Pushing SMEs frontiers with digital tools

• Published date: 17 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Small, medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered engines of growth for modern economies because of their numbers, job creation and value addition to national gross domestic product (GDP). LUCAS AJANAKU reports on how digital tools could boost their productivity on a sustainable basis.

According to Meta's Global State of Small Business Report released at the twilight of last year, during the last six months of the year, five per cent of small business owners in Nigeria were compelled by economic realities to reduce the size of their workforce by five per cent while in Ghana, the percentage job cut was 16 per cent.

Meta, which is Facebook's parent company, said as the pains of COVID-19 pandemic wanes, the most significant challenges SMBs face now is the current parlous state of the economy, supply chain disruption, inflation, fear of economic recession as well as skyrocketing production costs.

According to a 2022 report by Data Objects, hundreds of SMEs were asked about the digital tools used for their businesses and 67per cent of participants said they use social media tools.

MTN initiative

MTN Nigeria however said it has unveiled MTN Thryve Ads, for SMEs to aid their social media marketing efforts.

With the launch of MTN Thryve Ads, SMEs can now efficiently run social media advertising campaigns. Thryve Ads is optimised to enable businesses successfully schedule and track Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns while taking advantage of seamless support throughout the ad campaign life cycle.

Using social media as a marketing strategy can help small businesses or start-ups accelerate their businesses, access new markets, and scale quickly and efficiently. However, now and again, Nigerian small businesses need help placing digital ads on social media platforms. MTN Thryve Ads is a solution that seeks to eliminate these challenges. Additionally, it includes features for tracking and optimizing ads for successful impact.

Chief Enterprise Business Officer, MTN Nigeria, Lynda Saint-Nwafor, said: 'Social media has proven to be a useful marketing tool for SMEs as they focus on creating access to new markets leveraging digital channels. We, at MTN, recognise these SMEs as the backbone of our economy. Therefore, as part of our commitment to drive digital access, adoption and transformation across industry verticals, we are excited to be an enabler for SMEs to access new markets leveraging digital advertising inventories. Whether they are early or late adopters of social media...