ABSTRACT
In today’s competitive business world, for surviving business needs proper branding. Branding is essential
to every industry regardless of the size because it helps distinguish a company from its competitors. Product
branding is not free of cost; it is tough for enterprises, especially Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) of
Nigeria, to carry out a successful product branding program through traditional marketing activities.
However, social media has evolved over the last few years to become the most affordable for product
branding. Nowadays, social media is among the ‘best possibilities available’ to an item to get in touch with
potential customers. Social networking websites are the method to interact socially. Promoters are
considering many different social media possibilities and beginning to apply new social projects at a higher
rate than ever before. There is no universal product branding strategy suitable for all companies, but the
appropriate one may be built according to the company goals and means. Social media, especially
facebook, is becoming an excellent tool for B2C product branding. Recently booming of internet users in
Nigeria is enhancing this opportunity for all sizes of companies. They can enjoy the benefit of social media
to promote the product brand cost-effectively if they overcome the current challenges. This paper discusses
the ideas of social media and social media promotion, other aspects like the development and advantages,
role and benefits of medial social branding, perspective, and importance of social media in publicity, social
media promotion methods. It also presents an outline of social media promotion in Nigeria.
Keywords: Social Media, Branding Product, Social media promotion, Digital Marketing, Social media
promotion in Nigeria, Internet.
I. Introduction
In recent years the online environment is viewed by users from a new perspective in a commercial way. With
social media, consumers can interact instantly with brands and share opinions on the products they are
interested in. It is the inherent nature of consumers to buy products that are recommended by friends, family
members, relatives, and someone they know in real life or even in the virtual world.
Social media represents the online content publicly created and available to end-users. It is becoming one of the
main tools used to spread information among customers. Blogs, social networking sites, content communities,
virtual worlds, or collaborative projects all represent groups of people that create and share content inside and
outside of professional routines. For marketers, this phenomenon is of high interest as social media is becoming
an essential source of customer information sharing, awareness, support, and empowerment (Kaplan and
Haenlein, 2010)[1,18]. Consequently, social media allows businesses to effectively and inexpensively engage in
direct client contact, reaching levels of efficiency undoubtedly higher than any other traditional marketing
communication tool (Berthon et al., 2008)[2].
The recent statistics from different sources show that social media is becoming an essential part of everyday
life. The results from these statistics are astonishing. As of July 2015, every day 1 million new active mobile
social media users are added, which is 12 per second (brand watch). They also measured that 91% of retail
brands use two or more social media channels. All these facts don’t even leave a doubt about how fast is social
media emerging in the business sector and peoples’ lives.
Although traditional forms of brand communication via TV, radio, or newspaper advertising achieved great
success in the past, their effectiveness is decreasing drastically in today’s more customer-dominated business
environment. Virgin America, Inc., a United States-based airline, is spending nearly 70% of its total marketing
budget in digital and emerging social media platforms (Frazier 2011)[3]. Converse, American footwear and
apparel brand, is one step ahead in spending its marketing budget beyond traditional media. Less than 10% of
Converse’s spend is on conventional media (Frazier, 2011)[3,4].
There are many pieces of evidence and examples of how companies use social media for more efficient
communication and better results. As of the second quarter of 2016, facebook had 1.71 billion monthly active
users, and there are 50 million dynamic business pages (brand watch). Marketers should, therefore, become
more and more aware of the importance of these platforms and the information spread throughout them.
II. Literature Review
The term “Social Media” refers to the newer platforms of online technologies that are used by large groups of
people to interact with each other for sharing information, opinions, knowledge, and interests. According to
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010)[5,6], Social Media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the
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ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User
Generated Content. In the business world, social media is known as consumer-generated media (Mangold and
Faulds, 2009)[7]. Social media comes in many different forms today. The most popular formats of social media
are blogs (Blogger, Typepad, WordPress), microblogs (Tumblr, Twitter), social networks (Facebook, Google+,
Hi5, LinkedIn, Myspace, XING), video-sharing sites (Dailymotion, Metacafe, Vimeo, YouTube), photo-sharing
sites (Flickr, Photobucket, Shutterfly), presentation-sharing sites (authorSTREAM, Scribd, SlideShare), social
bookmarking sites (Delicious, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon), review sites (Citysearch, TripAdvisor, Yelp),
virtual worlds (ActiveWorlds, Second Life), and Wikis (Wetpaint, Wikipedia, Wikia).
