Social media is undoubtedly one of the most effective digital marketing strategies in Uganda today. Think of the last time you ordered something from an “Instagram store.” Social media is perfect for advertising – businesses post enticing images that attract people to visit their stores.
Sometimes, you see “sponsored posts” or ads that seem to display a product which is just what you needed at the time. This is a result of innovative social media marketing strategies. If you have a small business and want to reach a wider audience, you need to create accounts on popular social media platforms. If you already have social media accounts, this article can help you launch it into greater success.
 

The Three Forms of Social Media Marketing in Uganda

Let’s look at some of the most profitable forms of social media marketing used in Uganda today.

1. Content Creation

The most important form of social media marketing in Uganda is content creation. It might sound intimidating, but content creation just means creating posts to upload on social media. Let’s take a look at some content ideas for social media platforms like Instagram:

• Adverts for your business
• Informative content
• Posts curated from other companies
• Offers and discounts
• Call to action posts

Posting quality content is one of the most significant ways to attract followers and, consequently, customers. When you consistently post engaging content, more people will be interested in following your accounts.

2. Community Management

Community management is a form of social media marketing where the business focuses on increasing social media engagement by interacting with followers and providing customer support to problems faced by users. You may have taken to Twitter to ask MTN why you couldn’t buy a bundle using mobile money. Chances are, someone on the MTN team replied to you.
According to research, 71% of people who talk to customer support on social media are likely to recommend this company to friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the most trusted forms of advertising. This is why fostering a sense of community is essential for social media marketing in Uganda.

3. Influencer Marketing in Uganda

You see tons of influencer-promoted posts on social media – but you might not have caught on that this is a very effective way of using social media for marketing. When you see your favorite celebrities using a particular type of phone or wearing clothes from a certain brand, you feel like buying those products too. People want to look like celebrities and what they represent: wealth and prestige.
You may have seen the famous Ugandan singer Rema promoting Hema bottled drinking water. Rema fans are going to choose Hema water the next time they go to a supermarket. They want to support what their idols support.
Study these “influencers” and reach out to them, asking them to promote your business in exchange for money or free products. Influencer marketing is wildly effective, which is why many big companies all over the world invest in advertising with famous figures.
 

How to Create a Social Media Strategy for Your Business in Uganda

Let’s take a look at 11 steps you can take to create a winning social media strategy for your business in Uganda.

1. Set SMART goals that align with your business’s core objectives

The first step in creating a social media strategy that brings a considerable return to your business is setting the right goals. For this, you should consider the acronym S.M.A.R.T, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound.
Create a SMART goal that isn’t too vague, has a definite, tangible return to it, is realistic, makes sense, and has a time limit.
Here is an example of a SMART goal:
“Our business will create a page on Instagram and achieve 100 followers by the end of the month.”

2. Set up or improve your social media profiles

The most significant step in a social media marketing strategy is to create profiles on different social media platforms. After all, you can’t have a strategy unless you have social media accounts to work with. Setting up your accounts is a crucial stage. Here are some things to consider when setting up your business’s social media profiles:
Account name: Set your account name to the name of your business. If you are a perfume store, add this to your social media handle. This will attract interested users.
Profile picture: A picture is worth a thousand words. Set your display picture to something relevant to your brand. You can also use your logo as your profile picture to increase your brand’s visibility.
Social media bio: This is a section found in most social media applications. It lets you add a few words about yourself or your business. Make use of this space to display additional information about your business.  
Website URL: Add a link to your website within your profile. This leads users to your site, and these users may turn out to be loyal customers. Many people take a website presence as a symbol of brand credibility.
Contact information: Most social media applications have a section for adding contact information. Take advantage of this space to add your email, contact number, and location.
If you already have an account for your business, you don’t have to create a new one. You can just refurbish it. Sometimes an older account will hold more traction than a new one. Update your bio to one that can attract more people to visit your account.

