How to Use Internet to Better Your Communication & Business Goals

By Danze Edwin

The latest social media statistics shared by Next Com, a digital and communications agency show that there are 4.2 billion active social media users worldwide, and this number grew by 490 million between January 2020 and January 2021.

As it equates, this stands at 13.2% of the current world population.

What’s your share in this social pie?

Uganda contributes 3.4 million active users with an annual growth of 900,000 thousand users.

Some key internet growth drivers

The pandemic; with lockdowns and quarantines happening across the globe, there was a huge shift in people creating accounts online for school, learning new skills.

People watched more than they read. Video content consumption hit an all time high with over 60% video content consumed compared to text or image.

But how did they read?

They read by listening! Listening to podcasts and audio books. Most had to learn new skills in a very short time since some lost jobs and had to get practice to survive in this ever evolving world.

YouTube ‘how to’ videos and children entertainment content, Tiktok challenges and Instagram reels tippled in views.

Social media has been growing exponentially and yet it hasn’t even reached its popularity peak! There’s no denying that social media platforms are now a major source of news and information. Locally, news portals have the biggest following and it too reflects in the personal accounts that provide news updates.

NOTE: People WANT TO BE INFORMED as much as entertained. So how about you “edutain” them.

The question remains, however, is it worth investing in social media when starting your business?

Brands and individuals need to know where the customer is FIRST before anything.

Ultimately, they are the end-user you are tailoring information, products and services for. They decide your business strategy and knowing their consumer behaviour is a gate way to effective communication strategy and product campaigns.

Knowing the kind of people on the internet in Uganda will advise you best on how to use your strategy. Next Com, a digital and communication agency in Uganda did this study to showcase what the internet is all about. We also wanted to benefit the small and big businesses out there.

But that’s not all. Social media platforms are unique in the way they interact with customers. Not only do they provide a platform for users to communicate beyond local and social boundaries, but they also offer countless possibilities to share user-generated content, like photos and videos.

“Video content is king right now, and collaboration is important because you must tap into different types of audiences,” said Danze.

Should social media marketing be a focus area for your marketing strategy in 2021?…YES!

Summary of full report: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-uganda?rq=uganda

People should pivot to more e-commerce mostly due to how COVID-19 has disrupted the old. Right now, I would invest 80% of my marketing budget into digital marketing. For a brand to stand out, you need to invest in social media advertising, tools, and the workforce.