Economy
5 Ways Small Businesses In Nigeria Can Build Positive Online Reputation
With the current economic situation in Nigeria, small businesses are finding it extra hard to survive or at least stay relevant. There are a million and one things they have to worry about now as well as strategies they have to consider if they want to keep shop. One of such strategies is “online reputation management”.
It is no secret that everything is literally done online now and so, if you want your business to succeed, you need to put it online. Basically, a business’ online presence can make or break its actuality. Aside from having an online presence however, it is essential for any business to know how to protect its online reputation.
Do you own a small business and you are wondering how you can do this? Jumia Travel shares 5 tips that can help you protect and manage your business’ reputation online.
Join and remain active on Social Networks
Social media platforms, when used in the right way, can be an effective way to shape a business’ reputation. The results may not be instant, but with a genuine profile and consistent original content that resonates with your target market, you gain real connections. Start with Facebook or Twitter accounts and ensure you constantly send posts on the platforms. Delays in responding to Tweets, posts, comments and questions can have a negative impact on your reputation. Think about reciprocation and engage your customers rather than constantly adopting a direct sales approach.
Seek publicity
Aside from being on the social media, seek other ways for self-promotion. Try web advertising and if you cannot afford to do that, an alternative way to seek publicity online would be to write articles for other sites and blogs and ensure you write on topics that will establish yourself as an expert in your field and essentially spread your good company name.
Get in directory listings and business profile sites
Anyone who wants to check the authenticity of a business, would usually check to see its inclusion on official listings and directories. Just the act of registering on these sites sets a positive reputation. Listing and online directories are essential as they help customers with searches and they eventually drive traffic to your site where you can adopt reputation management tools to keep your visitors interested and active on your pages.
Encourage reviews
Most businesses tend to shy away from reviews as they are afraid they may eventually get damaged by a negative review. It is important however that these business owners keep in mind that feedback is valuable as it gives essential insights into the reputation of the business. If you don’t know what people are saying about your business, you do not know what your reputation is, much less what must be done to manage it. In the case you get a negative review, see it as an opportunity to correct an issue or satisfy a dissatisfied customer. Take the time to respond both publicly on the review and privately with the customer through email to make it right. Do not be lured by the temptation of paying for good reviews either, as this breaks the terms of service of many directories and can result in long term harm to your visibility on their site.
Manage your offline reputation
Do not be deceived, your offline reputation is as important as your online reputation. Your online reputation is essentially built upon the offline experiences of your customers with your business and as such, they heavily influence how your small business in perceived online. Do all you can to ensure your customer has a positive experience with your services, products or facilities. Ensure you have a system in place that allows dissatisfied customers to express their concerns and also allows you to answer questions and make decisions that address and resolve issues before they become online complaints.
Nkem Ndem is a PR Associate at Jumia Travel.
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The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.
However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.
The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
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By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.30 per cent fall was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as a result of profit-taking in the industrial goods sector.
This was mainly caused by sell-offs in Dangote Cement Plc, which released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 yesterday.
The cement maker lost 10.00 per cent during the session to trade at N432.00, Regency Alliance lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57 Kobo, VFD Group depreciated by 7.57 per cent to N17.10, Chams declined by 7.27 per cent to N2.04, and Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.12 per cent to 92 Kobo.
Conversely, International Breweries, Legend Internet, and Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N7.70, N6.82, and N12.10 apiece, Vitafoam Nigeria surged by 9.93 per cent to N44.85, and Eterna rose by 9.92 per cent to N39.90.
The industrial goods index was down by 4.73 per cent on Friday, as the others finished in green territory.
The consumer goods space rose by 2.21 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.55 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.50 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.07 per cent, and the commodity industry went up by 0.04 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 321.21 points to 105,753.05 points from 106,074.26 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N202 billion to N66.465 trillion from N66.667 trillion.
The level of activity increased yesterday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals grew by 30.40 per cent, 94.23 per cent, and 17.64 per cent, respectively.
This was because investors transacted 428.1 million shares worth N20.2 billion in 14,284 deals compared with the 328.3 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in traded in 12,142 deals a day earlier.
GTCO led the activity chart with 60.7 million equities sold for N3.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 41.4 million stocks worth N829.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 40.6 million shares valued at N968.3 million, MTN Nigeria sold 33.0 million equities for N8.2 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million stocks worth N1.1 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
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The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market by N1.36 to close at N1,818.53/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,819.89/€1.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N1.90 to wrap the session at N2,130.44/£1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N2,128.50/£1.
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In the cryptocurrency market, a possible regulatory progress about digital assets in the US spurred buying interest among investors during the trading session.
The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Paul Atkins, was at a crypto roundtable on Friday and he devoted his inaugural speech to assuring the industry that he will continue to remake securities policy to favor digital assets innovation.
Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.0 per cent to $87.24, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.7 per cent to $0.1862, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.3 per cent to $94,687.84, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $1,797.51, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.7235, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.6 per cent to close at $2.20.
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