How to start a Digital Marketing business in Nigeria

Digital marketing will be one of Nigerians’ most in-demand business possibilities in 2022 and beyond. Many Nigerian businesses are turning to digital marketing to increase conversions, revenue, and online audience. Furthermore, the COVID-19 outbreak has accelerated this trend, with more people going online than ever before. The good news is that you may take advantage of this situation by starting your digital marketing firm (agency). With a minimal investment and a few skills, you can start making money from your home or coworking space. It is essential you learn how to start a digital marketing business in Nigeria.

As more individuals turn to social media for various reasons ranging from passing the time to reconnecting with old friends, digital marketing aims to take advantage of online audiences’ growing numbers and presence to promote their products and services. 50% of the world’s population now uses the internet, totaling 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide.

The various social media platforms and search engine channels include email messaging services, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and many others. According to available data, the average social media user spends 2 hours and 24 minutes daily on the internet. On the other hand, people’s online presence does not always equate to sales for online enterprises. That is where professional digital marketing comes in.

What is digital marketing?

Marketing professionals can track any form of marketing involving electronic devices to provide promotional messaging and track its effectiveness throughout the consumer journey. Digital marketing refers to marketing initiatives that are displayed on a computer, phone, tablet, or other devices in practice.

These are just a few examples of Google display ads, search engine marketing, paid social ads, and social media posts. Traditional marketing is compared to digital marketing. Surprisingly, television is commonly grouped with traditional marketing.

Marketers must dive deeply into today’s vast and complex cross-channel social media platforms to find engaging marketing tactics to realize the full potential of digital marketing. Digital marketing is a strategy for creating meaningful interactions with prospective and repeat clients. Creating great content for your online audience will increase your brand recognition, establish you as a thought leader in your field, and position your company at the top of the list when a customer is ready to purchase.

What Is A Digital Marketing Agency?

A digital agency generally focuses on marketing your company’s goods and services online. Website design and development, SEO, content marketing, paid online advertising, social media, email marketing, and other services are used to achieve this.

The marketing field has undergone a significant change; formerly, marketing was straightforward and managed internally.

Although these techniques still have some relevance in today’s society, digital marketing is quickly taking its place. These conventional advertising techniques are becoming obsolete. If you’ve considered entering this new market, an agency will likely be necessary to assist you.

What Types of Digital Marketing Are There?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The idea of SEO is to increase a company’s position in Google search results, which will subsequently increase traffic from search engines to the company’s website. To do this, SEO marketers look up the terms people use to search for information online and include them in their material. The content on your web pages, the way other websites link to you online, and the structure of your website are just a few examples of the numerous components that make up SEO; Salary.com estimates the average annual salary for an SEO expert is $70,058.

Pay-per-Click (PPC)

Pay-per-click is used to describe boosted search engine results and paid advertisements. Pay-per-click advertising is for some time the moment you stop paying, the ad disappears. Much like SEO, PPC is a method of boosting search traffic to a website for a business.

Pay-per-click commercials include those ads that appear at the top and sides of search results pages, those that occur while browsing the web, those that appear before YouTube videos, and those that appear in mobile app promotions.

Social Media Marketing

This covers everything a company does on social media platforms. SMM is more than just posting content to social media platforms and answering comments. It is more of optimizing them for the right audience. Creating content on social media these days takes a lot of creative approaches, from keyword research to hashtagging. 

Average Social Media Manager Salary in Nigeria with Content Management Skills The starting pay range for a social media manager is between ₦86,632 and ₦101,92, while the range for the top pay is between ₦2,180,000 and ₦2,507,000. The typical social media manager’s hourly wage is $1,312.50.

Content Marketing

Content marketing uses narrative and information sharing. The ultimate objective is to persuade the reader to take a step toward becoming a client, such as asking for more details, joining an email list, or completing a purchase.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is still an efficient marketing strategy, according to Rogers, despite the emergence of social media, mobile applications, and other channels.

Mobile Marketing

This particular form of digital marketing is concentrated on connecting with your target market via their smartphone or tablet. Mobile marketing reaches consumers through text messaging, social media, websites, email, and mobile applications. For instance, if a customer pays a visit to a store or attends an event, marketers can personalize offers or unique content for that time and place.

Marketing Analytics

One of its main benefits is that digital marketing is incredibly trackable and measurable. You might know the message had an impact if a customer used the coupon. With analytics, marketers can now monitor user activity at a very granular level, including how frequently users click links, how long they stay on websites, how often they receive emails, and much more. Marketers must be able to use data storytelling and statistics to make an informed strategy because there is so much information available regarding the effectiveness of digital marketing.

