5G In Nigeria: The Advantages And Disadvantages Of The 5G Network

News broke out during the lockdown that the 5G technology  was responsible for the outbreak of the pandemic: Covid-19. However that was  proclaimed a false claim by the World Health Organization (W.H.O). Since that time there has been several conspiracy theories to discredit the use of the 5G technology, but with all indications, the 5G network has come to stay.

 However before the invention of 5G technology we've had 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G .

One might be wondering what the meaning of G in this means.

The G there stands for generation.

 1G was launched on December 1 1979 by Nippon telegraph and telephone entity of Japan.It was only called G at that time .It had several disadvantages and due to it's with analog nature, there was a need for an alternative.

 2G was also launched in 1991 by Finland which led to the abandonment of 1G of NTT due to its improved standards. It had a maximum speed of 50kbps( kilobyte per second) and allows the operations of calls, SMS and MMS. 

3G also came into limelight as the demand for mobile and internet service skyrocketed. 3G network can reach up to 32 mb per second when stationary.

 Obviously there was also a need for 4G network, which is currently the standard and it supports more advanced activities with the speed of up to 1000 mbps.

 Here we are today, with the 5G network. 

5G is mainly a telecommunication technology, one of the major things to note about 5G it is high capacity and lower latency when compared to 4G.( Latency is the duration between when information is sent from a device until it is used by a receiver). It's with much accelerated internet speed. 

However 5G is still very much new and there are speculations of when it will fully come into use in Nigeria.

 There are some well developed countries who have started the full use of 5G networks, countries such as US, UK, Japan etc and the likes.

As stated by some analysts, 5G will account for 20% of global connections by 2025 with companies such as, Samsung Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and Intel leading the charge for its mainstream adoption worldwide .

In 2019 Nigeria became the first west African country to initiate the 5G network trial , when the biggest Telecom provider MTN ran spectrum test across several locations .

Finally, in March 2022 NCC announced the plans to start the deployment of 5G technology from State capitals and it will be gradually extended to all other areas across the states . A move which many considers as a great feat in leading the course for technological advancement in Africa.

 But what are the advantages and disadvantages that will come with the advent of 5G technology in Nigeria?

The advantages of the 5G network. 

1.High speed : it is faster on the devices when compared to 4G and 4G LTE, it has 20 gbps and it is estimated that consumers who use 5G saves nearly 23 hours per day while downloading.

 2. Enhances innovation: 5G helps companies to connect with a whole range of different devices which includes drones and sensors. It gives ways for industries to improve on their productivity and bring out new inventions.

3. Less congestion : One of the disadvantages of the 4G network is that it often get congested, but with better speed and more bandwidth on the 5G network, the problem of congestion has been largely solved.

 

4. Better capacity: It gives companies the opportunity to switch between cellular and Wi-Fi wireless networks. It has the capacity which is 100 times than the 4G network

5. Low latency : It enables easy access to web pages on internet without hassles

6. Due to the advent of the 5G network, there will be a significant boost in military capacities. Military technology and services such as autonomous vehicles intelligence and surveillance will be greatly improved by the speed of the 5G network.

7. The deployment of 5G technologies will consequently promote the National Digital Economy for a Digital Nigeria that will improve the way Nigerians live and work.

Disadvantages of the 5G network

1. Weakens batteries devices: Devices that make use of the 5G network will result in a huge battery drain which reduces the lifespan and efficiency of batteries to a large extent.

2. It has limited global coverage: As at now 5G is only available in some specific locations all across Nigeria, it has not yet reached the remote areas and may take longer years to get the coverage to those kind of places

3. It's expensive: The expenses for setting up 5G tower stations are much when compared to other networks used before.

4. The owners of 5G network can use it to gather intelligence and have an authorised access to private government and citizens data.

5. Lacks early encryption in the connection process: This is an opportunity for hackers to plan their attacks with more precision. it uses software that increases the chance of vulnerable attacks

It's evident that the advantages of the 5G network clearly outweighs the disadvantages of the 5G network . We can see that the 5G network has come to stay in Nigeria, in the years to come, we hope to see a rapid expansion of the 5G network in the country for better technological advancements.

How to Move from Idea to Reality in Product Design

The joy of creators is to see what they have made, being used by people. This is why Product design encompasses a very large scale of design practice, as it's not just for creators in the tech space. There are product designers in the automobile industry, carpentry, architecture, electronics, etc. Far from the broad view, let's be a little more specific in explaining it in terms of building products to be used online as software, app or website.

Product design is the process of imagining and creating products that solve users problem. In this case, product design is the fusion of user interface design and user experience, information architecture, content creation, interaction design and user research to come up with products as solutions to the problems faced by everyday users. As a product designer (this could be, graphics, 3D designer, illustrator, user interface designer, user experience designer, interaction designer, etc) you are interested in doing just one thing - To build a product that would solve the user's problems.

An individual shouldn't be called a product designer because its a field that brings several skills into creating products. But then, if a product designer's goal is to build products that would solve the user's problems, then this leads us to ask the question, How?

First thing first, a product designer needs to understand the problem Just do it😂 

One of the advice that I love so much is this - Always be excited about the problem, not the solution, why? times changes, technology improves but the most likely, would always remain the problem. 

