Best practices – Investing in technology to survive COVID
THE Coronavirus pandemic hit global markets and shattered industries, extinguishing jobs and squeezing government revenues.
Digital technology, however, has had an immediate impact on helping to save local SMEs that remained focused and invested in software designed to optimise efficiency and cut administrative costs.
Manic Creatives Limited opted to go down this path, and it was a decision that paid dividends as the Coronavirus first emerged in Zambia in March, 2020.
Founder and CEO Imanga explains that HubSpot, the American Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) software Manic has partnered with in Zambia, helped resuscitate the company’s cash flows and revitalise growth for Manic’s clients.
Manic’s investment in HubSpot pays off
“They (HubSpot) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and, for us, that’s what attracted us to become a solutions partner with them so we chose them. We’ve been using HubSpot since inception at Manic, but only decided to become an official solutions partner last year. This came about during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic where we were in a dire situation as a company, a local SME, and faced the risk of going out of business, even as a digital marketing agency that relied on the Internet,” Kayama recalls.
“What had happened is that a lot of our clients downscaled a lot of their marketing campaigns because they were worried that with COVID-19, they had to save their money. And globally, marketing is one of the functions that was downscaled so we had to think really quick on our feet, and I am very proud to say that Manic lives and breathes innovation.”
Manic almost faced closure in 2020…
“By March/April, 2020, we thought we would be shutting down as Manic, it was a scary time! Five years in business and you are going to shut down because of COVID-19, uncertainty? So, by subscribing to HubSpot, we were able to see the difference, to revive ourselves and find new ways to reach our customers and become more aware about where to find our customers on the Internet and how to target them. The Internet has billions of users so how do you identify the right customer who is going to buy your product or service? HubSpot helps you do that so it helped us do that. And by doing so, we were found because it helped us position ourselves on the Internet and people started to find us, and based on our partnership with HubSpot as a solutions partner, we were sought out because of that affiliation. So, it’s been a win-win partnership,” she says.
Manic helps Zambian companies survive COVID-19
“We’re problem solvers so we wanted to explore a solution for ourselves as well as our clients that would help us survive the pandemic; it was just uncertain times, and we are still in uncertain times. Therefore, after further research, we identified that this was the right time, it was a risk, as any entrepreneur will know, because it required significant investment on our part to become a solutions partner, it doesn’t come cheap. HubSpot is an American company so the solution is tailored around the developed business processes and systems. Now, being in Zambia, our situation is different – not all the clients that a business may target have e-mail addresses, they have phone numbers and not all those numbers are operating off a smartphone.”
But traditional marketing in Zambia still remains important
Of course, traditional marketing in Zambia remains important as clients and marketers need to see eye-to-eye every so often.
Human contact in a developing country is equally significant to sustain healthy relationships, as Kayama explains.
“We can’t run away from traditional, we still need the face-to-face interaction and computers can never fully replace human beings. So, a good balance and recognition of the business environment is critical. That’s why, for us, we also believe we are one of the best companies you can hire because we have the local expertise, and we are aware of the challenges that Zambian businesses are facing and, therefore, know exactly what kind of solutions to implement and what gaps to fill,” observes Kayama.
