UT Bank Limited holds SME Clinic on Digital Marketing

UT Bank is known to be a highly acclaimed SME centric bank in the country. As part of the bank’s commitment to the sustainable growth of SMEs and to providing empowered partnerships with local businesses, the third edition of the UT Bank SME Clinic themed “Digital Marketing on a Tight Budget” was held on Thursday the 10th of November 2016 at Alisa Hotel in Accra.

Addressing the audience in her opening remarks, the Chief Financial Officer of UT Bank, Ms. Gillian Slater noted that the quarterly series kicked off on the theme of “Funding your business – Strategies, Options & Considerations”.The second edition themed,“Integrated Marketing Strategy: Acquiring and Retaining Customers” was facilitated by Stanford SEED. The 3rd edition, encapsulated the need for SMEs to embrace digital media and related ecosystems as a complement to traditional media in an age where value for money is crucial to business success. Ms. Slater expressed her enthusiasm for such forums in which UT Bank can bring in experts to empower SMEs.

The main speakers at the event were, the Managing Director of PopOut, Mr. Maximus Ametorgoh and the Director of New Business at Ringier Digital Marketing (RDM) Africa, Mr. Agastee Khante. The industry experts spoke extensively about deploying digital media to grow and transform businesses.

Mr. Ametorgoh commenced by explaining the relevance of having an online presence as a business owner."If you are a company and people go online to search for your product or service and they can’t find you, then you are wasting your time. It is like building your house in the middle of the forest and no one knows where you are located. Your website has to be mobile device compatible, allowing for visibility and ease of access on a wide range of platforms”, he said.

Mr. Ametorgoh further explained that social media is the right place for the promotion of products and services, as these platforms are gradually taking over websites. He stated that social media is content driven, in other words it feeds consumers with information while websites are search driven requiring consumers to search for information, making it easier to access social media content.

According to research, there are 3.17 billion internet users globally of which 2.1 billion are on social media platforms. He added that Facebook alone has 1billion daily active users and serves as an easy channel through which millions of people can promote their products and services.

Mr. Ametorgoh urged businesses to define their market segment, select the right platform, develop quality content and allocate a budget. It is imperative to measure the results of the above to ascertain its effectiveness.

In his presentation, Mr. Khante explained the various business operations of RDM Africa. He mentioned that the current mobile phone penetration in Africa was at about 90%, emphasizing the importance of adopting digital media marketing. He listed a number of benefits that mobile penetration in Africa brings including improved business management, supply chain and other facets of businesses.

Mr. Khante stated that, “through the use of mobile devices, companies can expand their reach in advertising.” He also emphasized that this is a good opportunity for business development in Africa and that SMEs should take advantage of this, given the cost implications and positive image impact.

He stressed that, “Companies can advertise and reach more customers through social media and other search engines such as Google. Many people visit social media platforms and search engines to make key consumer decisions.”

The 3rd Edition of the UT Bank SME Clinic was clearly a beneficial event for the SMEs in attendance as it gave an insight into the need for businesses to embrace Digital Marketing.

About UT Bank

UT Bank Limited is a mid-tier Universal Bank that is focused on the SME segment. The Bank commenced business as finance house in 1997 and has evolved into a publicly listed company with shares listed and actively traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange. It was awarded Bank of the Year 2011, Most Respected Company in 2012 and The Most Active E-zwich Bank 2014 and 2nd Runner up Most Active E-zwich Bank 2015.

UT Bank has positioned itself as a leader in SME banking and seeks to change the face of banking in Ghana through fast, efficient and respectful delivery of service. The bank is well known for providing innovative customer-oriented products with a focus on SMEs and individual customers. The Bank has 28 branches in 8 of Ghana’s 10 regions, a growing ATM network and mobile banking units.

For more information, please email marketing@utbankghana.com or call 020 211 4848.

About PopOut

PopOut is a marketing agency specializing in delivering digital marketing solutions to its clients. It has a professional team of experts and strategists who have worked in the advertising, marketing and technology industries over the years and offer value for money. PopOut’s areas of specialty include Digital Marketing, Social Media, Advertising, Branding, Web Development, Mobile Marketing, App Development, Display Advertising and Email Marketing. It is also known for organising annual industry events such as Digital Marketing Summit and TopApps Awards.

About Ringier Digital Marketing (RDM)

RDM provides companies across Africa with professional solutions to profit from the full value chain of online marketing. With various services for businesses ranging from development and design of their online presence to support, planning and handling of social and other digital marketing channels, RDM is ensuring that customers are set up for continuous success in reaching and selling to audiences online. It runs digital marketing for companies such as Campari, Supabets, Tonaton and another known brands.