In 2024, a woman in Owerri started selling zobo drink from her kitchen. Within eight months, she had a delivery business running across three states, not because she had capital, but because she knew how to use her phone.
Let’s be honest, social media looks easy until you’re the one trying to use it for business. You post a picture of your product, get twelve likes, seven of them from family and wonder what the fuss is about. But the problem usually isn’t the platform. It’s the approach.
Nigeria has over 33 million active social media users. These are people scrolling through Instagram while stuck in Lagos traffic, watching TikTok during their lunch break in Abuja, or joining WhatsApp groups at odd hours in Port Harcourt. Your market is already there. The question is whether your business is showing up in a way that makes them stop and pay attention.
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Start with one platform and master it
The biggest mistake small business owners make is spreading themselves across every platform at once like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn and doing a mediocre job on all of them. Pick one platform where your customers actually spend time, and commit to it. If you’re selling fashion, beauty, food, or lifestyle products, Instagram and TikTok are your best bets. If you’re targeting corporate clients or professionals, LinkedIn is worth the investment.
PRACTICAL TIP
- Build your broadcast list actively. Any time a customer buys from you whether its online or in-person ask if you can add them for updates. Most people say yes, especially if you frame it as “I’ll let you know when we have new items or deals.” That list is your most valuable business asset.
- Paid advertising don’t boost randomly. When business owners first try paid social media advertising, many click “Boost Post” on whatever their latest post is, set a budget of two thousand naira, and wait for magic to happen. It usually doesn’t, and they conclude that ads don’t work. Boosting a post is not the same as running a proper ad. The difference is targeting. When you run a proper ad through Facebook or Instagram’s Ads Manager, you can choose exactly who sees it , by location, age, interests, and behaviour.
- Start small, test your messaging, and double down on what’s working. Even ten thousand naira spent with proper targeting can outperform a hundred thousand spent carelessly.
- The businesses that build lasting success on social media are the ones that think beyond transactions. They create spaces, for instance, a WhatsApp community, a Facebook group, an Instagram comment section that actually creates online traffic where people feel like they belong to something.
When you show up consistently, provide real value, and engage with your audience like actual human beings, it compounds. Six months from now, your social media presence will either be an asset or an afterthought. It’s completely up to how you treat it today.
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Write up by Olaiya Anuoluwa Queensly
Head Research and Development
G-consulting International Services Ltd