A while back, a fellow administrator on a Facebook page removed me as administrator, denying me the ability to do anything meaningful on the page. As it was not an amicable removal, I was thrown into a world of pain wondering how I would recover access as it was an important page. Then, suddenly, a light bulb went off over my head – I had registered for a Facebook Business Manager (FBM) account and added this particular page to the account. Recovering my Facebook page admin status from the business manager account was as easy as ABCD.

So what is this Facebook Business Manager Account?

Facebook Business Manager was developed by Facebook for the purpose of adding an extra layer of security to Facebook business pages. This allows you to recover your Facebook page admin status even if a rogue admin revokes your access to the page. As long as you have registered for an FBM account and added that specific page to the FBM account, then you can reclaim your Facebook admin status. The FBM account supports two-factor authentication, which enhances account security even further. 

The Facebook Business Manager account puts all the ad accounts of a business, marketing analytics, catalogs, and other business assets in one place. Business owners can assign different roles to FBM account users, including administrator or employee, and the account makes it possible to give access to partners. The ability to grant access to partners is particularly useful for businesses that rely on digital marketing agencies, such as Agetake Kreatives, to run their Facebook marketing campaigns.  

Generation of a Facebook Pixel

The Facebook Business Manager account also allows administrators to generate a Facebook Pixel. Facebook Pixel is an element of code generated from a Facebook page that one can place in a website to track the Facebook IDs of visitors to the website. This tracking of visitors enhances the chances of lead conversions. Have you ever been to an online shop, added items to your shopping cart, and then left the website without checking out only to see ads related to the items you left on the cart on your Facebook timeline? That is made possible by a Facebook Pixel. This ability to track the Facebook IDs of visitors to your website makes it easy to target those people with Facebook ads, which increases audiences and conversions.      

Other beneficial tasks that businesses can perform from the FBM account include; managing access to linked Instagram accounts for the business, integration of useful digital marketing apps, such as Hootsuite and MailChimp, creation of business projects, management of payment options for Facebook ads, and integration of custom apps for a business.

Registration for a Facebook Business Manager Account

Registration for a Facebook Business Manager account is separate from the usual registration for a Facebook account. However, one has to have a normal Facebook personal account before opening a business manager account here. After opening the FBM account, users can create new Facebook pages or add all the Facebook pages that they administrate to the business account and protect themselves from ever losing their administrative access.   

There you have it, the benefits of having an FBM account extend beyond easy recovery of a Facebook page. Go ahead and register an FBM account today and potentially save yourself from a world of pain in the future. You can consult us on other aspects of digital marketing via info@agetakekreatives.co.ke and learn more about digital marketing by following our blog.

I doubt anyone needs much convincing that social media apps are the new kings of corporate communication and customer relations in Kenya.

A major event occurred in the past week that went under the radar of most mainstream media but captured the attention of the keenest digital marketers in the country: Housing Finance (HF) Group launched a WhatsApp banking product. While corporates have increasingly been leveraging WhatsApp to respond to customer queries and complaints, Housing Finance is effectively the first major company in Kenya and the larger East and Central Africa region to use WhatsApp to provide core services to customers.

Services that HF Group’s customers will access via WhatsApp include; opening banks accounts, transferring funds, applying for loans, buying goods, and paying bills. What this means is that account holders with HF Group essentially no longer need to find their way to the banking hall as combined with the HF Group mobile app, customers can access all the major banking services via their phones.

In the wider perspective, HF Group’s move demonstrates the new reality that digital media is the new king of corporate communication and customer relations. Within most business organizations, WhatsApp has replaced emails and group chat apps, such as Slack, as the communication medium of choice for project teams and departments. Team members can use WhatsApp to share documents and media files showing the progress on team projects. Supervisors and managers are also increasingly relying on WhatsApp groups to communicate instructions to their juniors.

WhatsApp has also improved communication between customers and businesses. Customer enquiries that, just a few years back, would take more than 24 hours for customer care staff to respond via email can now be dealt with instantly via WhatsApp. Major companies have employed dedicated social media managers to respond to customer enquiries via all the main social media platforms, including Facebook Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn.