3. Produce great content

Use psychology to influence people’s behavior.  Study your audience and what would attract them to engage with your content. Select colors and fonts that appeal to your audience. Borrow some ideas from color psychology – colors influence how a person feels. Colors like red and orange project action, movement, and excitement. Blue and grey hues inspire calmness. Greens are great for health content.
Invest in creating quality content. You can also create a template so that all your posts are similar. This can become part of your brand. Soon, people will begin to recognize your brand and share your posts with their friends.

4. Interact with your followers

Bridge the gap between business and consumer by interacting with your followers. Take a moment to reply to messages and comments from followers. This bolsters the relationship between your brand and your customers.
Ugandan companies like Airtel and SafeBoda reply to customer complaints on Twitter. They provide customer support on these platforms, and it brings users closer to the company. Users share these incidences with friends and family, and this widens the reach of the brand.

5. Gather information on your target audience

One of the essential aspects of boosting business is to know your audience. What is their average age? Where do they live? What social media apps do they use? Before you launch your social media strategy, you need to find out what your demographic likes.
If you are launching an online business to sell perfumes for ladies, you need to target your posts to women. For example, you would focus on Instagram rather than Twitter. You would incorporate feminine colors in your images and choose fonts that display elegance.

6. Carry out a social media audit

If you have already been using social media to boost your business, it’s time to review and assess the results of your work so far. This is where you study what has been working and what hasn’t. This step also involves comparing your business to your competition.
A social media audit involves reviewing your social media goals. How many of your goals did you achieve? Did you discover better ways of achieving success? Were there new opportunities to explore? From here, you can decide whether to keep your goals or update them.

7. Study your competition

Find out more about your competition and how they use their social media accounts. This will help you to get a feel for what your audience likes. Studying businesses similar to yours allows you to look outside the box and see things from a different perspective.
Studying your competition will also help you to target areas that they may have neglected. If your competition is popular on Instagram but has no Facebook account, you can move in and take up potential customers who prefer to use Facebook.

8. Take inspiration from bigger businesses

It might seem disingenuous to copy from others. But as a small business, you owe it to yourself to learn how to reach greater heights. To do this, study bigger businesses and the business models they use. Copy their tactics – they are tried and tested and will most likely work for your business too.
You don’t have to steal ideas word for word from bigger businesses, but you can borrow a leaf from them. When you put your own twist on someone else’s social media strategy, it ends up looking like a whole new thing.

9. Create a social media calendar

Keep things organized by planning your posts prior to publishing. In order to reduce time spent every day on figuring out what to post, create a social media calendar. A social media calendar makes sure you have a post for every day of the week so that you don’t have to think too much about what to post on what day.
The process of creating a social media calendar varies depending on how much time and energy you have to spare. You can choose to take time out to brainstorm ideas, or you can create all your posts and captions for the week in one day.

10. Use social media ads

Social media advertising is a great way to reach new users. Social media ads are no longer complicated and expensive to set up. Businesses all over Uganda are employing ads to better target interested audience.
When you set up an ad, you control who gets to see the ad, and this means that you are narrowing down the demographic that will see your ads. Social media apps collect all sorts of information on their users, for example, age, gender, and interests. All this information can help you to target the right users. Your ad for ladies’ perfumes will only be displayed to women, not younger boys.

11. Utilize social media analytic tools

As social media gained traction in the business world, many apps came up with analytic tools. These tools collect data from user interactions with your account and present it to you in a more organized form.
Most of the time, setting up a business account will give you access to these analytics. Studying these trends will help you decide whether you will continue with your strategy or switch things up.

Over to You

Now that you have a clearer picture of how to create a social media marketing strategy, you can now get started with creating social media accounts for your business. Social media marketing is a great way to reach a wider audience. Using ads can even help you to narrow down users to only interested customers. Creating a social media marketing strategy has never been easier with the number of great social media marketing companies in Uganda.