Content Marketing in Kenya

Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing relevant blog posts, articles, infographics, social media posts, videos, eBooks, podcasts, and other digital assets to attract and engage a specific target audience. It is a form of inbound marketing strategy that delivers informative and engaging content that aligns with the audience’s preferences rather than directly promoting a product or service.

The main goal of content marketing is to promote brand awareness, establish expertise in a particular industry, and increase sales.

Benefits of Content Marketing in Kenya

Building brand awareness: Creating and sharing valuable and informative content that is purposefully tailored towards a specific audience increases your brand’s visibility online. This, in turn, helps potential customers become familiar with your brand, products, and/or services.
Establishing credibility and trust: Writing high-quality and in depth content helps to establish your expertise and also elevates your brand as a thought leader in your industry. Thought leadership builds trust among potential customers, who are more likely to choose your products or services as compared to those of other competitors.
Generating leads and boosting conversions: Content marketing is effective in attracting and guiding customers through the sales funnel. By creating valuable content, you can convert leads by encouraging them to take action, such as signing up for a newsletter or buying your product.
Enhancing search engine optimization (SEO): Content is one of the major ranking factors in major search engines like Google, Bing, etc. Crafting and posting high-quality blog posts and articles on relevant topics about your business enables your website to establish topical authority and higher rankings for keywords. This leads to an increase in website traffic, improvement of your brand’s visibility, and also attracts backlinks from high-authority websites.
Nurturing customer retention and loyalty: By delivering consistent and high-quality content, businesses can strengthen the customer bond, encourage repeat purchases, and foster loyalty. Customers who are satisfied with the brand’s services and products end up referring others.
Encourages social media engagement: Sharing trendy and valuable content on social media platforms leads to more followers, likes, and shares. This expands your reach and brings in new sales leads.

How Content Marketing Works

Businesses can strategically use content marketing to generate leads and nurture them into making purchases for their products or services. For content marketing to work effectively, the right content needs to be conveyed at each stage of the sales funnel. The sales funnel may have several stages with various names, but in our case, we will consider the 3 core stages – awareness, consideration, and purchase. The breakdown of the suitable content for each stage of the sales funnel with examples is explained below:

Awareness Stage

At the first stage of the sales funnel, the customer is researching their pain points or challenges and possible solutions. This is when they become aware of your company or product. Your content should be educational and focused on your industry, and not your product.

The best content should be in-depth blog posts, white papers, how-to guides and videos.

Consideration Stage

Consideration is the second stage of the sales funnel. At this point, the potential customer is a bit aware of your product and is seeking further information on how it can solve their current problem.

The right content to deliver to the prospect is how your product or service is the best solution for their problem compared to other competitors. Case studies, product catalogs or charts, and free trials of the product can effectively help the customer to consider selecting your company or product.

Purchase Stage

This is the decision stage where the prospect buys your service or product. The goal is to create content that is persuasive and demonstrates why your product is the best choice. You should address the customer concerns and show the differentiating benefits of your service. Example of the best content for the closing stage is testimonials from current and previous customers, product demos, coupons and discount offers, buyer’s guide, etc.

Types of Content Marketing in Kenya

There are so many types of content marketing that you may consider to include in your plan – here are some of the most common:

Blog Content Marketing in Kenya

Blogs are powerful type of inbound content and gives you an effective way to share insights and considered opinions on a variety of topics. They assist in establishing expertise and thought leadership in your industry in Kenya.

Ensure your blog posts are well-written and easy to read. There are writing tools such as Grammarly that can assist you to proofread and edit your work. You should include images, infographics and if possible videos. You can include a call-to-action in your blog text to prompt potential customers to buy your product of service.

In-depth blog posts that have valuable information that potential customers are looking for are highly likely to be shared on social media platforms and also attract backlinks from other authority websites.

Video Content Marketing

Videos are a great way of delivering detailed information to your customers. You can use various video content types for your business such as explainer videos, video blogs (vlogs), product demos, video interviews, video testimonials, product reviews, tutorials etc.

