How Social Media Promotes MSMEs In Nigeria

Social media has transcended its traditional function as a tool for communication and connection. This is owed to its potential to reach a wider audience – which micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria use to their advantage. This is to grow sales and broaden the profit margin.

It is safe to infer that the 2022 pandemic was an eye-opener to the huge prospects of using social media. While people used the medium to stay connected to family and friends because of the global lockdown, businesses moved to social media to keep their operations afloat. This led to a surge in newly established MSMEs and existing ones on various social media platforms.

Today, you can find almost every niche for MSMEs in Nigeria on different social platforms. This is due to the realization of the power of these platforms in promoting business at its cost-effectiveness. Popular social media platforms MSMEs use in Nigeria are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. You will find a range of businesses on these platforms with different products and services being offered. 

Common products for social media users in Nigeria are groceries, clothing, electronics, mobile phone and accessories, computers and accessories, jewelry, shoes, bags, digital assets, and home appliances. For services, you will find consulting services, digital training, and digital payment services. MSMEs provide all of these for the teeming social media users in the country. However, it should be noted that the products above and services are made available on social media. 

In addition, on-site MSMEs use social media to increase the awareness of their business, which in turn can grow sales and boost the profit margin. Therefore, these businesses use social media to engage with more people by converting prospective customers to paying customers. This is the strategy most businesses adopt due to the large number of mobile users who tend to access all platforms from their mobile devices.

Benefits Of Using Social Media For MSMEs In Nigeria

• Simple And Cheap Set Up

The process of having an MSME on social media is easy, fast, and relatively cheap, unlike on-site businesses. You will need to get a physical store, furnish the store, pay monthly or annual rent, and put other features in place before you can start a physical business. This is indeed expensive to set up as you will spend nothing less than N100,000. But setting up your business is relatively cheap on social media as you do not need any of the features stated for physical stores.

What MSMEs primarily need to set up their business on social media is choosing the best social media platform for their business and creating a business account to get started. However, sellers can create a storefront for their business on Peppa, which is a reputable social commerce platform. On Peppa, MSMEs have a feeling of selling at physical stores as sellers communicate directly with their customers while the two parties negotiate the best prices for products.

• High Productivity

There is room for high productivity of MSMEs on social media. This is owed to their round-the-clock availability to tend to customers’ needs without leaving the comfort of their home. Sometimes, customers may see a product or service that piques their interest on social media. This makes them engage with the business to get responses that lead to sales conversion. 

However, this is in contrast to physical stores that have opening and closing hours of operation. So while a physical MSME is closed for the day, an MSME on social media is still busy engaging with customers and growing sales. To the fact of 24/7 availability, MSMEs thrive more on social media.

• Efficient Marketing Campaigns

MSMEs can easily deploy an excellent social media marketing campaign to grow their businesses. This enables these businesses to tailor their content to their target audience through data derived from competitors’ research and analytics. This content can be text, audio, and video forms designed and optimized to generate traffic for the business. An effective and efficient marketing campaign helps the business to grow with a broad online reputation and customer engagement.

Conclusion

Social media is revolutionizing business, and this is an excellent place for MSMEs to thrive in Nigeria. This is because many benefits are available for businesses when using social media tools. However, it is important to take the right strategy to attract more customers and grow sales.

For new and existing MSMEs, this is the best time to start selling on a social platform like Peppa. This is a peer-to-peer (P2P) social commerce platform for buyers and sellers with a safe payment system. Download the Peppa app on Google Play Store or Apple Store to start selling at profits.