Affiliate Marketing in Kenya

A few days ago, I posted an article on LinkedIn lamenting the obscurity with which major kenyan businesses approach internet marketing.

One of the points in my post was the failure of Kenyan companies to utilize affiliate marketing to drive their sales.

Instead, a lot of companies post salespersons in small towns, organize promotion camps or post sales reps in supermarkets.

As a result, the Kenyan blogger is left with no option than to promote products from abroad in their blogs.

The question that I try to ask myself time and again is: Why are Kenyan companies so reluctant to take up internet market?

There are two possible reasons.
One, the Kenyan buyer has not matured to a point of seeking shopping information online.

Or

The company's marketing departments do not know how to set up affiliate platforms or they are the least bothered by the marketing opportunities they are losing.

Analyzing the first point, I think that the Kenyan shopper has ripened for online trade. One only needs to look at the success of companies such as Jumia, OLX, PigiaMe, Lamudi and TradeCar to make conclusions about the Kenyan consumer.

In my opinion, this is the bloom stage for online business, and marketers need to capitalize on this.
My predictions is that, many companies that do not seize this opportunity to take their operations online will be setting themselves up for failure.

5 years from now, internet marketing will be the in-thing. Companies beginning right now will have an upper hand.

So, if companies that are beginning right now will have an upper hand, what is holding them back from taking action? Is it lack of IT know-how, infrastructure or personnel
My guess is as good as yours.

The personnel.

Most of the companies that are reluctant to establish an online presence do not have modernized marketing departments.

Their personnel are not in sync with whatever is going on in the marketing arena.

To them, throwing on a few adverts on the Nation and some on KBC is enough to keep them ranking. But for how long will the conventional media sustain their sales?

For how long can they rely on the fame attached to their brands before new tech-savvy products enter the market and tip the equilibrium?