It is always good to find someone with first-hand knowledge, to shed light on a given topic. And to also diversify my content, I sought the input of my colleagues in the field of Digital Marketing.

I tracked down Ricky Acheza, a digital marketing expert with 5 years’ experience working with local and international brands. He is the man responsible for building Internitup to be the largest higher education page on Facebook in East and Central Africa with a 25% organic engagement rate (Socialbakers, July 2014). Currently, he manages social media for Dudutech in Kenya and Rainforest Foods in the UK.

In short, Ricky knows how things work. Let us see what he has to say.

Actuate Digital (AD): Hello and thank you very much for taking the time to provide us with this interview Ricky. We will jump right in.

AD: What is your perception of Social Media in organizations in as far as its contribution to communication, marketing and or PR?

RA: With many people now on social media, and more joining every day, it is slowly becoming the easiest way for organisations and clients to interact. The near-instantaneous nature means that both parties get to send information and receive feedback faster than ever before.

AD: When using social media to push your organizational goals, in as far as communication, marketing or PR is concerned, what new 3 things have you learnt to date?

RA: They are:

• The number of followers does not matter, leads matter.
• In case of a crisis, transparency is key
• Teen talk is not for all brands

AD: What are the key secrets to a successful social media strategy?

• A good social media strategy should define the target customer and define a tone to address them
•  It should have the relevant KPIs clearly outlined.
• The purpose should be clearly defined. Be it brand awareness, lead generation etc.

AD: From your experience, do you think Kenyan C-Suite executives are warming up to the whole digital communications trends (social media)? Why?

RA: I think they are. I have come across companies that have existed in brick and mortar for decades but whose managers are trying to bring them online and social media. On a personal level, most of them have accounts on social media platforms giving an indication that they recognise it as a worthy medium to reach out to people.

AD: Tell us how you manage to execute your social media functions?

I use a lot of tools but my biggest three are a content calendar, Hootsuite and Google Alerts

Ricky’s Bio:

He is a Kenyan digital marketer with close to 5 years’ experience working with local and international brands. Having built Internitup to be the largest higher education page on Facebook in East and Central Africa with a 25% organic engagement rate (Socialbakers, July 2014), he now manages social media for Dudutech in Kenya and Rainforest Foods in the UK.

Steve Osomba, Consulting Associate: Shares his views on Social Media

Actuate Digital (AD): Hello and thank you very much for taking the time to provide us with this interview Steve. We will jump right in.

AD: What is your perception of Social Media in organizations in as far as its contribution to communication, marketing and or PR?

SO: The advent of Social Media has really changed the way organizations, commercial and Not for Profit engage their audiences. The communication between organizations and audiences was not easy back then but today social media has transformed all that with real time interaction with the customers. The result is that the organizations have come ‘closer’ to their customers making the customer-business relationship much stronger and in effect strengthening their brand in the marketplace. 

AD: When using social media to push your organizational goals, in as far as communication, marketing or PR is concerned, what new 3 things have you learnt to date?

SO: These three new things are:

▪ There is power in data. The insights are very useful in determining the appropriate content/messages that will likely be more impactful. Therefore, it is not just about posting anything

▪ Social Media is just a part of bigger maze in the efforts of Communication, Marketing, and Public Relations. As much as it has made things simpler in terms of reaching out to the customers, we should not forget other mediums.

▪ Social Media is a low budget-advertising medium that has relatively higher success rates compared to other mediums in terms of ROI. This can work perfectly for SMEs that have limited marketing budget as they work their way up.

AD: What are the key secrets to a successful social media strategy?

SO: I think the key secrets in social media strategy include having impactful content that is shared consistently and responding to queries in a timely and satisfying way.

AD: From your experience, do you think Kenyan C-Suite executives are warming up to the whole digital communications trends (social media)? Why?

SO: Yes, I believe they are and the reason being that digital communications is the future of doing business. Any C-Suite executive who ignores the wave of digital communications risks being left behind. In any case, customers are looking to engage with the final decision makers because they want affirmative responses to their enquiries. Currently, those handling social media platforms for various organizations are not delivering on this and customers are increasingly becoming agitated. The time for being ‘too big to handle such’ has run out.

AD: Tell us how you manage to execute your social media functions?

SO: Currently, there are myriad social media platforms and it will be quite challenging to use all of them considering all the forms of resources. To this end, I strategically choose those that would work for my company. Therefore, I prepare weekly social media calendar that details the various posts that I would share on each platform. I consistently do this every week and up to this very moment, the results are nothing less than impressive.

''...the key secrets in social media strategy include having impactful content...''

Steve's Bio:

He is a holder of Bachelor of Science in Communication & Public Relations from Moi University and a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Marketing Management from Kenya Institute of Management (KIM). He is also a member of the Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK). He works with SMD Consulting Associate, a Strategy & Innovation Company as a Communication & Marketing Consultant.