Diversify your business to SMEs’ space, experts tell experiential marketers
Experts in the Integrated Marketing Communications industry have unanimously advised experiential marketers in the country to focus their businesses on creating experiences for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
According to them, the SMEs sector has a great potential for growth, stressing that players in the experiential marketing industry should take advantage of such growth. The recommendations were made at the EXMAN 2019 Business Conference themed: “The Experience is Key” at the Civic Center, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Managing Consultant – Market Space Nigeria, George Thorpe, who took the opportunity to set new Below The Line (BTL) agenda for experiential marketers pointed out that in Nigeria, SMEs contribute 48% of national GDP, account for 96% of businesses and 84% of employment.
Mr. Thorpe stated that the sector presents a lot of business opportunities for experiential marketers who were looking to grow their client base.
According to him, “Instead of running after big companies and multinationals who will pay you after 120 days amidst other challenges, why not begin to render your services to smaller businesses where you are sure of being paid.”
He, however, lamented that one of the problems that practitioners in the experiential marketing industry were facing was that practitioners have not structured their offerings to suit SMEs in Nigeria.
“SME desire growth and as experiential marketers we can help them create experiences around their businesses but the problem is that our services is not structured to accommodate SMEs.
“You might need to even set up a new company to do SMEs. So if you ask me, ‘is there a huge growth in SMEs?’ My answer will be yes and we need to begin to take advantage of that sector,” Mr. Thorpe said.
Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer, Africa Context, Mike Ikpoki, affirmed that the structure of the Nigerian economy shows that there are more opportunities that exist within the SMEs sector.
Mr. Ikpoki further advised experiential marketers to tap into the SMEs space and creatively connect their businesses with their target consumers.
“With that you will be creating value addition for their businesses. So, you should begin to think how to tap into that space. Begin to think how you can create that value and engagement. With that, there are a lot of opportunities for your business to grow,” he said.
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