In the wake of the recent Kalyppo craze, some marketing related issues as well as how they can be used to our advantage have come to the forefront. The fortunes of this local drink produced by Aquafresh Limited were turned around overnight, all because of whose hands the drink found its way into, as well as how word got out of who was drinking it. How can we apply such a phenomenon to improve our own brands?

A simple tool which was smartly employed and which has become very instrumental for any well-meaning or profit-seeking business is digital marketing and can be used to boost any brand or even individual’s image.

What is digital marketing?

Digital Marketing is simply the promotion of a product or service using electronic media. With the technology industry witnessing a big boom over the years, digital marketing has increasingly become a strategic tool that can just not be done without. This kind of marketing is also sometimes referred to as internet marketing, web marketing or online marketing, and can be used in various ways.

How does it work?

It is all about identifying your target audience, and taking a step further to select media platforms that can be used to the business’ advantage. In the Kalyppo scenario for example, all that was needed was a picture of someone influential drinking it and leaving the audience to create a buzz around it, using social media, and in days, Kalyppo has become a household name. Digital marketing makes it possible to get customers talking about your product or business, which is known as brand advocacy.

Channels such as e-mails, paid advertisements, search engine optimization as well as social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and video tools like YouTube are just the right tools needed for an effective digital marketing campaign.

How well do you as a business or even an individual connect with your target audience? What buzz has been created around your product, service or brand? How do you put your feedback to use, so you could generate even better products and services? Better still, can your product be found in the places where they are being sought after by your audience? All these questions can be answered with digital marketing.

How important is Digital Marketing?

Digital Marketing is essential to any brand for various reasons:

It is not only faster, but also far reaching within a short period of time.

For instance, whereas a company that wants to promote its brand would have to go door-to-door sharing fliers, it could just create a database of its potential customers, and reach out to them with attractive graphics, messages and dialogue online. This is become increasingly evident in even the campaign strategies of our various political candidates, through the creation of active twitter and Facebook accounts.

It saves cost.

Why spend so much on printing a huge amount of posters or fliers or ads in a newspaper, when you could find creative ways of spreading your message online to get even your customers to do the advertising for you? It is all about engaging a digital marketing strategy that makes your product or service sizzle. Cost is eventually saved in the long run for the business.

Data can easily be tracked

To enable easy planning as well as progressive strategies, one needs to constantly know what exactly is being said about his product or brand. This is exactly what Digital Marketing does. With constant interaction and feedback between you and your target audience, the business’ achievements could easily be measured against its objectives, in order to identify the necessary changes that need to be made.

Some sectors that have a strong online presence in Ghana include:

• Trade e.g. Tonaton, OLX
• Telecommunications e.g. MTN, Tigo
• Media e.g. Multimedia, EIB and Global Media Alliance
• Real Estate e.g. SellRent Ghana
• Fashion

Sectors in Ghana that need an improvement in online presence include:

• Oil and Gas sector
• Educational Sector
• Health Sector
• Tourism Sector

With over 17 million Ghanaians already online, how strong is your online presence? Your ‘Kalyppo’ moment could just be grabbed with a little digital creativity. Get started with digital marketing and let us go viral!