An example is Facebook, the problem was, how to bring people from all over the world to connect together, and one thing Mark Zuck did, was to just painstakingly solve that problem, that's why when Instagram came, and he saw the growth as they were still solving that same problem, he bought it. Same thing for WhatsApp.

We had 3 different platforms that connect people together, but they are unique in their own way.  Because while building products, things change, and if you are loving your initial solution than solving the problem, when things are changing, you are already attached to this, and you would find it hard to iterate and change with it. 
One of the reason products fails 

So understanding the problem

1. Perform user research,
2. Identify the key issues
3. Are there other products out there solving this same problem?
4. Study other products
 

The next thing is to understand the goals of the user for using the product
and also to understand what goals do the company or you have when designing the product, and how can you bridge them together. The key thing to build a product is to understand how you can bridge the goals of the stakeholders and also the user goals together. After going through these stages, understand the problem, understanding the goals of the users and the goals of the stakeholders

What you want to do next is to perform user interface designs. This stage is broken down into 3.

1. Wireframing
2. Mockups
3. High fidelity prototype 

This does not necessarily have be to followed to the letter as there are times, where your brain already have things connected, and you can go ahead and start designing, but why this is important is, it helps you to easily craft out designs. 

Then creating high fidelity prototype helps your stakeholders understand what the product would look like when it's done. A high fidelity prototype can be used to perform user research to better understand how the user would use the final product

At this stage, the designer goes into an iteration phase, where research are done with the user, and changes are made due to how the users interact with the high fidelity prototype. It's called Design testing phase. The methods of testing usability involves:

1. Observation of users
2. View of users
3. Measurement of benchmark
   

When this is done, you pass your designs to the team in charge of implementing, then they go into code mode (where they literally just type away on the keyboard). It is important to work closely with the developers too, as you want to make sure, proper interpretation of the designs are done.

As a designer, sometimes, these things can be overwhelming. There won't be pleasurable times often as pressure would come from different stakeholders and deadlines would also be there looking at you. This is why it's important you break things down in chunks and build them gradually. Remember to make your designs delightful, easy to use, and simple. 

Design is not how it looks but how it works. 

Don't make your users think too hard. Stop coming up with over the earth designs as users are used to some certain things. Be consistent in your designs too. While doing this, always talk to stakeholders in your project. It's important since you don't want to spend weeks working, and when you think you are done, you are told that, "this is trash".

In summary

1. Understand the problem
2. Perform user research
3. Understand the goals of both the users and the stakeholders
4. Design the user interface 
5. More research, this time making use of the results in number 4.
6. With the result in 5, create the ready to use designs, because design is never done 

 

''I'm in the fashion industry and like many others, I rely on deep creativity. Do you think there's really a perfect design process that fits all?''

I don't think there is a perfect design process that fits all, but I want to believe each industry have their own process of doing things, but then, some things are constant everywhere, and they are

1. You want to understand that which you are designing - Why, What and How.
2. How can you go about designing this such that it solves the problem it sets out to achieve?

For instance, being in the fashion industry, probably one of your goals would be the comfort of your customers when they put on your clothing, so I want to believe your design process would be, understanding what comfort is to you, and what comfort is to your customers, and how to achieve this, what kind of materials to use, and how to go about it. Another is luxury, hope you get the point?

 

Juwon Daniel is a frontend developer, mobile application developer, and product designer. He currently works at klen.co as a frontend developer. You can reach him here

What You Should Know about Online Reputation Management

 

The success of a business has always been defined by the number of positive reviews the organization or firm receives. Be it to attract employees or to seek business, reviews are crucial as they work as a magnet, capable of attracting more business. Though the concept has remained the same, the process has gone through some changes. While word of mouth was the best means to get a business reviewed in the earlier times, online reputation management has become the new catch.

Truly, it can be very confusing and time taking process especially in the initial days of the business. There are multiple online review sites such as Facebook, Yelp, Google My Business, Tripadvisor that a business must make its presence known on, and this creates the confusion.

But when there is a will there's a way, or so has history proved to us time and again. In the current world of digitalization, everything can be digitized, thereby demanding fewer hours of work. For instance, tax calculation took over a week to be completed and filed, but given the current stage of digitalization, it can be done within hours. Likewise, there are tools that can assist a small business to automate their online reputation, but the important thing is to find out whether or not the business is ready.
Online Business Reputation Management

As mentioned earlier, word of mouth has been the chief source of reviews in the past. For instance, if one had to make a purchase or hire some service, they would seek reviews from their neighbors and friends who have used the service before. Though the idea has remained the same, the process has moved online. Now people do not look for recommendations from friends and family, they now search for the same online in sites such as Yelp, Google My Business, TripAdvisor and such. However, the search does not end on finding a five-star review of the said store or business, in recent times people want to know what others think of the store, what recommendations have they made and finally their overall experience. Once all that is up to the mark, the customer walks into the given store and makes the purchase.

Reputation management is all about putting your ideas on that conversation, ensuring that these sites truly reflect the customer experience that your business provides. Additionally, there must be some arrangement made to reply to the comments and recommendations made by the other customers. However, it goes without saying, that such a task is not only tedious but also time-consuming. Since you must be present on all these online review sites, it requires you to be shifting tabs to check if any reviews have come in. Additionally, someone must be appointed to answer to these reviews to portray the organization in the right light! That sounds like a lot of work! But here are a few ways you can automate your online reputation management system.