According to American Marketing Association (2014)[8,9], a brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any
other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. Since a brand is
one of the most valuable intangible assets of every business, the success of companies largely depends on
communicating brands with customers.
The unique aspects of social media and its immense popularity have revolutionized marketing practices such as
advertising and promotion (Hanna, Rohn, and Crittenden, 2011) Social media has also influenced consumer
behavior from information acquisition to post-purchase behavior such as dissatisfaction statements or behaviors
about a product or a company. (Mangold and Faulds, 2009)[10].
Communication of brand/company and users help create a favorable or less favorable image of other users who
read the information posted and consider them in the information or purchase. Interactivity with the target
brand in social media is perceived differently by consumers depending on the message they convey (Shin,
2008)[11]. The perceived risk of purchasing and how much money are willing to pay for a product also
determines the user to think more about the quality and the utility of the product. (Ioanas, 2012)[12].
Urde & Greyser (2014) combined brand identity, communication, and brand reputation in the so-called
‘Corporate Brand Identity and Reputation Matrix’ (CBIRM). In this context, the communication layer within
the model functions as a catalyst that decodes a strategically defined brand identity in operational measures,
which ideally results in a positive brand reputation among multiple stakeholders.
Figure 1: Corporate brand identity & reputation matrix (Adapted from Urde & Greyser by C. Hoffmann &
L. Weithaler, 2015)
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III. Research Methodology
Selecting a proper method for analyzing the proposed topic is important for reaching the aim of a study. This
study is base on different sources of data. At first, the use of the Internet in marketing research was only a new
source of information. Now the research can be done directly, not just surveys, but qualitative research as in-
depth interviews and focus groups. (Stoica, 2011)[13].
Time is changing as well as technology is continuously improving. Companies need to stay in the game and use
any new opportunity to improve sales, marketing, and customer loyalty. Technology gives consumers the
power to investigate products. Therefore many companies today have pages on social networks to supplement
information held about products.
Consumers have much more tendency to relate with a company after they read various reviews and comments
of the consumers who have already purchased these products. By using social media, consumers have the
power to influence other buyers through reviews.
For example, instead of buying a product that he knows very little, consumers have become new researchers.
Before making a purchase, many consumers read what other people think about a particular product by logging
in to an account on a social networking site. Social media users trust in what they believe their friends, family,
and even strangers on these networks. Many online buyers consider social sites as being a valuable and reliable
source for researching products and services.
This research tries to offer answers to some usual questions as: What is the role of social media? Is social media
playing a role in promoting product branding? Do the consumers appreciate the opportunity to link with an
online brand? Is social media playing a role in purchasing decisions? Therefore, it aims to study the impact of
social media on product branding, consumers, and the choices they make in the online environment.
Secondary data is best known as a methodology for doing research using pre-existing statistical data (Heaton,
2004). It is a research strategy using pre-existing quantitative or qualitative research data for the reasons for
investigating new questions or verifying previous studies (Heaton, 2004)[14].
Social media is an entirely new and emerging technology in Nigeria. Content analysis, desk research, and
reliance on literature were based on books, journals, articles, trade publications, newspapers, and magazines.
Besides, web-based information was thoroughly extracted and analyzed for statistical representation. Data
collection was also conducted through relevant documents concerning the research’s overall goal. Several
reports were collected from internet that provides useful information regarding social media product branding
in Nigeria.