According to Google, over 90% of people discover new products or brands on Youtube. Marketers are investing money in production and promotion of video content in various channels because it is effective in attracting, engaging and converting leads into customers. You can use videos on social media pages, websites etc. In Kenya, video content marketing has gained traction due to affordable smartphones and internet access. Video streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify have been launched in Kenya and offer advertisers opportunities to market their products.

Social Media Content Marketing

Social media marketing involves creating or sharing content on leading social media channels such Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube etc.

Content such as text, images or videos can be organically posted or promoted through adverts to engage, and attract new sales leads.

Infographics Content Marketing

Infographic content is an effective way of communicating educational or complex information such as statistics to your customers. You can include short texts, images and other graphics.

Podcast Content Marketing

According to Podcast Index, there are 4,087,164 registered podcasts in May, 2023 around the world. This shows that podcasting has become an increasingly popular way for businesses to market their brands and products. Spotify and Apple Podcasts platforms have over 60 million listeners and this numbers keep growing daily.

How to get started with content marketing

To start your content marketing journey, begin by identifying your target audience and their business needs. Secondly, thoroughly research your competitors to understand the types of content they are using in their digital marketing campaigns. You should also develop a content plan that outlines the topics, formats, and distribution channels you will use to reach your audience.

Content Marketing Strategy in Kenya

A content marketing strategy is a plan for creating, distributing and promoting valuable content to your target audience. It helps B2B and B2C marketers to build brand awareness, generate leads and increase sales. Below are main steps to create an effective content marketing strategy:

Set SMART goals

Establish Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals for your content marketing campaigns. This will assist you stay focused and measure your progress.

Examples of SMART goals are:

Improve brand awareness
Increase sales
Improve customer engagement
Build thought leadership and trust
Attract investors, strategic partners etc
Determine your KPIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics used to measure your actual performance against your marketing goals. Examples include website traffic, backlinks, social media followers, media mentions, lead generation, and sales.

Choose type of content to create

Based on your audience’s interests and your company’s goals, select the most appropriate content formats, such as blog posts, podcasts, videos, or infographics.

Determine digital channel where your content will be shared

Research on the best digital platforms where your target audience is most active and customize your content distribution plan.

Set your budget

Set aside monetary resources for content creation, promotion, and measurement. This may include hiring content writing services in Kenya, video content creators, or social media influencers.

Create and distribute the content

Create high-quality content that addresses your audience’s needs and distribute it through the best channels to maximize reach and engagement.

Measure your success

Regularly analyze your KPIs to evaluate the success of your content marketing strategy. Use this data to refine your approach and optimize your efforts for better results.

Conclusion

Content marketing is a proven marketing strategy for businesses in Kenya to build their brand awareness and increase their sales without breaking the bank. Small and medium enterprises in Kenya can use modern content marketing strategies such as blog writing and social media campaigns to reach millions of customers with better ROIs than expensive traditional marketing channels like billboards, TV ads and newspapers.

Content Marketing Services FAQs

What is content marketing?

Content marketing is the strategic marketing approach of creation and distribution of valuable and consistent content to attract and engage a specific target audience.

Why use content marketing services in Kenya?

Businesses in Kenya use content marketing to build brand awareness, drive website traffic, and generate leads for their companies.

How do I choose the right content marketing agency in Kenya?

Before choosing an agency, consider factors such as the agency's experience, portfolio, client testimonials, pricing, and their understanding of your industry and target audience.

What types of content marketing services are available in Kenya?

Businesses in Kenya use content marketing services such as blog writing, social media marketing, email marketing, articles, ebooks, webinars, video creation and production, infographics, and podcasting.

How much does content marketing services cost in Kenya?

The price of content marketing depends on many factors such as scope of work and project duration, but on average, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya spend between Ksh 50,000 to Ksh 1,000,000 per month. According to CMI, content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing.

How can I measure the success of my content marketing efforts in Kenya?

Key performance indicators (KPIs) include website traffic, social media engagements, lead generation, and total sales.