Businesses Advised To Leverage On Social Media To Grow Their Brands

By Lillian Kansiime

The Uganda business community has been advised to leverage on social media platforms to create brand awareness and grow their businesses at low cost. This was echoed at the Social Media Day that took place at the National Resource Centre in Bugolobi where hundreds of social media users gathered to share ideas.

While addressing guests at the Social Media Day, Vodafone’s Head of Marketing Jackie Namara who was one of the panelists said that if Social Media is used in the right way, entrepreneurs can grow their businesses and customer base.

Vodafone Head of Marketing Jackie Namara (M) shares ideas on how businesses can use social media to grow as Collin Asiimwe an advertising Consultant (L) and Gaetano Kagwa Capital FM presenter (R) listen on during the Social Media day celebrations at National Resource Centre Bugolobi on Saturday

“Vodafone as the latest entrant in the telecom industry hit Social Media with a bang. We have been doing aggressive brand awareness which has helped us build a relationship with our clientele”, Namara said.

Namara said that to use social media as a sales avenue, one has to be willing to try a sale and fail. “When you make an online sale and it fails, take heart and find out the issue, don’t give up. Try to create the moment of purchase within the moment,” she said.

“When you have a social media strategy, you get to know what your customers like and what they don’t like, you get new followers hence increasing you target audience,” Namara added.

Jackie Namara and Gaetano during the presentation

Collins Asiimwe, an advertising consultant who was also a panelist argued that social media is affordable, versatile, and robust. “Social Media brings engagement between the brand and customer, you can measure what you have put in,” Asiimwe said, adding that Social Media can answer the day today challenges faced in businesses.

What Is Social Media Day?

Social Media Day is an annual global event that recognizes the digital revolution happening right before our eyes. While many can argue that every day is essentially Social Media Day, this day welcomes the people to sit back for a moment and reflect on the widespread changes social media and the digital revolution have provided us and our businesses.

Five years ago, everyone’s social followings were probably much smaller, with fewer connections across those networks. “This year, we’re taking a moment to recognize that a single connection is just as valuable as 1,000. We’re calling this global experiment one connection,” Namara added.