Internet Marketing Skills in Kenya

Kenyan entrepreneurs are slowly warming up to the idea of internet marketing and are as a result getting their businesses online-thus creating websites to advertise or make known their trade. Whether yours is a simple blog or a sophisticated interactive website; you need to learn how to capture the attention of your potential clients.
Having a website and waiting for readers to come is one thing, but having the readers come, stay  & return is another different issue altogether. Many website owners pay a lot of money to create loads of content for their sites, but are they doing the most important thing to satisfy their readers?
Most websites will be designed to sell a product or service or just for general information. Whichever the case, content produced for the site must be in sync with your objective. It should be true, convincing and above, is able to deliver what its meant for-Sales. With my little experience in web marketing, the following are some of the reasons why readers leave a website right after landing on the first page: 

Fluff-Filed Content

Do not fall into this trap of driving potential customers away. This is a nonsensical method of writing-up half-baked descriptions about your products or services. Fluff content usually makes the customer feel they are not being told as much information as they would require to make a decision. Fluff-filled web pages are created by writers who tell a story without telling it at all! This is especially true if you have hired somebody to write content for your website and they just want to make-up enough word count for the pay to tick-in.With fluff content, the internet marketer says nothing important or unique. Fluff-filed content usually do not drive the message home, rather, the writer wanders all-over the issue without being precise. Tell the story, every bit of it from whatever angle you think the client would want to know your product or service!

Keyword Stuffed Content

This is a marketing strategy that does not work quite well and is the surest way to let guys fly off your website in a flicker!. Reading a keyword stuffed article feels like you are being chocked with unbelievable stuff; actually it is annoying to read a keyword-stuffed articles or post. Precisely, a potential customer will know the post is meant for marketing and is not necessarily being truthful. Such can be avoided by using keyword density filters that warn when too much of a certain word is used.
A keyword-stuffed article may also make your site to be sidelined by search engine tools like Google Analytics. Recently, the Google Panda thing has really hit many websites preventing websites from being ranked in the search engine. This can on the other hand be corrected by using Latent Semantic Indexing and correct Theming methods. This ensures an article is SEO friendly and not unnecessarily keyword stuffed

Wrong Address to Clientele

Being out of sync with your targeted audience is very dangerous. This normally happens if the writer of the marketing content lacks knowledge of the targeted audience. Different web audiences need to have a fitting tone of the information. Developing the right writing tone for your website will make the visitors feel they are at the right place. If you do not create your own content, you must inform the web service provider of your target audience. It is paramount to create an instant a rapport with the reader the first time they land on your site.

Duplication of Content

This is one of the biggest reasons why readers may be leaving your site. Readers consider there is no "Learning Moment" when they read the same content over and over again after browsing from one site to another. Your content must be unique and ensure readers get the most factual and unique information besides the obvious. Factual/ verified statistics, figures, tables may be important in creating the difference.

Block Sites-No Catchy Sub-headings

Well, this has been proven, most internet readers have adopted a flash-reading mode. This means a reader flips through the first page to see what is covered in the site. Numerous sub-headings are an excellent way to help keep the readers on site as they may find interesting things highlighted on the topics. A block article will definitely be a boring thing to read, wont it?
In addition, use a lot of pictures of your products or services to tell the story. Kenyans looking for stuff online will definitely link what they are looking for with what it looks like. To be honest, most people enter a search for a product and search for images. Make this a match to your marketing content otherwise, you site will be a flyover to another site. 

Others

• Formatting
• Grammar- there are people who totally get annoyed by grammatical errors, they cant stand it and will leave the website.

I-say Ipsos Formerly Ipsos Synovate

Ever wondered whether there are online survey sites that work? I can imagine what you are used to is your inbox filling-up with spam mails from purported survey sites who in one way or another are trying to introduce you to yet another scam site.

That was me a few years ago, or rather when I was in campus and believed; from hearsay that you could earn a living doing online surveys.

You see those flashy websites you open and they give you “crazy” figures of how many bucks you can make in a day, forget about it! It’s never true; nobody ever lived by taking surveys online. Take it from me, I have scoured the internet and concluded it’s just another big scam of growing rich overnight.

Over those years, I subscribed to a number of online survey sites; but only one has turned out to be a genuine survey site that asks for your opinion without redirecting you to other sites to sign-up there too…. They are looking for honest market and product opinions and doing research on behalf of their clients. I enjoy every bit of it!

