The current COVID19 Pandemic period is a stress factor to businesses due to Lockdown restrictions imposed by several countries including Uganda. Given the fact that non-digital centric businesses now face little or no customer responses, digital marketing could be the bridge to fill the gap.
Well, several businesses have shifted to door to door service deliveries using courier services like SafeBoda among others. However, a majority also chose to take their services online to reach new customer bases through social media, and custom website portals.
According to Jumia’s 2019 mobile report, Uganda’s Internet usage rate clings at 19 million users with 2.5 million active on social media for information and social intents. With a population of 36million citizens, it means Internet users take a lion’s share off Uganda’s total population.
The bullish trend in Internet usage is attributed to the rise of more midrange and low-end smartphones ruled by popular brands like Tecno, Infinix, Itel Mobile, Xiaomi among others. More so, affordable close to Smartphone fashion feature phones like the MTN Kamunye Smart bevel the price for a connection much lower.
On the other hand, the increasing affordability of Internet Bundles through offers like Airtel’s freaky friday, MTN Gaga, don’t be cheated among others attract subscribers to taste what the Internet has to offer. It’s to this that several companies have adopted digital marketing in their key business strategies.
Luckily, businesses that have built a strong online presence in the light of the current Corona Virus Pandemic period, are able to execute in Normal mode even with fewer employees reporting to work.
Leading the pike, online food delivery services like Jumia Food, CafeJavas, SafeBoda Food now have more restaurants supported on their platforms to reach their normal and new customers.
In an alternate fashion, food businesses without digital portals and listings on delivery services now suffer from low traffic to their stores.
But if proper digital strategies are applied by these businesses, the rise to glory becomes a perfect path even with the current COVID19 Pandemic period.
In fact, eCommerce wings like Jumia have registered a rise in user orders and behavior the same way Amazon inked a rise in orders attracting a vacuum to be filled by over 75,000 employees.
Hence with a clean sheet for businesses to improve their current digital strategies for more effective campaigns in this COVID19 ruled timeframe. Only Businesses with core online presence triumph with bullish spikes in customer activity factored by their intents and online adoption behaviors.