    Instead of spending a few hours every day to respond to the reviews posted on Facebook, Yelp, Tripadvisor, it is worthy to spend a few hours in a week to automate this entire process.
    If you have not checked your online listing in a long time, there is nothing to be jolted about. In fact, such businesses make the perfect candidates for an automated online reputation management system.
    You do not need to log in every time in all the review sites to see if you have received any comments and reviews from your clients. Let’s face it, early in the morning, while you are gearing up for work, some lame cat or dog video on Facebook is not ideally the first thing you wish to see! Thus save yourself from such pains and lunch a monitoring system for the reviews.
    Make use of tools like Stillio. The website ensures that you don’t need to do all of this manually. Instead, all you need to do is to just enter your profile pages into the dashboard, and you will be getting regular screenshots. This means, none of your reviews (positive or negative) go unnoticed.
    While running a business, always know that all reviews will not be sweet and encouraging, there will be some fire shot reviews, hate comments and negative remarks from clients. It is okay if you do not know how to deal with such type of comments. Under such circumstances, a do-it-yourself tool can be the perfect tool for you! The tool will guide you through the replying process and thus keep up the conversation, and the best part, the pre-scripted notes, always keep the conversation personal!
    Running a business is no child’s play. It requires constant attention, hard work, client management and a lot of other things that might require your undivided attention. When so many things are hanging from the roof, you may not find the time to deal with reputation management manually. To that end, online reputation automation is your friend in need. Just set it and forget all about it for some time.  While automation takes care of your brand image online, you will continue to reap its benefit thereby getting your business on the right tracks.
    We all learn something new every day, and that is how it should be. In that light, digitalization is a new concept and using the same for your business may require some research and learning. It becomes increasingly difficult to master the ins and out of every review site and frankly, given the tedious schedule it might not be possible. In that light, one can go for a centralized location to access all the review sites at one go, thereby reducing the learning curve.

Outsourcing though can prove of merit many a time, online reputation management may not be one of the instances. There are things about your business which only you know. Thus you might be the only person who can clarify some doubts a client might have. Winging out online reputation management to others may not prove all that great and chances are something might be missed out. The individual assigned the task may not know every detail or stance to be covered. Of course, you don't need to be an expert in online reputation management to deal with your brand image. All you need is a stronghold and unshakable confidence in the merits of your enterprise.

Sales 101: Understanding your Customer's Journey

For every customer, there is a long journey from the point of first contact with your product or service and the point of sale. As the business owner, sales manager or marketing executive, it is your duty to understand the cyustomer's journey and the possible routes needed to arrivee at his destination (sales). Once you understand this, it bcomes easy to carry your customer and help him land safely which in turn increases your revenue.

Have you made a purchase from a brand immediately you came across their ads on any platform? Your answer is likely, No!

Have you later purchased that product later, especially when the brand follows you up to purchase that product via different channels?

I am guessing your answer is Yes!
 

So what is the Customer Journey?

In a nutshell, the customer journey is the path your potential customers follow before making a purchase or taking a desired action. It's not just about quick sales, but building relationships that lead to long-term success.
 
Here's a simplified breakdown of a Customer Journey:

1. Awareness
This is where your audience becomes aware of your product or service. Your ads create the initial spark of interest. This is part of what you get to achieve with your NG Adverts ads or any other advertising platform.

 
2. Consideration
After awareness, people start evaluating their options. They might research, compare, and gather information.
You need to help your prospective customer make the choice of considering your brand over others through your follow up mechanism. If at this point, you have no proper follow up system in place, you are doing marketing the wrong way.

Here's a typical example: one of our clients who signed up on our website over 3 year ago, ended up using our service for the first time this year. He said it was our emails that kept prompting him to use our service.

If we didn't have any system in place to capture the details of prospects and also follow them up, we would have lost the opportunity to turn them into paying customers.

Think through your marketing system to see if you have this in place.

 

3. Decision

This is the final step when they decide to buy or take the desired action.

Understanding this journey is crucial because it helps you tailor your ad campaigns to meet your audience at each stage. Sometimes, quick sales might happen, but often, it's about nurturing leads through the journey. Building trust and offering value are key.

Conclusion
If you're looking for better results, consider the entire customer journey for your product or service.
You must understand that true marketing goes beyond just displaying your ads to create awareness; if you don't create the right sales funnel structure, your marketing over time will become expensive and you will also get frustrated.

We are here to support you every step of the way. If you have any questions or need assistance in crafting sales and marketing campaigns that address each stage, don't hesitate to reach out to us via email here. You can also connect with us on social media via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.

How to Grow Your Social Media Audience

 

Social media is one of the best tools technology has offered to the human race over the years and it has proven to be very much indispensable in our lives today. So many people use the social media for several purposes; some use it to market their products which could be knowledge, material things, non-material things, just to mention a few.

Even after having so many things to use the social media for, it is very important that the circle built across your social media pages are people that you need in your everyday life. I am not saying you only need people, of course, people also should need you. The main point I am driving at is that, are your audience the people you need? 

Or are they the people that need your services?

Or are they the people you expect to be among your circle?

Being on social media is not just about having the most fun and catching cruise everyday; well, at least for some people. There are a lot of positive uses that could be a turn around to someone’s life; hence, the importance to take it without negligence. Sometimes, the quantity of your followers or the audience you have does not even matter but it is the quality that matters. Imagine having the audience that cares less about what you give, and that is what happens when you do not grow your own personal social media audience.