Businesses are also increasingly digitizing their payment requests, verification communication, and invoices. Obviously cognizant of the important role of social media apps in the future of corporate communication, customer relations, and marketing, all the major social media companies have launched business versions of their social apps. Clearly, social media apps are the new kings of corporate communication and customer relations in Kenya.

Agetake Kreatives is a creative agency in Eldoret, Kenya involved in formulation, development, and application of digital marketing strategies. You can reach us on info@agetakekreatives.co.ke, +254734877508, or through our social media pages.

According to the Business Daily, over 60 percent of the Kenyan population has smartphones. Internet access in the country via mobile phones stands at 83 percent, which is the highest in Africa. Over 20 percent of the Kenyan population is active on social media platforms, particularly WhatsApp and Facebook. On these platforms, Kenyans connect with each other, brands, politicians, and celebrities among others. They share opinions and information about places they have visited generating legitimate and powerful reviews of brands and products in the process. Basically, the “word ofmouse” marketing that thrives on social media is powerful enough to build or destroy any brand. This is why smart entrepreneurs always keep an eye on the chatter on social media platforms.

Cognizant of their marketing power, all the leading social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube have mobile phone tools to automate social media marketing. This article looks at a tool from each of these platforms and adds two bonus third-party tools at the end.

• Facebook Pages Manager

The Facebook Pages Manager is a standalone app that allows admins of Facebook pages to manage posts, schedule updates on the pages, and promote posts. It is a very handy tool both for professional social media managers and entrepreneurs who are managing their own Facebook pages. One can use this app to schedule page updates for an entire week and beyond and the scheduled information will be posted automatically even if the admin is offline at that point.

• Twitter for Business Account

Though not a standalone app like the Facebook Pages Manager, the Twitter for business account allows users to automate their Twitter marketing campaign and identify trending conversations quickly. The account also recommends new marketing strategies to users.

• WhatsApp Business

WhatsApp Business is a standalone app designed with the needs of businesses in mind. It gives businesses the ability to automate greeting messages, away messages, and quick replies to enquiries. The app also eases communication with clients and prospects. One can also add a business profile, including office location, opening hours, email, and website.   

• Instagram Business Account

An Instagram business account has one major advantage over all the other apps in this list as it allows one to post concurrently to Instagram, Facebook Page, and Twitter account. An Instagram Business Account also allows one to create a business profile and analyze the performance of Instagram posts and stories. Other options available to users of the Instagram Business Account include the ability to advertise with live videos, photos, and the IGTV.

• YouTube Studio

YouTube Studio allows users to upload and manage their YouTube videos right from their smartphone. Users can also use this app to go live on YouTube, analyze the performance of videos, and to manage comments.

Bonus Apps

• Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a freemium app designed to manage multiple social media accounts. One can use this app to schedule updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This app also allows users to monitor performance of certain keywords and to reply to messages or comments to any of the supported social media platforms without having to directly login into those platforms. It is, therefore, a very useful tool for social media managers and entrepreneurs to have. Hootsuite supports 3 or less social media accounts for free but one can manage more accounts and access many more useful features by upgrading to the paid Pro plan.

• Mention

Mention is an app that allows users to monitor social media and the web in general for the mention of certain keywords. This enables users to identify conversations to engage in, which can enhance the visibility of a brand on social media platforms. This app also assists in damage control by enabling users to identify negative mentions of their brand quickly thereby facilitating quick responses to control the damage.      

So, there you have it, 7 mobile phone apps to assist you in automating your social media marketing campaigns. You can enhance your digital marketing knowledge even further by reading how small businesses in Eldoret can harness digital marketing to grow revenues.

Of course, if you are having trouble with formulating and implementing a digital marketing strategy for your business, send us a message on our website www.agetakekreatives.co.ke or get in touch with us via info@agetakekreatives.co.ke or via our social media pages. We eat, drink, and breath digital marketing and we shall surely come up with an ideal digital marketing strategy to push your brand to the top.  

