In modern times or rather internet times, commercial activity is going online, away from brick and mortar. Banks and shopping malls are among those leading the way.
This can be attributed to the growth of internet in the country with the current bandwidth capacity of over 2,028,743 mbps.
With the advent of smart phones, which have higher capabilities of internet connection, there are over 39.4 million internet enabled gadgets in Kenya.
In 2016, Kenya was ranked second in Africa behind South Africa in terms of the size of population that has access to the Internet. According to an American-based Pew Research Centre, a quarter of Kenya’s adult population owns a smartphone or other digital devices such as computer tablets, placing the country third on the continent behind South Africa at 37 per cent and Nigeria’s 28 per cent score.
Due to these reasons, online malls are opening up and even most companies are abandoning the traditional ways of marketing, adopting online techniques. However, most of these are yet to discover the best people to do online marketing, resulting in frequent hiring and firing of digital marketers.
The solution is simple: Hire women. And these are five reasons you won’t go wrong on these:
1. Women have a higher EQ than men
Emotional intelligence(EQ) is the capability of individuals to recognise their own and other people’s emotions, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately. According to Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who recently visited the country, online marketing is not about computers talking to computers but people talking to people, and trying to understand the customers’ feelings and demands. He says that 47% of his staff are women, which translates to over 26000 staff members.
2. Women care more
Women think of others more than they think of themselves. This is why a number of them are needed at the management level to steer online campaigns for your products. Jack Ma has shown us the way.
“33% of the senior management staff at Alibaba are women. Women take care of others more than men,” he says.
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Women will at all times try to understand both the customers and the staff, and try to make them happy. Jack Ma believes that if you make both the staff and the customers happy, the business will automatically flourish.
3. Women have bigger following than men on social media
On average, women have more than twice as many posts on their Facebook walls and they have 8% more ‘friends’ than men. Also, most women on Facebook reach the friend limit earlier than men,
Behind every social media platform stand millions of women – and they certainly seem to love their mobile phones. A Nielsen study shows that women spend nearly 10 minutes social networking through the mobile web, or through apps every day, whereas men spend a little less than seven minutes.
The study further indicates that 22% of women are active on Twitter, compared to just 15% of men. Facebook, which is used by 71% of the online population, is dominated by women (76%) as opposed to men (66%).
4. Better community builders
Women are better consensus builders and don’t have the need like men to direct everyone in what to do. In this world of the connected Internet, beta managers, those that know how to build cooperative relationships, are becoming more successful than traditional alpha managers, majorly comprised of men.
50 More patience
Women are far more patient with employees than men. They are less likely to jump to an immediate conclusion or make a quick decision or take action too soon. A study commissioned by myHermes shows that women are willing to wait longer for a desired result.
Jack Ma started Alibaba, an online mall in 1999 in China at a time when itnternet connectivity was very limited, no phones and no online payment system, For him to achieve the success he enjoys today, patience was key.