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IV. Social media
Social media is the most straightforward way to engage with customers in online. According to Wikipedia,
social media is internet-based resources for sharing and discussing details among humans. Community social
networking websites are all about social networking as well as social networking in a way that espouses believe
in among parties and areas engaged. Any website which allows the customer to discuss their material, views,
and motivates connections and group developing can be classified as social media. Most popular social media
websites are Facebook or FB, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, Stumble Upon, Delicious, Scribed, Flickr, etc.
Wikipedia has a standard definition of the term: Community Press is the democratization of details,
transforming people from material visitors into material publishers. It is the move from a broadcast mechanism
to a many-to-many model, rooted in discussions between authors, people, and colleagues.
Social media is the way to interact socially with mass people. They use web based technology to spread
information and details to the customers quickly. Social media symbolizes low-cost resources that are used to
combine technology and social connections with the use of terms. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein
determine social media as "a team of Internet-based applications that develop the ideological and technological
foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the development and return of user-generated material." There are two
advantages of social media that are essential to companies, they include:
Cost decrease by decreasing staff time.
Increase of probability of revenue creation.
A Role of social media in product banding
Social media is now becoming an integral part of political strategies, national defense methods, public policy,
advertising, item management and even intra organization interaction. The major task of social media is to
inform customers about the company’s product. Social promotion plays a natural aspect in promotion.
Social media can be used to provide an identity about the companies and the items or solutions that they
provide.
Social media can be useful for creating connections with those who might not otherwise know about the
items or support or what the companies represent.
Social media creates companies "real" to customers. If they want people follow them they need not just
talk about the newest item information, but discuss their character with them.
Social media can be used to affiliate themselves with their colleagues that may be serving the same
concentrate on industry.
Social media can be used to connect and provide the connections that customers look for.
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B Benefits of social media product banding
They are different from conventional promotion methods with social media product banding. social media
product banding offers distinct advantages. It provides a window to marketers not only present items / solutions
to clients but also to pay attention to customer’s grievances and suggestions. Social media product banding
allows marketers to recognize various professional categories or influencers among various categories. Social
media product banding is nearly zero prices (as compared to conventional client outreach programs) as most of
the social media websites are free.
Social media promotion allows in:
Generating exposure to companies.
Increasing traffic/subscribers.
Building new organization partnerships.
Development of internet search engine results positioning positions.
Generating qualified brings due to better prospecting projects.
Selling more solutions and items.
Reduction in overall promotion expenses.
V. Social Media in Nigeria
In the first time in 1996 Nigeriai people got the opportunity to use internet. Internet was launched in June, 1996.
After internet was launched, national poll results were made available to the netizens of the web using World
Wide Web. This was the first ever usage event of its kind in Nigeria. The effort was appreciated in many
corners especially among the Nigeriais living abroad. (Hamidur, 2009)[15,16,18].Gradually Nigeriai people
become introduced with different usages internet, though a large number of people do not have access to
internet till today. Today internet users of Nigeria use social networking sites than any other applications.
Table 6-1: Top ten internet countries in Africa
Africa Internet use, Population Data and Facebook Statistics -
AFRICAN INTERNET USE, POPULATION DATA AND FACEBOOK
STATISTICS - JUNE 2016
Internet
Populati Internet Penetration Faceboo
Ran Country Users,
on ( Users 30- (% k 30-
k (Year
2016 Jun-2016 Population) Jun-2016
5
2000)
Est.)