Therefore, in this context, we will be discussing on how best you can grow your social media audience.

Let’s dive in!

1.       You need a Solid Plan

Before you can build your social audience, especially if you are going to be serious with it, you definitely would need a solid plan. This plan is to keep your activities in check and see the results it would bring forth.

How exactly do you intend to build a social media audience? What social media platform exactly do you make use of? Why do you need to build your audience? All these questions drive you to come up with the best strategy. It gives you the measure on how you want to do this and what you want to do in order to build your social media audience. Remember, planning makes action easier.

2.   Who do you think is your target audience?

After discovering the purpose of why you want to build your social media audience or why exactly you are using the social media, it is necessary you know your target audience. Is it the old people, or the youth, or business owners, or some certain group of people? This is of great importance because it also makes you know what type of plan you can set up to achieve your goals. It allows you to engage in platforms you can find these set of people. It also gives you an idea of activities that can be set in place for you to gain the audience you want. 

3.       What social media do you want to use exactly?

Do you want to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or whatever social media platform? Or do you want to use everything at the same time? Although, they all have a thing in common in order to gain audience but they would need different strategies. If you are using Instagram, you would need to follow a series of steps either by using hashtags, constantly posting your stories and the likes. For Facebook you can join public groups and make yourself known. Different social media platforms, different strategies but it is you that determines whether your desired audience will get attracted to you or not.

4.       How rich is your content?

Another attractive thing you can use to increase and grow your audience on the social media is the quality of your content. Based on your audience or whatever niche you are into, your content must be rich and relevant. If you cannot give valuable content, you don’t give people any reason to follow you or want to connect with you.

The content you give can attract audience and retain audience. It can also do otherwise. Therefore, this needs wisdom and a bit of discretion to evaluate.

Read: How to Solve Problems Using Story-telling and Content Writing

 

5.       Be Flexible

If your content is about fashion for example, you don’t just have to be post clothes everyday. Instead of being rigid and boring, add something fun, educational and add something intriguing to your content. Sometimes, you might have to do something fun that can even activate your audience and attract them to your page or whatever. It doesn’t matter what your page is all about, you have to go outside your comfort zone a quite number of times and entertain people as it makes them feel more excited to come back to your page at anytime. However, this doesn’t mean you should do this all the time or it should not be relevant to your niche. Whatever fun or entertainment you offer in terms of you being flexible should never be to your detriment and it should have meaningful boundaries so you do not look so unserious.

6.       Use Hashtags

Popularly used on Instagram and Twitter , hashtags are very important as it makes you visible. On Twitter, making use of trending hashtags makes your post visible at that point in time. On Instagram also, having to use the right hashtags also gives room from users to see your post and probably get attracted to your page if they are willing to see more.

7.     Leverage Current Trends

We all know Nigeria is a dramatic country. This particular way is an amazing way you can build your audience and it is something I have seen people tried in which it worked for them. 

Since, a lot of drama goes on in this country, it is usually good if you can make use of the opportunity and state your opinion about whatever incident at that moment. It could be as a form of comment on popular people posts or you could post it in your own page as well. Your opinion might be different from other people but you will surely attract people who have similar opinion with you.

Then, they will be like, ‘this person have sense, I will definitely love to see more of this’. This method has been proven very effective especially on Twitter. 

8. Engage your Audience

This is almost the same thing about what content you offer and how flexible you are. You need to engage your audience. It is one thing to grow your social media audience; it is another thing to grow an active audience. You need to constantly engage the audience you have and this can extend to the audience you don’t have. You can organise gift events, referral-and-win events, giveaways etc. This brings more people to your page... I mean, who does not like free things?

Also, according to our recent research at the NELOC Media Academy, about 73% of Nigerian social media content is gossip. The fastest way to grow your account on Tik Tok Nigeria is via gossip, another way is to repost movie clips while on Facebook Nigeria, it is easier  to retain engagement on Facebook by putting up gossip here and there. On Instagram, the fastest way to gain visibility is to flaunt luxury and show some flex in good condition. Lastly, on Twitter, you grow fast when you know how to give savage replies, mostly derogatory replies.

But even at that, people are still buying and selling on the internet. The few percentages

Another thing is how interested are you in your audience? How well do you know your audience or how well do you know what they want? People will want to do more for you when you can create and establish a personal connection with them. 

9. Use Promotions

Promotions make you more visible. Do not be afraid of using paid promotions. That is why we have influencers and different ads for different platforms (like the Facebook and Instagram ads). They are very effective in helping you grow your social media audience. 

10.   Be Worth following

There is an audience for every kind of content. While some content may be unappealing to a group of social media users, others may not be. This is as a result of personal principles, religion, societal validation and morality among other issues. You need to be careful so you don’t lose important audience. I recently unfollowed a popular comedian, He is always posting skits where female always expose their body. 

No single decency! You can make me laugh without me seeing such, so there is no point in me following such a person when he does not have any valuable content I can enjoy.

Some people are like me too. Please do note that everyone have different choices and preferences, it also happens in other aspects too. But then still remember, it is your page and you can do what you like. I mean who cares?   

 

People are interested in what they see and what they can gain from it, therefore, it is important to make use of every opportunity out there as no one knows what could cause you to get a hit growth to acquire your desired audience. 