Eldoret town is among, if not, the fastest growing town in Kenya. This growth is anchored on the entrepreneurial spirit of many small-scale entrepreneurs involved in a variety of small businesses including barbershops and salons, beauty shops, fast-food joints, laptop and mobile phone shops, clothing stalls, photography & videography studios, and events décor providers among others. The competition between these businesses is undoubtedly high but their target market within Eldoret and its environs is wide enough to allow each of these entrepreneurs to earn a comfortable living provided they adapt their marketing to the digital age that we are currently living in.   

Digital marketing is a modern way of marketing that relies on all forms of digital media to create communication and exchanges between businesses and customers and to market products and services. Generally, digital marketing leverages what are known as the 5Ds of digital marketing namely; (i) digital devices, such as smartphones; (ii) digital platforms, such as Facebook; (iii) digital media, such as search engines like Google; (iv) digital data; and (v) digital technology, such as websites.

Digital marketing is experiencing a rapid growth in Eldoret where several digital marketing agencies have emerged in the last few years. Large organizations, such as the County Government of Uasin Gishu, the Eldoret Water and Sewerage Company (ELDOWAS), the Eldoret City Marathon, Rupa’s Mall, the Eldoret Sports Club, and the Eldoret Club among others are increasing investing heavily in digital marketing. The budget that was traditionally reserved for salespersons that move around in the streets with products in hand is now being directed to marketing on digital platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and websites.

For small businesses, however, digital marketing does not have to be expensive. Indeed, utilizing free social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, wisely can make a lot of difference on the financial bottom line of small businesses. Practically every entrepreneur has a personal social media account. Many have both personal accounts and business accounts. Majority, however, do not know how to properly utilize these accounts to target potential customers and grow their business. Most people make random, un-strategic, and misaligned posts on Facebook and Twitter, which amount to nothing more than just noise.

In digital marketing, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media accounts serve as outposts for your website or blog, which are the hub of your business. Your goal should be to use the outposts to drive potential clients back to the hub to learn more about your business. If you do not have a website or blog, you can use a Facebook Page as your hub and use Facebook groups, Instagram, and Twitter to generate leads back to your page.

One of the easiest ways of pushing prospects to your hub is writing engaging content that your target market will deem useful. For example, if you are a mechanic, writing an article on “the five most common causes of engine power loss” might attract readers who have experienced such problems with their vehicles. Writing such articles regularly is likely to grow your stature as an authority on automobiles and some of your regular readers are likely to ultimately become your customers. The digital marketing jargons for these is lead generation and lead conversion.

An important tip is to make sure you generate regular useful content on your business’ social media platforms. Regular content at predictable intervals or specific times ‘warms up’ the Facebook algorithm allowing it to expect posts on your Facebook page or timeline at specific times every day thereby increasing the overall reach of your posts. Another useful tip is to avoid only producing content that seeks to market or sell a product or service to your social media followers. This is because customers are quick to identify content that is meant to convince them to buy something and, if such ‘selling’ is done to them early in the process of familiarization with a new product or service, then the customers are likely to resist the product. The key is to subtly sell to the customer by first winning their trust through activities that do not require much commitment, such as subscribing to a newsletter or reading a blog article, like I am doing to you right now.

Avoid pushing your prospective customers too hard and, instead, draw them in subtly by sharing useful content with them freely. If they find your content useful, your prospective customers will share the content with their own contacts on social media and, in this way, your brand will have gained additional reach. Finally, remember to brand yourself consistently and, if possible, uniquely and avoid discrediting your competitors directly as customers are turned off by that. Instead, highlight your product’s or services’ strengths and how they will give your customers better value than anything else in the market.  

Of course, if you are having trouble with formulating and implementing a digital marketing strategy for your business, visit our website www.agetakekreatives.co.ke or get in touch with us via info@agetakekreatives.co.ke or via our social media pages. We eat, drink, and breath digital marketing and we shall surely come up with an ideal digital marketing strategy to push your brand to the top.