I-say Ipsos Online Survey Site

In 2011 I joined Ipsos Synovate; and they occasionally started sending me online survey links on my email. It would not come often and I would also not qualify for most surveys because of my location and Zip Code; because they want answers tailored to the particular area of research.

But when I did qualify, it would work out fine. You would take a survey for about 30mintues and earn about 100-150 points. You would get more points if the survey was to be taken over a number of days.

 Towards the end of 2012; Ipsos Synovate was sold to I-say, not sure whether it was sold or it was just a change of trade name. But all participants were systematically moved to “I-SAY by I-psos” Three years down the line, I have redeemed $70 in total  from both Synovate and I-Say. Here are sample pictures of the redemption vouchers

 

Now clearly, you won’t live with 70bucks for three years, would you?

There  you have it, I-Say by Ipos is one online survey site that I have tested personally and found to work. So don’t believe you will get a sizeable amount of money from online surveys especially in Kenya!

   

New Look I-say Ipsos

 This is how they invite you to a survey by sending a link to your email. You are supposed to open the link and take the survey as soon as possible to be among the first respondents, other wise the survey will be full; i.e enough quota will be met and you will lose a chance to participate

This is how your account will look like when you log-in. The list can be as long as you see right now or can be empty; depending on whether there are survey requests. These are the same surveys sent to your email rest you dont have a chance of logging in to your I-say account.

And finally, this is how you get your rewards when you have enough point to redeem. Remember there are many redemption options including amazon gift vouchers, charity donations, PayPal funds and I-Say Visa cards pre-loaded  with your money! It all depends on the amount of points you have accumulated. Currently, 100 points gives you $1 

Nakumatt Smart Points Vs Uchumi U-Club Loyalty Points Programs

There’s always that one store you always find yourself into; where your loyalty can be tracked! Maybe because it’s located near your house, your workplace and is convenient for you to grab your household items on your way.

There are customers like me who hold as many store loyalty cards as there are the number of shops offering them. Some take time to move from 20-25 points owing to the infrequent visits. Luckily, most points are do not expire so you can take your time to get to a redeemable amount of points. But can we talk about Nakumatt and Uchumi Points Programs

Nakumatt Smart Points Loyalty Club

Nakumatt have started phasing- out the old Loyalty cards with new MasterCard enabled cards. This means you can use the new card as a prepaid debit card as well as a loyalty points card. You have to enroll by paying an initial amount of 1000/= to receive the Nakumatt global MasterCard.  In addition to using the new card at Nakumatt and accumulating points, you can also use it to shop in other MasterCard Branded Stores.

• One thing I really like about Nakumatt is that their points are updated immediately upon completing a transaction. This way, you are able to track your points real time.
• However, there is one annoying thing about Nakumatt Smart Points. If you do not present your card before the tiller starts keying your shopping, count those as lost points. Therefore, the first thing you give the teller before even handing over the shopping is your Nakumatt Card.
• Another not so good feature about the Nakumatt smart card is the fact that you must carry your card on location while shopping. They will not accept you giving the card number for purposes of earning points. This limits members of the same family or click to accumulate points on a common card. If another member of your family happens to be shopping; say in Nakuru, and you are with the card in Nairobi those points will be lost.

Uchumi U-club Loyalty Points

• In my opinion, the Uchumi Club Point Card is more flexible loyalty program. Number one on my list in favor of the Uchumi Cards is the fact that you don’t have to carry card every time you shop. You just need to keep the card number in your memory, phone etc and read-it-out to the till operator. This way, you can use one card in a family to accumulate points regardless of the location anyone of you is at.
• The Uchumi Club card is the last item the tellers requests from you after keying-in your purchases, this way, you don’t have to worry about not giving it on time and losing your valuable points.
• Unfortunately, for Uchumi Club Points takes a helluva whole lot of time to update real time on the receipt. It is never up to date. You may always be missing some points since the last shopping. It is possible to get your total points from the customer care desk or logging in to Uchumi Loyalty club page but who has all that time to keep asking or logging- in.
• Unlike the new Nakumatt Global Smart Card that can be used as both a loyalty card and debit card, the Uchumi card is just a loyalty card. You cannot use it in other stores, or it doesn’t have capacity to be used as a debit card.

So, whenever you want to choose your loyalty, you can decide where you want to be!

Redeeming Your Uchumi Supermarket U-Club Loyalty Points

Have you accumulated enough points on your Uchumi U-club Card and thinking of redeeming them? The best thing about redeeming points is that it feels like free money and a reward. For reward points, I personally find it gratifying to buy some small appliances that gives a reminder about loyalty to the store. 