 

5 Ways to Connect With Customers Using Social Media

 

In this era, it's no more news that social media plays a huge part in our brand and lives. Apart from its benefit of being able to reach the world and see things happening, it plays a greater role in growing our brand and connecting us with people most especially our customers as we will be dwelling on that in this blog post.

It's one thing to have a brand, it's another thing to be on social media platforms, and it's a different thing to know one's target audience, and also a very different thing to connect with them. However, this blog post is to share with you five ways to connect with customers using social media.

1. Be Human; Don't Make Everything Be About Business

It's fine to want to be known for what we do and what we live for, but amidst all that, you don't want people to think it's a robot behind the scene. Always meet them at that angle of relationship, post-non-business related things. Post things that will make them laugh and feel the need to want to come to your space to just relax.

If you're a video creator, you want to show them behind the scenes. Make funny reels. It helps them lose their guard of “S(he) just wants my money.” They get connected with you that way.

2. Interact With Them

A great way to connect with customers on social media is through engagements. You shouldn't just post and move out of your page.

Like their comments, give replies to the ones that need to be replied to, and follow back with your customers at intervals.

Don't just leave them with the assumption that you're just one of the brand owners that just want to get likes and move. You want to interact with them and answer questions they have per time.

Involve them in your business.

3. Dish out Value

No one wants to connect with anything or anyone that gives them no value. Ensure that you build your pages up with valuable posts and content. You can do this by educating and nurturing your audience with content related to your niche. Survey your target audience to ask questions about how best you can serve them. You can as well create an email list, a Facebook community and so on where you add up customers and share tips regularly. 

4. Be Consistent

A brand that shows up consistently is most likely to connect with customers on social media than a brand that only comes up once in a Blue Moon. Inconsistency pulls back your target audience and you might come off at them as a brand that is not in the best form, hence, they get to cut off. Consistency is a great value you want to imbibe in running your brand. Show up at all times. Setting a content calendar will make this much easier and more strategic.

5. Understand Each Platform

You may begin to wonder what you're doing wrong when you post valuable content but you seem to get no feedback. If this is the case, then you need to understand your platforms to be able to make the most of them. Simply put, the way you handle LinkedIn is way different from the way you make use of Instagram, and that of Facebook is a different way from that of Pinterest. You must try to understand each platform before setting out to maximize them.


These five ways are sure to help you get connected to your audience and make the most of your connections. Here are a few tips on how to build your social media presence

Social Media Influencing: A Tool For Entrepreneurial Growth

The term Entrepreneurial growth means systemic plans to achieve a Brand's, Business or Organization's objective to grow and expand it's products and services by quality, quantity, and turnover.

Entrepreneurial growth can be in terms of innovators, business developers, radicals, expanders, customers etc. An entrepreneur who undertakes the risks, and effort to grow the business will certainly have entrepreneurial growth whereas the person who is not willing fails to achieve objectives.

Your business or Brand is like a plant, where the only healthy way forward is to grow. Entrepreneurial growth focuses on that early seed stage where you’re still always reaching for more sunlight and struggling to break free of the soil and leaf out above the competition.

The good news is that while your business is our metaphorical plant, you can be the gardener who prepares the soil, tends to the leaves, waters, and makes it a secure place to grow. All of those elements are strategies for entrepreneurial growth.

In this blogpost, we have narrowed down to discuss Social Media Influencing as a tool to achieve the type of expansion you desire for your business and brand.

What is Social Media Influencing? 

The question, What is Social Media Influencing is what pops up on the lips of anyone who hears someone introduce himself as a Social Media Influencer. Social Media Influence is when someone has the ability to affect other people's thinking and decision in an online social community. The more influence a person has, the more appeal that individual has to companies or other individuals who want to promote an idea or sell a product.

Companies and brands can take advantage of social media influence to help increase customer engagement, generate brand awareness and make sales. This can be done by increasing the company’s own social media influence or by hiring established, trustworthy influencers in the same niche.

Social Media Influencer marketing works. That is one reason why almost everyone wants to become a social media influencer. This type of digital marketing continues to grow as a real and effective way of advertising and keeping your audience engaged in order to make a profit. 

How to Measure Social Media Influence

Fundamentally, influence can be estimated by examining the magnitude of a person's or company's social networks, such as Instagram followers, Tiktok followers, LinkedIn connections, Number of WhatsApp Status views, Twitter followers or Facebook friends.  

However, a more thorough analysis is required, to determine how a person makes those social connections, who those connections are and the level of trust and engagement between the person and their connections.

Professionals have advocated the use of some social influence measurement tools. Klout is one such tool, which provides a score between 1 — 100 based on an individual’s online activity on popular social networking sites. Other industry experts have raised concerns about the validity of the metrics provided by Klout, however, pointing out that Klout does not measure all types of online activity.  For example, a blog post from a trusted Blogger could reach a small but highly-targeted audience and potentially be more influential than a simple tweet that reaches thousands of people.

Who are Social Media Influencers?

A social media influencer is a user that has established credibility in a certain niche or content type that has access to a wide audience or subscribers. An influencer has a large enough following and the power to be able to spark a conversation and inspire an action or change in behaviour or choice. Companies can hire Social Media Influencers to help expand their social reach, become more relatable and sponsor products or services. That said, the different types of Social Media Influencers include:

1. Celebrity Influencers

These are the most popular influencers as they have acquired their followings from their celebrity status. Since certain celebrities attract specific demographics and target audiences, companies can hire these Celebrities to reach their or endorse their product to their fans. 

