Considering the unrestricted access to social media and its attendant visibility to any posted items, young entrepreneurs have been advised to leverage opportunities of various existing micro-blogging sites to promote their brands.

This was the general submission at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Tuesday where over a hundred young trainees and mentees graduated at the 10th LCCI Entrepreneurship Mentoring Graduation Ceremony.

The advice was predicated on the competitive business environment and the current biting cost of doing business in Nigeria that have resulted in closure of shops by many brand owners.

Top players in the e-commerce industry believe that technology has taken over the business world and the earlier it is embraced and accepted, the better for brand owners who aspire to remain in business and maximize profits.

According to Mrs. Mojisola Bakare, Vice President, LCCI, the only way to survive the present turbulent economy is for brand owners to enhance their businesses with the use of social media. She said that the platforms offer a wide range of opportunities if wisely and gainfully used.

“it is part of what we taught our mentees during their training period and I have emphasized it to them on different occasions the need to adopt social media to enhance their businesses in terms of coordination and capacity building. If they can use it to their advantage, I bet the sky won’t be their limit.”

Also speaking on the importance of social media in brand promotion, Adeleke Adeleye, Chief Operating Officer, FAE Ltd, noted that the easiest way to create awareness about brand is through the social media. He believes that young generation of business owners have what it takes to explore that opportunity in taking their brands to the next level.

According to him, no matter the training and business experience anyone has, technology is beginning to make it inconsequential with the advent of various social media platforms where product or service can be packaged, promoted and get it to the target customers or clients without having to move around.

Advising the newly graduated entrepreneurs, Adeleye said, “They have learnt so much from the tutors in the programme. They’ve learnt from the experts, they’ve learnt from the chambers that have been around for so many years. The knowledge they’ve acquired is all about implementation. Implementing the knowledge on technology, and implementing it on networking.”

Mrs. Abosede Okeyemi, LCCI Director of Membership, also aligned her position with others on the importance of leveraging social media to boost visibility, contacts and business profit margin. She disclosed that it is one of the key trainings given to their mentees, which she believes they will take advantage to rise and move with speed in their various business dealings.

According to research, social media has been identified as one of the most important channels to increase brand awareness with 37% of customers confirming it as the most significant source of inspiration for their purchases.

Some of the social media platforms highlighted for brand promotion include LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X formerly known as Twitter, YouTube, Reditt, Snapchat and Pinterest.