digital transformation and work with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on regulatory issues.
The remaining two committees will oversee public policy advocacy and the development of sports and commercial rights to help broadcasters increase revenue and attract more investment. Together, the committees are expected to guide BON’s efforts to modernize and strengthen Nigeria’s broadcasting industry.
The committees, chaired by members of BON’s General Assembly and supported by the organization’s Secretariat, have an initial 12-month mandate that may be renewed if necessary.
They are required to submit a progress report within three months and implement approved recommendations within the following six months.
The arrangement is intended to ensure close oversight and the timely implementation of their work.
Akiotu also reminded committee members that Nigeria pioneered television broadcasting in Africa and urged them to carry out their work with greater effectiveness and efficiency.
Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) says it is investigating about 34 tertiary institutions over allegations that they failed to refund students whose tuition fees were paid twice under the Federal Government’s student loan scheme.
The Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this during an interview on Arise Television.
Sawyerr said the agency had deployed a five-member investigative team, including operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and internal auditors, to examine the allegations.
According to him, the investigation was prompted by numerous complaints received from affected students.
“As of right now, there are 34 institutions that we are looking at closely with respect to this issue,” he said.
Sawyerr explained that the double payment issue arose because President Bola Tinubu directed that the student loan scheme commence in the middle of an academic session instead of at the beginning.
He said the decision compelled many students to pay their tuition fees to meet registration deadlines while awaiting approval of their loan applications.
“What happened is that a lot of schools got double payment; some from the students and some from us,” he said.
“The refund process is entirely out of our hands. It is the recipient of the double payments that is obliged to make refunds to the students.”
The NELFUND boss noted that many students had borrowed money from family members, friends and other sources to pay their tuition with the expectation of receiving refunds once the loans were disbursed.
He said while some institutions had promptly refunded affected students, others had failed to do so.
“Some have been very good at this. Others haven’t been so good at it,” Sawyerr said.
“I reserve judgement on the intentionality around it because, for some of them, they just didn’t have the process to make refunds.”
Sawyerr disclosed that NELFUND was exploring a tokenised payment system that would enable students to authorise tuition payments directly to their institutions, thereby reducing the likelihood of duplicate payments.
He said the agency deliberately chose not to disburse tuition loans directly to students to minimise the risk of fund diversion.
“Paying the funds to the students could really lead to the temptation for them to divert and do other things,” he said.
The managing director, however, acknowledged that NELFUND lacked the statutory powers to compel institutions to refund students or prosecute officials found culpable.
He added that many frustrated students had submitted complaints not only to NELFUND but also to anti-corruption agencies, including the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
Sawyerr also expressed concern over increases in tuition fees by some institutions following the introduction of the student loan scheme.
He said NELFUND had declined to pay institutions that increased their tuition fees beyond acceptable levels.
“Some schools, because they get paid easily, started to put up their fees. We refused, point blank, to pay institutions who had hiked their fees beyond a certain level,” he said.
He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to investigating every reported irregularity and strengthening the implementation of the student loan programme through continuous monitoring and internal reviews.
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