There has been a paradigm shift in the way people are accessing information, interacting and doing business transaction in Malawi and the world over. Technological advancement, especially mobile technologies has necessitated ease business transactions hence the need for all progressive companies to embrace digital technologies to promote their brands and engage with target audience, The Marketing Minds (TMMs) has advised.
Speaking during the digital marketing conference held in Lilongwe, The Marketing Minds’ branch manager for Malawi, Chifuniro Kandaya, stressed that with the booming technology and penetration of smartphones, which many people use these days, it can’t be business as usual. He called on companies to restrategise to ensure that their strategies incorporate digital strategy.
Kandaya added that companies can no longer rely on traditional means of reaching out to the target audience as this is slowly proving not feasible as more people are spending a huge amount of time online, hence companies need to follow where their audience is.
“The primary goal of the conference was to start a conversation on the significance of using online technology to promote brands and engage with target audience. In the Past, people could access information through traditional media but with the penetration of smart-phones and increased access to internet, most people now use online platforms to access information, interact and transact,” he said.
The conference which drew participants from organisations such as Masm, Old Mutual, College of Medicine, Kamuzu College of Nursing, The Malawi Polytechnic, DMI St. John The Baptist, Nation Publications Limited, Yoneco, TNM and churches such the Redeemed for a Purpose (RFP), and Fountain of Victory was aimed at interacting with organizations and sharing with them on how they can utilize digital tools to leverage exponential growth. One thing that stood out from the meeting was that organizations saw the importance of reviewing their strategies and plans with some digital lens.
In his presentation which highlighted the state of the internet in Malawi, Vincent Kumwenda of Mhub said that research by institutions such as Hootsuite, a social media management platform, has shown that in Malawi most of those who access the internet do so using mobile phones.
The main facilitator for the conference, Norm Schurdell who is the founder of The Marketing Minds, based in US, concurred with Kumwenda and he stressed the need for companies to come up with mobile Applications to take advantage of mobile Apps in promoting brands and increasing sells.
This was not the first time that such a conference was held in Malawi, the first of its kind was held last year in Lilongwe and also organized by The Marketing Minds in partnership with Mhub, Skyband Malawi and Mzuzu Enterpreneurs Hub among others.The Marketing Minds (TMMs) is the digital marketing agency, whose headquarters is in Roseville, California, USA, with a local office in Lilongwe. It has over 27 years of experience in integrating technology, business and marketing. It seeks to train and support organizations on how they can integrate emerging online technologies with their business development and marketing strategies.
The Marketing Minds is an authorized agent with many industry online marketing leaders such as Amazon, Google, GoDaddy, NetSuite, Authorize.net, Oracle and more.