2. Consumer influencers: These are everyday people that have gained a following due to their personality and relatability. They are typically active on their social media through content creation, text posting, involving in trending social issues, blogging or photo sharing. Because their audience considers them “real” or “relatable” they tend to take their advice closely, such as when they vouch for a service.

3. Microinfluencers: 

Also known as expert influencers, these are everyday people that have gained a following and substantial topical authority due to their knowledge in a specific area. When they recommend or praise a product, their audience is likely to trust their opinion. Most times times, micro-influencers may have to use the products or service, make necessary review before recommending to people. 

4  Content creators 

These include professional bloggers, vloggers and photographers. Their role includes developing new content that readers are interested in keeping up with regularly. Part of a company’s marketing strategy could be to send products to a content creator in the hopes they will review and speak positively about it to their followers. Another option is to write sponsored posts for their platform.

Before choosing Influencers, companies consider a few qualities. The first is if the influencer’s personal message aligns well will the company and is relevant to the same target audience. The second is how engaging the influencer is with their following, or how trustworthy their following considers them. Lastly is to consider the influencer’s reach or follower count as this can help predict return on investment (ROI). This same should apply with your brand or Business. You should get on the job as if you are an employee at your company who has been saddled with Social Media Influencing as sole responsibility.

5 ways to grow your affiliate sales using Ads

 
Are you ready to take your affiliate sales to new heights? I've got some exciting news for you! Today, I'm sharing five powerful strategies to grow your affiliate sales using ads.

    Targeted Ad Campaigns: Reach your ideal audience with precision targeting. Tailor your ads to specific demographics, interests, and behaviors to ensure they're seen by those most likely to convert.
    Compelling Ad Copy: Capture attention with compelling ad copy that highlights product benefits and includes strong call-to-action. Encourage viewers to take action, whether it's to shop, learn more, or sign up.
    Visual Content: Incorporate visually appealing images and videos into your ads to grab attention and showcase the value of the products you're promoting. Visual content is key to standing out in a crowded digital landscape.
    A/B Testing: Experiment with different ad creatives, copy variations, and targeting options through A/B testing. Identify what resonates best with your audience and optimize your campaigns accordingly for maximum effectiveness.
    Retargeting: Re-engage with users who have shown interest in your products through retargeting campaigns. By staying top-of-mind with targeted ads, you can increase the likelihood of conversions and drive more sales.

How to Start Your Career as an SEO Content Writer in Nigeria

 

When I see people complain and “hate on” big websites that “Google Loves” and “gets to rank for everything”, I laugh so hard. This is because many times, the person making the complaint doesn’t take notes that some of these “big sites” have stayed the course for over five years to earn these rankings including algorithm hits. Also, overtime, they have built strict editorial policies to help their websites content stay outstanding. They also provide ample sources and links to back up their claims. 

The internet has become a saturated marketplace and everyone is always searching for information on virtually anything you can think of. The demand for SEO content writers keeps increasing. If you are considering taking up a career as an SEO content writer as a freelancer or a full-time job, you will find this article very helpful.

SEO content writing is producing optimized content that will rank among the top results on the google search engine which increases the visibility of the website on the search engine. This is quite different from regular content writing and requires that you understand the details involved in SEO writing.

Most businesses in Nigeria are beginning to utilize this marketing strategy to retain their customers and increase visibility on the internet space.

But lets me establish the fact this is no rocket science and if you have the first thing as a flair for writing, you’re hardworking and passionate then you are good to go the rest will depend on your determination and consistency as with every other thing in life.

    1. Pick a Niche

This is a very necessary step to take. Picking a niche will make your work easier and gives you credibility. This means you’re not everywhere but known for something and it’s easier for you to grow your expertise when you choose a particular niche. And as time goes you grow a loyal audience that your niche seeks to address or speaks to. You might want to pick from a niche you’re more comfortable or knowledgeable about. 

    2. Build an Online Portfolio

Employers don’t take people for their word when it comes to work skills; the best thing is to show them proof of your previous works. A portfolio does not mean your perfect work. You can start with the knowledge you have and improve on it as you grow. You can be a guest writer for free or start your blog. You should look out for writing opportunities that will help you grow and take up writing jobs no matter the pay. Your main focus should be building your portfolio. This will also help you to practice every day which ultimately improves your writing.

You should put a lot of effort into writing valuable content that can help solve a problem for the reader or provide a solution to their pain point. Structure your content and it should be loaded with information. Bear in mind that you’re writing to attract more visitors to the website.

You should utilize social media platforms as well. Go on platforms and showcase or share your work and put a good profile because most employers like to know who they are employing and your social media handles are their first place to go. 

3. Study SEO 

You’ll need to get practical knowledge on SEO whatever that means to you. Get to understand the basics of SEO, it works and the term used. There is tons of information available online. You should leverage that to get practical hands-on what SEO is all about. You need to keep studying even after starting the career proper because the trend is always changing and SEO is a broad concept that requires constant study to get a hang of it.

You can enroll in an online course, read blog posts, and binge on Youtube videos. You will also need to familiarize yourself with SEO tools that are vital to helping succeed in churning out SEO content and you need to decide which works for you. These tools will help you in your keyword research and just like every tool; it makes your work less tedious. 

