By Henry Uche, Lagos
As the ban on Twitter in Nigeria continues to court controversy, many young Nigerians have not relented in expressing their dissatisfaction. For young digital marketer Olaseni Kehinde Precious the ban ‘serves as a red card for investors’ and is capable of increasing the crime wave in the country.
In this interview, Precious pointed out possible dangers inherent in the federal government’s decision against the microblogging site and social networking platform.
How do you see Twitter as a digital marketer?
Over the years, the platform, more than any other social networking site, has been a haven for digitally inclined adults and young minds to freely express their views on socio-political and economic matters as well as agitating for the betterment of the economy by raising their voices against hardships and socio-economic issues.
So, the inciting incident that changed the social narrative in the economy on 2nd June 2021, occurred following the deletion by Twitter of a tweet by the Nigerian President, General Muhammadu Buhari, addressed to the southeastern part of Nigeria, which led to the indefinite suspension of the social platform by the FG. So, to me and others, it’s a major medium that engages our time for economic and legal activities and benefits.
To you, do you think the federal government meant well by its decision on Twitter?
It’s indeed crestfallen for a social networking service like Twitter to be strictly perceived and regarded as a socio-political platform without putting its industrial and economical benefits into appropriate consideration. This has exposed the economy to certain economic disadvantages as a result of the crisis encountered by businesses that operate with the use of Twitter, as disastrous aftermath; and believe you me, this would lead to an increase in the crime rate when people, especially youths, who dwell on Twitter for their daily bread, now idle around.
How has Twitter benefited you and other investors?
Good enough that you recognise that people invest their time, energy, money and other resources into the digital space. So Twitter is unarguably notable for its enormous contributions as a significant platform for not only creating brand awareness but wealth for users all over the world, Nigeria inclusive. It also makes brands reach out to a wider audience which is one of the core fundamental techniques of fostering and enhancing a great brand in a digital world. So, as one who uses Twitter for digital marketing and manager, not a few people have lost fortunes, numerically from N200,000 and above monthly.
More so, the ban serves as a red flag for investors because, for some businesses, Twitter is a core platform for their growth and an advantage to investors who see no enabling environment for businesses to thrive in such a digital and technological era. This signaled a reduction in investors’ Return On Investment (ROI) and losses that may be warranted as a result of the market environment which is not favorable for businesses and investors themselves because, for every great company to emerge, there should be pro-business and economic policies as well as a promising market environment. But the absence of these would attract serious punishment to maintain order.
What have you lost so far like many others following the ban?
So many. The ban is an abysmal threat to the growth of businesses for many Nigerians in terms of expansion because a critical means of building a community has been abruptly thrown into a state of abeyance. Businesses are being restrained from carrying out their Business-to-Customer (B2C) activities, which is considered very significant (i.e. online engagement of customers is restricted). Small businesses like mine suffer customer disengagement. Before now we used Twitter to build customers loyalty towards our brands. This also reduces the brand advocates that may emerge from making customers feel like a part of the brand through opinion polls used to improve on products or services as well as consistent, relevant, and engaging content that spur customers to tell the brand’s story remarkably. This is also a competitive advantage of businesses over their competitors because they can’t easily replicate a community, although competitors can copy products easily. The ban also serves as a horrendous influence on the number of active community members.
The Twitter ban has become a hindrance for a rapid way of solving problems between brands and their customers which usually occurs through direct messages. In fact, as a result of the effectiveness of Twitter in providing solutions to customers’ challenges, companies like Netflix had to create a separate account for customer support known as ‘Netflixhelps’ in order to easily communicate solutions for their customers’ problems. This is a substantial way for businesses to gather insight on their product technicalities which may warrant criticism to create room for adjustment. Funnily enough, the abrupt ban has rather done nothing but tampered with the flexibility of these businesses to easily communicate a way out.
Are you totally cut off from your customers and clients?
Yes, to a very significant degree, because Twitter is more pronounced than other social media platforms. You know rather than businesses go through a rigmarole that may be ensued via telephone calls, emails, etc, in order to listen to certain grievances of their customers or provide feedback, they can easily leverage Twitter in order to hasten the response rate as well as sort out situations that demand urgent interference of the brand.
How have investors suffered in this regard?
The ban is a red card to investors. You know people invest in the digital world as Science and Technology keeps transforming and disrupting the world. So businesses that leveraged Twitter Influencer marketing as their core marketing strength will tremendously suffer low return on their investment and even the ones that invested in it as a secondary marketing and promotional technique can’t totally avert the drop in the investment capital. Small businesses that have paid influencers to increase their reach and sales before the ban suffer an imminent reduction of awareness and conversion rate because the activeness of the influencer’s community is drastically falling due to the indefinite suspension.
In addition, the Twitter ban is an attack on businesses in terms of its cost-free growth. This is because Twitter creates a platform for businesses and customers to interact more efficiently. Check out what their competitors are building or doing better, etc, mostly through an organic mode. Although MSMEs may invest in paid advertisement to expand their reach, Twitter provides an incredible organic method of social networking between brands and customers by reaching almost all their customers with just a single tweet.
What are your prayers?
Since not all users are tech-savvy, some find it difficult to navigate the VPN app. As a result of this, there can never be the same marketing outcome for MSMEs and companies striving to increase their business growth. This is because there is a decrease in the number of users who are customers and those who are prospective buyers. The federal government should remember its campaign promises and administrative policies from the Economic and Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP), Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) and other plans, policies and programmes it embarked on within the last six years, and act in accordance to achieve these good plans. Banning Twitter is antithetical [to this]. It would be of economic good if the government reconsiders the indefinite suspension and create an enabling environment for these businesses to thrive. Let the government’ actions match its words.