1. China 1,378,561,59 22,500,000 721,434,547 52.3 % 1,800,000
1
2. India 1,266,883,59 5,000,000 462,124,989 36.5 % 157,000,00
8 0
3. Indonesia 258,316,051 2,000,000 132,700,000 51.4 % 88,000,000
4. Japan 126,464,583 47,080,000 115,111,595 91.0 % 26,000,000
5. Banglades 162,855,651 100,000 63,290,000 38.9 % 21,000,000
h
6. Philippines 102,624,209 2,000,000 54,000,000 52.6 % 54,000,000
7. Vietnam 95,261,021 200,000 49,063,762 51.5 % 40,000,000
8. Korea, 49,180,776 19,040,000 45,314,248 92.1 % 17,000,000
South
9. Thailand 68,200,824 2,300,000 41,000,000 60.1 % 41,000,000
10. Pakistan 192,758,348 133,900 34,342,400 17.8 % 27,000,000
Source: Internet World Stats
According to CNN report on January 26, 2015 the top five most popular social networking sites in Nigeria are,
Facebook: Facebook is planet’s most prevalent long range interpersonal communication site. It is ranked on 1st
number in the list of top five best social networking websites in Nigeria. There is no device that does not has an
inherent Facebook application in it. Facebook was made by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004[17] and now it has a
large number of clients all around the globe. Designers continue working day and night to keep it up to the
necessities of its clients.
Twitter: It is ranked on 2nd number in the list of top five best social networking websites in Nigeria. Twitter is
an extremely mainstream micro-site its clients can accompany whom they need to take after incorporating
businesspeople on- screen characters, performers, models or any of their top picks stars and companions.
Similarly, user can impart their emotions to the companions in 160 words which twitter calls a ‘tweet’.
Linkedin: It is ranked on 3rd number in the list of top five best social networking websites in Nigeria. It is
tremendously well known around the business class and that is the reason the top executives and presidents of
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extraordinary organizations have their profiles on this site. It is the best interpersonal interaction webpage for
the individuals who need to occupations as their profile will function as CV and individuals can offer them
employments through this informal communication site Pinterest: Despite the fact that it has not been quite a
while that Pinterest was presented however it has made its name as a result of the prosperity of the android
telephones. It is ranked on 4th number in the list of top five best social networking websites in Nigeria. The
clients can make a pinboard and stick any life occasion or photographs on their pin board.
Friendcircle: It is ranked on 5th number in the list of top five best social networking sites in Nigeria.
Friendcircle was made by Mutalib Raza in April 2014. Friendcircle (https://friendcircle.co) is mostly popular in
Nigeriai college students. They use friendcircle to share their picture, stories; also they can upload music or
videos too.
Although internet penetration rate in Nigeria is marked very low, a big online community is gradually
developing. According to Nigeria Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) 80 percent internet
users of Nigeria are on social networking website Facebook. It has more than 26 million users on January 2017
with 16% penetration rate. A major portion of this internet community is using social media regularly.
However, the most visited web sites in Nigeria (in accordance with their rank) are shown in the table below:
Table 6-1: Top the most visited web sites in Nigeria
Rank Name of the Sites
1. facebook.com
2. google.com.bd
3. google.com
4. youtube.com
5. prothom-alo.com
6. banglanews24.com
7. yahoo.com
8. blogspot.com
9. bdnews24.com
10. ask.com
Source: Alexa (2014)
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As social media brand-building power grows, it no longer makes sense to treat it as an experiment. That is the
reason companies in Nigeria are coming forward to have their strong and active presence on social media.
Even some big companies are recruiting social media managers for managing their pages on social media and
interacting with the page members (clients) actively. Social media principles and guidelines have also been
enacted in some companies for their executives.
B Top Brands of Nigeria on Facebook
Facebook is an American profit oriented corporation. It is an online social media and social networking
service based in Menlo Park, California. The Facebook website was launched on February 4, 2004. Mark
Zuckerberg, along with his four fellow Harvard College students and roommates are built Facebook as social
platform. Facebook has more than 1.79 billion monthly active users as of January, 2017 and it is the most
popular social networking site in the world, based on the number of active user accounts.