You should pay attention to 

• Attractive headline
• The keyword your target audience uses regularly
• Research on the topic and how it benefits the audience you are writing for.

4. Research

To be a professional SEO writer is to be a researcher because you need the knowledge to guide you on what to write and how to write. Your writing should be in-depth and not generic.

Your keyword, fact, statistics, trends, or data shouldn’t be guesswork but be backed up with proper research. And where you can’t get enough information online then get someone who is knowledgeable or an expert on the topic and interview them.

Fortunately, research skills can be learned if you think you don’t have the skill.

5. Put yourself out there

Generally, writing is a competitive skill to break into and the demand keeps increasing. But you need to get out there and let people know what you do. This is why I mentioned earlier that you need to make sure your content is valuable, that way you stand a chance of being considered.

If you’re looking at taking this career as a full-time venture then consider getting a cold pitch to companies or clients who might need your service but if you want to freelance then there are various platforms to choose from like Upwork, Fivver, Freelance, LinkedIn. Opportunities abound but you need to have the capacity to deliver.

Conclusion

 

At this point, you should have a clear path to follow in starting your career as an SEO content writer in Nigeria but understand that most part relies on you. Get to work and start writing consistently, practicing. It’s not going to be easy but if you persist long enough you will achieve amazing results.

How to Start Your Career as a Product Manager in Nigeria

Who's a product manager? 

A product manager is a professional that is saddled with the responsibility of developing products for a company. He/she is responsible for the strategies behind the products, functional requirement and manage different features release of the product. He is able to identify the needs of the customer and look for ways to fit in that particular need through the product.

Project Managers are people who organize a group of people in planning, strategizing, and directing a project for organisations making sure that things go smoothly, and results come out top-notch.


The success or failure of a project lies more on the ability of the Project Manager. From initiating, to planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing a project.


Starting a career in Project Management is for anyone and everyone as long as you're willing to put it in the work. Although having a few skills at hand will help in fully maximizing and stepping into your career path.


Examples of skills advisable are;

1. Leadership skills

2. Risk Management skills.

3. Communication skills.

4. Time- Management skills

5. Financial Intelligence, etc.


Starting any career can be stressful, Project Management inclusive, but these few tips will go a long way in streamlining it.


1. Follow And Interact With People Ahead Of You In The Field:

This is so important yet underrated. Gaining little knowledge from people who have gone far in any career you're about to start helps to reduce mistakes. 

They have gone through the path and they can easily guide you and hold your hands in the journey.

Read their posts, engage, and ask questions at intervals.


2. Start An Online Course:

In the digital world that we are in, access to education is almost without stress. 

Check some free education sites like Udemy, Coursera, and so on, in Product Management helps to put your feet on track.

You get to gain knowledge on what it entails and from there you can pursue a graduate degree in the field and also gain certifications.



3. You Don't Need To Start Big:

Even the mentors you have and admire started small, so you don't have to start big as well.

Volunteer to help out in Project Management work, and also try to handle the little projects that come your way such as class projects. They help to hone your skills and with time you find yourself getting better at it.

Since you now know the basics of Product Management, you can choose to start jobs with entry-level requirements.


Start. Redo. These few steps will go a long way in helping you on your career path. We are rooting for you. 
 

 

 

Before now, Product Management has not been well known, nor was it fully understood for its importance, especially in Nigeria. Because Nigeria is a developing country without lots of tech companies, this role was not very much brought to light in the previous years not to talk of being well appreciated. However, things are changing and the country seems to be getting better in the aspect of tech.

The fact that the number of employers keeps increasing in the country today has made the role of product management more visible and easily noticed. Despite its upcoming popularity, it is still much possible to say that product management is not understood in-depth.

The responsibility of a product manager is quite demanding and the absence of a product manager can result in a lot of flops; hereby, causing the business to fail. The peculiarity of this job or role is in very high demand worldwide, Nigeria inclusive. One must have what it takes to consider a career in this field.

To start your career as a Product Manager, there are questions you need to answer which will pave way for the necessary steps you take.
What do you know about Product Management?


This is the most important question you need to ask yourself. I remember when I first heard about product management, I looked online for the definition and the description of the role and if I am being very honest, I could not understand what product management meant. When I was making my research, on a particular site, the writer who is also a Product Manager (PM) said that ‘product management is one of the most undefined jobs and least understandable’. Then, I realized why I could not understand the meaning when I first searched for it.

Bottom line, the whole essence of my story is to let you know how much people do not understand this job and think they want to do it.  

A Product Manager is an advocate who is everywhere in a business. They play the role of delivering the best services to the customers, ensuring that the best strategy is put in place to ease the efficiency of the development team as well as developing thoughtful approaches to make money.

The PM works for the business owners by making them understand the best products that would generate profit. The PM works for the development team by ensuring there is no dispute between the development team and the business owners or customers. The PM works for the customers by ensuring that they enjoy the best consumer services.

Technical, right?

Yes, it is and that is why I said a Product Manager is everywhere in a particular business.

To start a career in this field, you are required to know the least significant details to the most significant details. You have to understand the job's shortcomings, see how competent people approach problems as product managers for several brands, and fully know all the responsibilities that this job attracts.
How do you start as a Product Manager?

·         Take Action

Having fully understood who a product manager is, you have to take action. You would need knowledge and it does not fall from the sky. The research you have made in the first question leads you to how you want to achieve this.

