Over the decade, technology has changed in ways that business had never foreseen. With the boom of technology and the internet, more and more entrepreneurs are taking their businesses online. As women today make their presence felt in almost every field, the digital space notwithstanding, many have come forward and encashed various opportunities to build new ideas. Aysher Wairimu Mohamed is one of those leading ladies. The 26-year old mother of two small babies bubbles with life and passion as she steers her team of two freelance creative designers, two marketers and one admin to growing great brands. Ayrish Digital Marketing Agency which she founded two years ago offers Online Marketing Solutions, Marketing Strategy Development, Sales team training and Social Media Marketing.
A marketer by profession, Aysher considered how best she could utilise her skills in the workplace in order to be improve herself. During her research, she stumbled upon digital marketing and instantly she was hooked. After completing her master’s degree, she went ahead and took up a digital marketing class. Before starting her own company, Aysher had worked in the microfinance industry for four years. During her time there she saw companies invest heavily in traditional ways of marketing their products, which in truth is expensive. This got her thinking to explore other ways in which she could get the same desired results in a much affordable way. With the increasing use of smart mobile phones among Kenyans, she put two and two together and decided to start a digital marketing company and help professionals in the service industry who struggle to express their intangible products. Lately she found out that many SMEs are jumping into the digital marketing wagon, yet they lack the required skills or an in-house staff with the technical know-how, another business angle she has delved into.
As a relatively young business, Ayrish Digital Marketing Agency’s achievements are worth noting. In the digital world, everyone knows, that a ‘share or a like’ is the best compliment the social community gives to your brand. Setting up a social media profile can be daunting, especially when you go for days without a single engagement. Some of their major wins include seeing their clients’ pages grow from zero to hero, with attractive setups that actively engage their customers. To keep developing herself in the ever-changing game of tech, Aysher continuously takes courses to enable her to give maximum value to her clients.
Aysher is no stranger to the usual SME challenges, capital coming in tops. “For one to excel in this field, one needs to invest heavily in software that allows for the development of interesting content to the viewers and boosting of several articles or posts to reach out to a wider community with an aim of building credibility and trust,” explains Aysher. “Without that, sometimes you lose out on bigger clients, or more work, for lack of capacity”.
The high client expectations on their return on investment is another challenge. Customers demand for immediate results in return to the services they receive. Understandably so this is a big challenge for every single digital marketer out there; because most clients don’t understand that like any other business, digital marketing needs time to grow through three stages: Brand Awareness where you let customers online know of your existence, Positioning where you need to be consistent in posting and boosting so that your brand positions itself in the mind of the consumer, and Converting inquiries into sales, the last stage where you have to close deals from the inquiries received. “Sadly, most people who engage digital agencies always expect a 100% turnaround and when that doesn’t happen, they take it as a failure on our end,” she laments.
The streets of social media are filled with many fresh stories. Content is always out there, and to stay ahead of the game, you need to really work extra hard to get value from the online community. There is always some competition of sorts on who has a bigger story and who has a bigger following and who has a bigger impact. It is also not just about putting anything out there but putting something that inspires and educates people. It’s also more of what people want to hear, or what is trending; you always need to stay ahead of the game. For you to win in the social media game, Aysher shares these few nuggets:
If you are looking to join the game of digital marketing, Aysher recommends that take the following nuggets into consideration:
- Stick to a posting schedule or routine. Most platforms work with a certain logarithm and you must space your posts at least one hour apart.
- Post a variety of content: use images, quotes, statements, videos, share other people’s content. In short, be creative.
- Timing: Post when people are online i.e not very early or late in the evening. If you sell diaspora products, know the different time zones of your clients.
- Engagement: interact with clients who like or comment on your post to give your platform a human personality.
- Customer Focus: do not bombard people with your products only; post other topics that are relevant to the consumer.
In 10 years time, Aysher envisions Ayrish Digital Marketing Agency as an academy for sales and marketing professionals. “The future of marketing must incorporate technology and firms should leverage on the massive power of digital to amplify their core purposes in order to reach out to the masses,” she says. For this she believes that the following trends are essential for the growth of any business and must be taken seriously by all entrepreneurs:
- Mobile is going to become the centre of marketing. From cell phones to smartphones, tablets to wearable gadgets, the evolution of mobile devices is one of the prime factors influencing the marketing world.
- Transparency will dictate brand-customer relationships. Currently, customers are seeking more engagement from brands. This trend will continue with customers becoming more demanding in their expectation of transparency.
- The need for good content will not slow down ever. Content, particularly visual content, will rule the roost in the online marketing world, evolving into various forms and disrupting the conventional marketing models.
- User-generated content will be the new hit. From online reviews, to social media posts and blogs, this means there will be a strong need for brands to create a positive impact in their consumers’ minds.
- Social will become the next Internet. Social will become an integral part of the ‘broader marketing discipline’. As its impact grows stronger, most brands will fully transition their marketing efforts to social channels.
As a trained marketer, Aysher spends some of her time giving motivational talks to sales teams to re-energize them. In the day to day of life, routine is the silent killer in any sales team. It is important to keep the fire burning. To keep it cost effective Aysher suggests conducting the trainings in your office premise, especially if you have less than 20 members of staff.
Other than that, Aysher enjoys a good cup of coffee, curled up in her favourite chair, with a good book. A true reminder of that all work and no play makes us dull.
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