At Zenith Business Seminar; Akan urges women to embrace digital marketing  

COMFORT EKELEME, Business Editor

Chief Executive Officer, Naijasalesmaker Toyin Akan has urged women in business to embrace digital marketing in order to grow their businesses.

Akan said this in Lagos during a two -day virtual business seminar organized by Zenith Bank in partnership with Enterprise Development and SANEF, themed ‘Empowering Women in Business Through Learning’.

She said that digital marketing will help businesses get new customers, increase brand visibility, grow business and make money in dollars while in Nigeria.

Akan who spoke on ‘Digital Marketing ‘Taking Small Business Owners from Zero to Million within 30 Days,’ defined digital marketing as a type of marketing that uses the internet and anything connected to the internet to sell products or services.

She also maintained that there is the need for women in business to invest into sponsored adverts on Facebook, Instagram, Google and youtube.

“It will open you up to the kind of growth you probably have never imagined before. Gone are the days when making money is a major issue, with the right knowledge and with digital marketing, your journey to making millions will become shorter.

“Get your brand visible with relevant keywords. When you take your business online, you can use some planed out steps that will help your business grow into millions 30 days.

The business seminar was aimed at enhancing business growth and how to access new markets, prepare businesses for finance, digital marketing & e-commerce, agency business and much more.

Speaking on the topic, “Securing Funding to Grow Your Business’, Group Head, Retail Business, Zenith Bank, Lanre Oladimeji, listed the key steps to boosting the chance of accessing funding to include character, business continuity and succession plan, knowing the type of funding available to businesses in your sector, help your banker to understand your business and exploring options provided for business support.

He also stated that business owners should make effort to service existing loan obligations.

“If a loan goes bad, stick with your bank and work out a remediation plan, there is no running away when a loan goes bad in the digital era,’ he said.

According to him, Zenith bank’s specific offering includes the SME loan, Z- Women loan, SME Grow my business platform.

Speaking on major drivers to securing business loan, he urged women to build a relationship, have a separate account for business, create a budget, monitor financial position, good accounting record, audited account, maintain a cash reserve, utilize a financial service tool and review expenses.

Oladimeji however, maintained that properly managed loan can multiply business.

Daily Champion recalled that a report published in February 2021, had revealed that the number one worry for businesses in Nigeria due to the current realities from the pandemic is liquidity.

Also, the World Bank (2022) report ‘Doing Business in Nigeria, scores Nigeria low, 15 out of 100 for ease of getting credit.