Firms spending more and more on Social Media marketing: SOMA - Capital Business
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Kenya

Firms spending more and more on Social Media marketing: SOMA

A customer holds a smartphone at a store in Seoul, South Korea/AFP

A customer holds a smartphone at a store in Seoul, South Korea/AFP

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 21 — According to Social Media Awards (SOMA) Founder Martin Muli, local firms are now dedicating as much as 40 per cent of their marketing budgets to the digital medium.

The firms, Muli told Capital FM Business, was likely motivated by the growing influence of social media on public opinion.

“Media is about reaching out to people and the question is where are the people? If you do your research, the people are on social media, there are millions of Kenyans on Facebook and Twitter and other social media networks, that’s why digital marketing is important,” he said.

He foresees even greater investment into the digital frontier as more and more people access smart devices sparking a revolution in how advertising has traditionally been executed.

Growth which he says will positively correlate with ‘online’ centred job creation.

According to research findings by Pew Research Centre, four out of every 10 Kenyan adults use the Internet at least daily, behind South Africa, where 42 per cent of the adult population has access to the web.

The research states that a quarter of Kenya’s adult population owns a smartphone or other digital devices such as computer tablets.

Kenya’s high Internet access is attributed to availability of low value data packages and low-cost smartphones, especially from Asian device manufacturers.

“This is part of the reason we started these Awards, to recognise people who are embracing the new age of doing business. We are working to make SOMA a must have award for those who engage in social media business, to build confidence,” he said.

The third edition of the OLX sponsored Awards will be held on Friday with new Agriculture and Sports categories.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
Advertisement

More on Capital Business