Promoting other people product Affiliate Marketing 

Affiliate marketing has gained popularity among many businesses to bridge the gap between customers and companies as online marketing has grown in importance. What is affiliate marketing, though?

The increasing importance of industry insiders and social media influencers are used in affiliate marketing. Your business will collaborate with a marketer who will help you advertise your goods or services with the help of these outside influencers in exchange for payment. 

Marketing Skills

By implementing marketing tactics in the online space, digital marketers assist the larger marketing team and the strategic objectives of the entire business; according to Rogers, digital marketers work to represent the customer’s voice and preferences for digital interactions with brands. Marketers use a strategic approach to the brand’s channels to manage integrated digital content, maximize investments, and increase traffic and conversions.

Steps to start a digital marketing business in Nigeria

Digital Marketing business in Nigeria

Digital marketing is an excellent business to start. You can be your boss and work from home or anywhere you want. It’s the future of marketing today, and it will likely still be the leader 20 years from now. If you have a laptop or phone, that’s enough equipment to start digital marketing.

Step 1: Learn Digital Marketing Skills.

You need to learn digital marketing skills. This way, you’ll be able to know what is working and what isn’t in the industry. You can also use analytics tools to see what other companies use for their different campaigns, what works for them, and why it does or doesn’t.

You can do this by taking the following courses:

• Social Media Marketing: – Complete Certificate Course
• Pinterest Marketing & Traffic for Business Growth 2022
• Digital Advertising and Marketing 101: The Complete Guide
• SEO Training Masterclass 2022: Beginner SEO to Advanced SEO

Step 2: Register your Digital Marketing Business

Registering your digital marketing business is essential, especially if you plan to open a physical facility where you can train both adults and children. Choosing a distinctive name is the first step in registering your digital marketing business. You will be easily identify if you use a unique name.

Besides having the business name to register your company with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), you are required to provide a passport, a utility bill, and a physical address where you are located, among other things. It’s essential to decide if you want to operate both online and offline when you register your business.

Step 3: Create your online presence

Now you need to create an online presence. It will help potential clients find you and give you a platform to establish yourself. You should develop a website and a blog, create social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), and create an email newsletter to save time. You should build your personal brand as well. Make sure that what you say about yourself is consistent with the image of your business—don’t be shy about talking about your background or anything else that makes you unique!

Step 4: Develop your website.

Where your audience can reach out to you and see your service list, and the pricing plan is your website, so it must be polished and professional. Make sure your website is: simple, easy to use, and visually appealing. It’s simple for you or another team member to routinely update with new content.

The website’s possibilities of converting users into customers with high engagement rates are higher when they receive the most traffic. You can promote your company using all available internet channels, sign up with the top search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing), and use them most effectively.

Therefore, rather than sharing a story, your website should be able to sell for you to gain visitors’ trust. It should also load quickly, be exciting and interactive, and easily browse. Online billing systems could also be required if you’re creating an e-commerce website.

Step 5: Promote Your Online Business

Promoting your products or services online after your digital agency business is prepared and well-packaged is essential. You have various options for promoting your brand online, starting with a free account listing on every social networking site, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Find the individuals and companies that interest you, connect with them on social media, and reach out to them. Write some original material for your website first, though. In the online business world, content is king. It gives your company a voice and increases your online authority. Website visitors, social media fans, or followers are essential for the success of online enterprises.

Step 6: Be Consistent and Patient, Don’t Give Up Too Soon!

Be consistent and patient—the most crucial step of all. You need to be consistent, patient, and not give up too soon if you want your business to grow. Don’t give up on your dreams! If this business gets you into any challenges or doesn’t work out for whatever reason, do know that you have invested more knowledge in yourself which costs some money but nothing more.

Nigerian Digital Marketing Agency Challenges

Here are some challenges you might face starting a digital marketing business in Nigeria.

• Most online users lack confidence in internet transactions.
• Fraud and cyber-attack danger
• unstable power supply, high costs for internet connectivity, high levels of online competition, and poor internet availability in various areas of the country.
• Having trouble persuading customers
• Diversity concerns influence the kinds of content and advertisements created.
• Social media is developing quickly, making it challenging to stay up with trends in social media marketing.

You can see that there is a lot of work involved in learning how to start a digital marketing business in Nigeria, whether offline or online. You can gain people’s confidence and build your business by engaging your target customers and then providing them with unique brand value whenever and wherever you find them online.