…Puts Nigeria Digital Marketing at $10b in 2020
Jesse Soleil, Executive Vice President, Digital of Porter Novelli, a global network of public relations firms, says that the network has achieved the high level of success in its digital marketing campaigns because it has always focused its attention on the needs and behaviours of its target audience.
Soleil made this projection during a special chat with marketing communications writers and commentators in Lagos over the weekend. The Chat, which held at the corporate head office of C&F Porter Novelli, was part of the programme for his five-day working visit to Nigeria.
He observed that the major factor inhibiting the growth of digital marketing is the marketing communication practitioners’ treatment of digital marketing as a separate entity from marketing communication.
According to him, “Many marketing communication practitioners focus on the wrong indices – reach, impressions etc. – paying little or no attention to their target audience and what they want. We have to remember that digital marketing is still marketing and putting the digital in front of it doesn’t stop it from being marketing, and think about what the audience wants.”
He called on practitioners to make that switch by focusing on the behaviours of our target audience on the mobile, social, and digital media platforms and design strategies that take cognizance of these behaviours in order to deliver on their objectives and grow the industry.
Soleil projected that the size of digital marketing in Nigeria will hit $10 billion in 2020 from its present value of $2 billion if brands and marketing communications practitioners incorporate the simple digital strategy in their overall marketing strategy.
On the place of digital media to public relations in marketing communication, the Executive Vice President said that the future of marketing communications is dependent on a seamless integration of digital marketing into marketing communication and the use real-world experiences to inspire audiences to take desired actions.
He further stated that public relations professionals who are experts in the area of content have to understand how the digital media works and structure their content to fit these platforms for a successful delivery of campaign objectives.
He informed that the Porter Novelli network tracks the changing human behaviours on the social and digital media space and takes steps to equip its offices globally with the necessary skills to help develop and execute apt digital strategies that are analytical and measurable.
On his part, Nn’emeka Maduegbuna, the Chairman/CEO C&F Porter Novelli, said that C&F Porter Novelli realizes that the importance of digital media in executing marketing communication campaigns.
“We, at C&F Porter Novelli, fully understand that the future of public relations lies with the digital media and it is this understanding that informed our invitation of the global network’s digital lead to come and build the capacity of our staff in the area of digital marketing. Soleil’s visit is an investment in the right direction,” he said.
Also during the visit, Soleil had an interactive session with a cross section of bloggers and social media influencers on how to move the Nigerian social media forward.