social media in kenya
TRANSCRIPT
Social Media in Kenya
It goes without saying that social media is huge in Kenya. Social media is a key driver behind the uptake of lots of inexpensive smartphones since mobile apps for the same are also incredibly popular. Given that social media is super important for brands in Kenya, the question that comes to mind is where should brands ‘play’ when it comes to the most dominant social media platforms in use by Kenyans? It goes without saying that there are the usual suspects and some that are not quite so usual. That being said, we tried to compile the five biggest ones that matter for brands in Kenya, circa 2015, as follows:
Facebook is the biggest social media platform of all in Kenya by a pretty large margin. As of this writing, Facebook has approximately 5 million active users, and growing, in Kenya. Given its reach and uptake, Facebook has become incredibly important for brands to build their communities and also for running digital advertising campaigns. Indeed, Facebook has gone so mainstream that even many Kenyan grandparents are using the platform to stay in touch with friends and family. Therefore, from this perspective, its a no-brainer that you need to use Facebook to make any kind of decent impact via social media in Kenya.
Twitter has been around almost as long as Facebook in Kenya. However, we estimate that its only around a third the size of Facebook here meaning that 1.7 million or so people use it. Unlike Facebook, Twitter only deals with ‘tweets’ and therefore it has fewer use cases compared to Facebook. Its probably for this reason that Twitter is not quite as popular as Facebook even though its still really important when brands need to get their message out there on a regular basis in a concise format. In 2014, it became possible to buy Twitter Ads in Kenya and these have become popular with big brands for their digital campaigns.
Linkedin, like Facebook and Twitter has been around for just as long as they have in Kenya. The main caveat to Linkedin however is that the engagements there are for professionals and as such its more skewed to business engagements unlike the more flexible ‘tone of voice’ on Facebook and Twitter. That being said, for serious work-related and business matters, Linkedin cannot be beaten and many people find jobs there and businesses also look for candidates there too. Linkedin has around 1.3 million users in Kenya making it smaller than Twitter in Kenya. Brands can buy Linkedin Ads for campaigns in Kenya.
We think that Instagram is the breakout social media platform of 2015 and will be even bigger in 2016. Instagram, by its very nature of sharing ‘filtered’ images has made it hugely accessible and successful as well, especially with the youth. We do not have any accurate numbers at this point but we can guess that there are probably 2 to 3 million (or more?) Instagram users in Kenya making it bigger than Twitter or Linkedin. Its also became possible recently to run Instagram Ads in Kenya using the Facebook Ads dashboard and a good number of Kenyan brands are trying it out with great success.
Snapchat
In Kenya, as it is globally, Snapchat is fast gaining adoption especially amongst the youth. Snapchat has taken quite sometime to catch on here but its starting to (finally?) happen. The big draw for Snapchat users is that you can share ‘snaps’ which are instant messages that erase themselves after a pre-determined period of time. Kenyan brands have NOT yet really gotten onto Snapchat (yet?) but this is certainly going to change next year. Mark our words. We don’t have any accurate number but we think Snapchat could have as many as 500,000 users (or more?) in Kenya as of this writing.
The 5 most visited social networks in KenyaJan 28,2014
Social networking sites are the biggest past time of Kenyans online. The Kenyan online community has been able to build a name for itself as one of the biggest online community in Africa. The infamous Kenyans on Twitter(KOT) are known for both good and bad reasons. From being the leader in crowd sourcing for different initiatives to the negative side of “fighting” with other online communities and media houses like CNN with hashtags such as #someonetellCNN. These are the top 5 social networks in Kenya as per rankings by recent ranking. 1. Facebook If we go by number of subscribers then Facebook has the largest community in Africa and indeed the world. Facebook allows you to keep in touch with friends both past and present. It is also good for meeting new people and has other facilities such as chatting and video conferencing. Apart from personal use, Facebook has also becoming an important platform for companies to market their products and services. From large corporations to small companies, it is now vital that they have a fan page from which they can engage with their customers. It offers a cheaper alternative to the traditional outbound marketing
methods. Facebook has also made it possible for individuals and small business to find customers and clients via groups. A sort of black market whereby you can sell both second hand and new products faster and cheaper. 2. YoutubeYouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. It ranks third in Kenya behind Google and Facebook. Through Youtube creatives such as musicians have found a platform where they market their music audios and videos without much cost. Youtube has also been used by actors and bloggers to host web episodes which give them an opportunity to market themselves. 3. TwitterIn terms of influence twitter takes the top prize. The social network site that only allows users to use 140 characters for each post is the fastest growing in Kenya. It has also put the Kenyan online community on the map in Africa and globally as part of the biggest trend setters. If it is not on twitter then it didn’t happen. Twitter has also become a vital tool for customer service and customer care. Companies can now receive complaints from their customers via the social network and help them appropriately.The platform has also played a big role in other aspects such as political socialization, activism and crowd sourcing for various initiatives such as blood donation drives and fund raisers. 4. LinkedinLinkedin allows registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. This list can then be used to build business connections, to find jobs, and as a research tool to find out about someone before you do business with them / employ them / start work for them.It is the biggest professional network in Kenya and ranked 11th among the top sites in Kenya. 5. InstagramInstagram is a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends and family via pictures and videos. It allows you to integrate other social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and share the pictures to them instantly. These has become popular especially in the entertainment industry where celebrities use the platform to share pictures of themselves in different places and engage more with their fans.By virtue of the numbers of Kenyans that visit these social media platforms, Kenyan brands should definitely be on these platforms. Which social media platforms is your company on and why? Do tell us in the comments.
Reference
http://www.dotsavvyafrica.com/the-5-biggest-social-media-platforms-in-kenya/
http://www.qube.co.ke/blog/internet-marketing/the-5-most-visited-social-networks-in-kenya/
Vaccination Campaigns in Kenyaby Elaine Bussjaeger August 4, 2016 Leave a Comment on How Social Media, Tech Influences Vaccination Campaigns in Kenya
Kids in Nairobi, Kenya, proudly display their marked pinkies, a sign they’ve received a measles and rubella vaccination.
As part of the Measles and Rubella Initiative, we are committed to vaccinating kids in countries across the world. We recently supported our friends at the Kenya Red Cross, as they participated in a country-wide campaign to vaccinate kids, through community outreach. We were struck by the Kenya Red Cross’ use of social media and SMS text messages to get the word out for this immunization campaign. We chatted with their social media officer Munir Ahmed to learn a little bit more about how they’re using tech to reach more Kenyan families.
HAART KenyaHAART Kenya is a Kenyan nongovernmental organization (NGO) dedicated to ending human trafficking - also known as modern slavery - in Kenya. We work with creating awareness against human trafficking in the grassroots communities in Nairobi and its environs, assisting victims of trafficking, prosecuting offenders and working in partnerships with other organizations and networks to end modern slavery. Moreover we are involved with research to better understand trafficking in Kenya.