You would need certifications, you would need skills like communication skills, great teamwork skills, empathy, and other soft skills. This job is not for the weak, rather, it requires a lot of effort before it becomes fruitful. You would need to follow the steps of the competent product managers. Although, there is no definite way to tackle problems in product management, however, there is a standard you have to be on the lookout for.

·         You might need to select a niche

Different companies get to define the standard and actual role of product managers they really want. This does not mean that product management is not the same everywhere but there are different roles of product managers for different products (e.g. software, B2B products, consumer products, etc).

I think one fantastic thing about this is that you can be flexible enough to learn different niches and their problem-solving strategies. However, the decision all goes down to you.

·         You need experience

No one wants to hire someone who has no solid experience in product management except for certain reasons because making such a move or decision can lead to business failure. While you are trying to get certifications, getting experience is another action that must be taken. Especially in Nigeria, you would not be hired without experience, because every business owner and stakeholder is trying to protect their interest.

In Addition, there are specific internships that one could apply for which could also come in handy by serving as experience and a way to acquire more knowledge on the job. Another way is to consider volunteering for start-up companies.

·         Be current or be up-to-date

Things are changing every day and as someone who is starting his/her career as a product manager in Nigeria, staying up to date earns you a chance of being in higher demand among other PMs. You need to be conversant with new methods and strategies that can be used to approach a problem. Likewise, you must be creative as new ideas keep coming up. This makes you unique as a starter in this field.  

Customers’ wants and needs are changing, development teams are becoming more creative and there needs to be a balance to ensure profit for the business owners or stakeholders. Applying old and lame techniques might cause flops and they might not even align with the problems; therefore, it is important to be flexible enough to ensure the best product is delivered despite irregularities from several angles.

Learning never stops and there is no one way to solve infinite problems. To survive, you must be wise, competent, and consistent; and also do what it takes.

·         Market yourself

It is fine to go through a set of rules and guidelines in order be start your career as a product manager but how would you get the job you desire? You can have the best crisis management skills and everything you need, meanwhile, jobs would not fly from where they are and come and meet you where you are.

As you learn, as you gain experience, and as you develop and discover new strategies, make sure you always put yourself out there. You need to make your name ring in people’s ears. You need to be everywhere so you can be easily accessed; yes, you can make yourself everywhere. You can use social media to deliver yourself and it would give you the best you would like. 
 

 

 

 

 

While some may refer to a product manager as the CEO of the product, it is not an entirely true statement.

 

Is Product Manager profitable as a career in Nigeria?

Yes, it is! It is  a highly fulfilling career in Nigeria. Product management as a job is profitable, very profitable! Statistics shows that product managers are well paid, the estimated average total salary for a product manager is 610 thousand naira per month which also includes some additional fees such as cash bonus, commission tips and product sharings.

 For example with Guaranty Trust Bank, it is between 200 thousand to 542 thousand naira per month.

The amount you can earn as a product manager depends on your location, company, and your years of experience.

What are the skills that are required for product management.

They include:

1. Proper communication skills: This is a must for product managers, you will have to relate with your teammates alongside your customers, you might be required to speak with them on phone or send email. You'll also be required to put your ideas before the management of the company and you need proper and adequate communication skills to relay your thoughts and ideas better.

2. Ability to collaborate: The role of a product manager requires that you work with different people all across various departments and units in the company, you can't get the job done alone, you have to interact and partner with all of them to ensure the success of the product.

3.Empathy: You need to know how to develop the sense of empathy when things go wrong with the product. You must be able to feel the pain of your customers and with that, you can develop a solution to the current challenges the product is facing.

 4. Problem Solving Skills: What the project manager primarily does is to create solutions for the needs of the customers, whether by improving on an existing product or creating a new one. So it's highly required and this is the basic background needed to ensure success in the field of product management.

5.Critical and strategic thinking: This is one of the basic 21st century skills a product manager must have. To see things from a different perspective and develop strategic ideas that will in turn bring profits to the company as regards a particular product.

 Roles of Product Managers

1. Decides on what to build to help the business and customers.

2. Liase with companies engineering design and marketing teams to take a product from development to launch

3. Identify the deliverables for the rest of the development of teams 

4.Prioritise problems that needs to be solved urgently by the company.

5. Research and analyses data to build new products and improve on the already existing ones.

6. Product Managers manages the entire product lifecycle right from scratch till when the product cease to exist

7. Relate with customers in order to make decisions for the company

 

Read: How to Solve Problems Using Story-telling and Content Writing

 

Requirements for a product manager in Nigeria

1. Undergraduate degree in business administration or any other related course

2. Years of experience, job seekers who have years of experience usually have a slight advantage over others who don't.

3. Necessary additional training, however this is dependent on the company and the type of product you wish to manage.

 How To Start Your Career As A Product Manager.

1. Build a strong technical background in your CV 

2. Improve your communication skills including storytelling.

3 Take a certified product management course.

4. Build strong relationships and interact well with successful product managers to learn from them .

5.Take side projects related to product management and work on it

6. Apply for an associate product management program, while many of these roles are temporal you might end up getting fully employed, you are basically in it for your additional years of experience.

7. Surf through the internet for job opportunities, you can also submit your CV to companies who you know might need your services.

Product management is one the growing job roles in Nigeria with better pay, take this opportunity now.