First of all, you need to know how many points you have on your account. Checking points on your last till receipt is not advisable as it is always not up to date (not in a bad way, but Uchumi points are not updated immediately after shopping like say Nakumatt Smart Points). To get the most current points status, you can inquire from the customer care desk at any Uchumi outlet. 

Alternatively, you can login to Uchumi U Club Membership page where you can see your real-time points. Once logged-in, you can also view your earn and redemption history including what is not shown on your last receipt.  To login to your Uchumi points from the U club page, you need to retrieve your login details from the first email sent to you upon enrollment to U-club Points. Please click here to login to the Uchumi Club Loyalty Page 

Redemption Rate for Uchumi Points

The earning rate is 1 point per Kshs 100 spent on eligible shopping. Please note some shopping may not earn you points and these include cooking gas, empty bottle exchanges just to mention a couple.  Uchumi U club Points can be redeemed all year round at a redemption rate of 1 shilling /point. E.g. 100 bob for 100points. Unless on promotional offers; this is the standard redemption rate for Uchumi U club Points.
Points maybe redeemed at higher rates e.g. during back to school, Christmas and other seasons where Uchumi Supermarkets has announced higher value for points.

Upon redeeming your Uchumi Points, you will be awarded with Uchumi Vouchers with equivalent currency value. You may use Uchumi vouchers to shop or even give them to loved ones as Gift Vouchers. You if you decide to shop with the vouchers, you may pick items of higher value than the vouchers and top-up with alternative means of payment eg cash, M-pesa, Cards etc.

Have fun, redeem your points and buy something fancy

Safaricom Customer Care Shops in Nairobi

Safaricom Customer Care Shops in Nairobi

There are those times you need to visit a Safaricom Shop yet you don’t have enough time to queue in the already renowned shops in town. Below is a detailed list of Safaricom Shops/ Customer Care shops within Nairobi. This list provides you with options of getting a Safaricom Customer Care Shop with less traffic as opposed to the high traffic shops especially the crazy Moi Avenue Safaricom Shop.

Some shops below are also out of town, maybe within a radius of 20KM from the City Center. This list is also not exhaustive but majorly covers most of the Safaricom shops around town.

Shop Name	Location/Address	Traffic Level
Safaricom shop Moi Avenue	Shankardass House, Nkrumah Ln, off Moi Avenue. Shop close to Kenya Cinema, CBD, Nairobi	Very High
Safaricom Shop I&M building	I & M Towers, Ground floor, Kenyatta Avenue, Shop is near GNLD Head Office CBD, Nairobi	Very High
Safaricom shop Kimathi Street	Balfour Building, Ground Floor, Kimathi Street Shop near Nation Center CBD, Nairobi	High
Safaricom Shop JKIA	JKIA around Gate 6 and Gate 11 of International Nairobi	Medium
Safaricom Shop Nakumatt Mega	Uhuru Highway, opp Nyayo Stadium Nairobi	Medium
Safaricom Shop Thika Road Mall (TRM)	Thika Road Mall, Along Thika Road Shop after Safaripark Hotel & Casino  Roysambu Roundabout, Nairobi	Low
Safaricom Shop Westgate (Shop closed after terror Attack)	Westgate Mall, Mwanzi road, Shop Near Nakumatt Ukay Westlands, Nairobi,	Medium
Safaricom Shop Kahawa Wendani	Small shop off Thika Road at Kahawa Wendani	Very Low
Safaricom Shop-Sarit Center	Sarit Centre, Karuna Road, Westlands , Nairobi. ‎	High
Safaricom Shop Junction Mall	Junction Mall, Ngong Road Shop near Dagoretti Corner and Kenya Science Ngong Road, Nairobi	Medium
Safaricom Shop Buruburu	Kenya Library Services , Mumias Road, Shop near  St. James ACK Church, Buruburu, Nairobi, Kenya ‎	Low
Safaricom Shop Eastleigh	Nomad Palace Hotel, General Waruinge St. Shop near Eastleigh High School. Eastleigh, Nairobi	Low
Safaricom Village Market	Village Market Mall, Limuru Road, Village Market, Nairobi	Medium
Safaricom Shop Safaricom House	Safaricom House off Waiyaki Way Westlands, Nairobi	High
Safaricom Shop Galleria Mall	Galleria Mall, Langata Road Shop near Bomas of Kenya Karen, Nairobi	Low