Nigeria’s digital marketing space to hit $10bn

Executive Vice President, EVP, Digital of Porter Novelli, Jesse Soleil has projected Nigeria’s digital marketing space to hit $10 billion mark from its present value of $2billion by 2020.

This projection was made while on a courtesy visit to Nigeria as part of his five days working visit to Nigeria.

He said that the size of digital marketing in Nigeria will reach $10 billion by 2020 from its present $2billion value, if brands and marketing communications professionals incorporate the simple digital strategy in the overall marketing strategy. According to him, the Public Relations network has achieved a high level of success in its digital marketing campaigns because it has always focused its attention on the needs and behaviours of its target audience.

He observed that the major factor inhibiting the growth of digital marketing is the marketing communication practitioners’ treatment of digital marketing as a separate entity from marketing communication.

“Many marketing communication practitioners focus on the wrong indices – reach, impressions etc. – paying little or no attention to their target audience and what they want. We have to remember that digital marketing is still marketing and putting the digital in front of it doesn’t stop it from being marketing, and think about what the audience wants,” he said.

He called on professionals in the industry to make that switch by focusing on the behaviours of our target audience on the mobile, social, and digital media platforms and design strategies that take cognizance of these behaviours in order to deliver on their objectives and grow the industry.

On the place of digital media to public relations in marketing communication, he said that the future of marketing communications is dependent on a seamless integration of digital marketing into marketing communication and the use real-world experiences to inspire audiences to take desired actions.

On his part, Nn’emeka Maduegbuna, the Chairman/CEO C&F Porter Novelli, said that C&F Porter Novelli realizes that the importance of digital media in executing marketing communication campaigns.

“We, at C&F Porter Novelli, fully understand that the future of public relations lies with the digital media and it is this understanding that informed our invitation of the global network’s digital lead to come and build the capacity of our staff in the area of digital marketing. Soleil’s visit is an investment in the right direction,” he said.