From opposite sides of the spectrum I have heard two opinions from executives of leading companies in Uganda, one very skeptical about Social Media, voicing his concern that Social Media does not yet have a critical mass or enough followers. I wondered whether it was based on casual observation, loose opinion or company research. ICT Creatives, Social Media research, even though admittedly an imperfect science reveals otherwise.
So there are about 5 million users of Facebook in the region, and several thousands using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, with an average growth rate of 13% for Facebook. So what do these paltry statistics mean, if anything? Good news!
Early birds will catch the worm. It is strange that businesses in East Africa only want to adopt a tool when it has become very 'hot', costly and competitive. Few see the advantages of being a First Mover to use a platform.
The second executive was extremely excited about using Social Media platforms saying that she saw the potential of it becoming a customer engagement tool.
Enterprise Technology loves to move with dynamic, quick adapting companies and for those that are excited about Social Media, the benefits of early adoption will lead to cost effective marketing which will lead to customer loyalty and disruptive innovation.
Companies that want a tool to first reach critical mass will only wake when the competition has gone an 'unreachable ahead'.
To find out how ICT Creatives can help you develop a Social Media Strategy, contact us at jtonda@ictcreatives.com