Facebook allows millions of its users to connect and interact with each other. Facebook has also the opportunity
for companies to create their official page and to engage customer talking about their brands. Today’s
customers would like to connect and interact with the businesses whose services they want. Among the top
most visited sites in Nigeria, facebook is holding the number one position as described before. The following
table shows the most popular official fan pages of different brands in Nigeria on Facebook:
Table 6-2: Top facebook fan page (total fans)
Rank Official Page Name Brand Industry Local International Total
Fans Fans Fans
1. Grameenphone grameenphone Telecommunicatio 9437728 514767 9952495
n
2. Robi Axiata robi Telecommunicatio 8833910 422059 9255969
Limited n
3. Banglalink Digital banglalink Telecommunicatio 8251053 2226087 8673470
n
4. Airtel Buzz airtel buzz Telecommunicatio 6447383 3574916 6780356
n
Samsung Mobile Mobile, Smart
5. Nigeria SAMSUNG phone, Tablet 3205440 552562 3665838
Source: Social bakers, January 2017
C Top Brands of Nigeria on Twitter
Millions of people around the world use Twitter to discuss everything from the news to brands and businesses.
At present, there are 313 million monthly active users on Twitter worldwide (as of January, 2017). And those
users post an average of 500 million Tweets every day. Short message services of Twitter are called Tweets.
Registered users on Twitter can read and post or re-tweets, but unregistered users can only read them.
According to few statistics Twitter is one of the top five social networking sites in Nigeria. Companies can use
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Twitter to connect directly with people (followers/ customers) who are interested in their brand, participate in
real-time events and conversations, enhance the online brand personality and thus delight the customers. The
following table shows the most popular official Twitter accounts of different brands in Nigeria.
Table 6-3: Top twitter accounts (total followers)
Rank Official Profile Name Brand Industry Total Followers
1 @Grameenphone grameenphone Telecommunication 123132
2 @TweetRobi robi Telecommunication 45399
3 @airtelbuzz airtel buzz Telecommunication 37710
4 @BanglaSong music.com.bd Bangla music 18171
5 @banglalinkmela banglalink mela Telecommunication 13094
Source: Socialbakers, January 2017
D Top Brands of Nigeria on YouTube
Founded in February 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch, and share originally-created
videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as
a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers (YouTube, 2014). It has 1 billion monthly
active users who are watching over 6 billion hours of video each month on YouTube, that’s almost an hour for
every person on earth (January, 2017).
Due to limited internet speed YouTube are still suffering to get popularity among the mass people of Nigeria.
Though it has no position on the top most visited social networking sites in Nigeria, marketers and companies
are trying to establish their own brands channel in YouTube as a substitute of most popular traditional
marketing channel television.
The following table shows the most popular YouTube channels of different brands in Nigeria (according to the
total number of views of the videos).
Table 6-4: Top YouTube channels (total video views)
Rank Official Channel Brand Industry Subscribers Total Video
Name Views
1 Closeup Nigeria closeup Personal care 51890 15544488
2 Airtel Buzz airtel buzz Telecommunication 69143 14913648
3 Robi Axiata Limited robi Telecommunication 27562 14762653
9
4 banglalink digital banglalink Telecommunication 12081 10590072
5 Grameenphone grameenphone Telecommunication 30918 9986903
Source: Socialbakers, January 2017
VI. Conclusion
If a company wants to have a successful online presence today, social media marketing is most important. It is
one of the most popular, influential, and promising means of product branding way which every company in
Nigeria must embrace. In this study, an attempt was undertaken to depict the using of social media in product
branding. With the uptrend in both the number and engagement of users, social media is going to be a big
online community in Nigeria. Companies doing business in Nigeria can grab the attractive economic benefits
of social media identified throughout the study. This study also depicts that social media is not a risk-free
platform. Casual dabbling with social media content would not ensure the target benefits for the companies.
Since fans, followers, and subscribers are free to post their comments on these platforms, businesses are also
susceptible to the possibility of negative publicity. To do so, companies are suggested to appoint executives
who will be responsible for developing and maintaining content in social media. Businesses should also align
other resources with their social media marketing strategies so that they can ensure the attention and frequent
communication needed to embrace social media effectively.
Acknowledgment
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my parents and friends who helped me a lot in
finalizing this paper within the limited time frame.
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