There are lots of reasons most Nigerians fail in online marketing, affiliate marketing, content marketing, or making money online, and I recently wrote a blog article on the hindrance of content marketing in Nigeria.
This particular article will be different from that, it’s going to be based on my personal experience as I started online and content marketing, what hindered me, and how I was able to overcome those factors and make real-time progress.
I won’t underestimate the fact that online marketing could be tough if you are just getting started and don’t know how to go about it. But it’s not about that, I mean, it contributes but, it’s really about us and the economic situation we find ourselves in today in Nigeria.
Today in Nigeria, 1$ is above 800 Nigerian Naira, and fuel price is on the high side making other commodities very high and making life difficult for average Nigerians and the less privileged to survive.
Nonetheless, I didn’t write this article to express how difficult things are or to weigh you down such that your eyes become closed and you can’t find the light of the situation.
As much as I will tell you why it’s hard for most Nigerians to succeed in online marketing and making money online. I will also tell you how to succeed and why you should start online marketing today.
Here Are The 6 Reasons Most Nigerians Fail In Online Marketing
First, you must know that these are not a comprehensive list, but most other reasons are inclusive of these.
1. Mindset
Mindset is one of the outstanding reasons Nigerians fail in online marketing, but sometimes this factor is underestimated. But today, I’m listing it as number one because it’s the reason you get started in online marketing or affiliate marketing. The danger here is how you think before you start.
Here’s the reason why mindset is one of the key reasons Nigerians and mostly Africans fail;
- Quick wealth mindset: Most Nigerians and Africans think because in online marketing your income comes in foreign currency that they will be able to turn into millionaires overnight or in a few weeks.
They think when you start online marketing money starts flowing in, but, sorry if that’s your mindset too. Before the money starts flowing as you think, a lot of work has to be done.
So when they discover this on their way through, they quit even before they start seeing results. And that’s so sad.
- Easy: Most people also think it’s easy. So when they get to know the hard work involved they just back off and think it’s not for them. These people may know that online marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but they also think it will be very easy. But it’s simple though, that’s if you know the right strategy and tactics.
- Hard: Most people also think online marketing is very hard and it’s only for the pros, so they quit because of their encounter.
- Fear: Others may have fear of what people around them are going to say, since humans are judging machines, they will always talk no matter what you do. So these people get stuck here thinking about what people will say if they are not making what they promised to be making, then try to overwork themselves and quit because of stress and lack of motivation over time.
- Educational background: Another mindset factor that makes people quit is because they think, since they don’t have a degree in marketing or haven’t attended a higher institution and because of the roadblocks they face they just quit, because they think they can’t do it, and it’s for people with a degree.
- Workspace: Others may also think that because they don’t have a fancy workspace or office to operate, they can’t compete with others who do.
- Mr/Miss/Mrs A/B failed: Most people think because others aren’t seeing results that they could not too, Maybe someone who introduced them has not started making money yet they think it’s not going to work. Or their friend or someone they know has failed, and if he/she could not do it, how will they succeed?
What do you think could be another mindset factor why people fail in online marketing, comment below, I will check it out and maybe add it to the list later.
2. Lack of Proper Education
Another factor that is also a major factor that leads to online failure is the lack of proper education. What I mean by proper education here is not about having any fancy degree or something like that.
I’m talking about proper knowledge and understanding of online marketing, and how the internet works. As you can see, most people come short of this factor. To succeed online, you need to know how to do it.
This has to do with having the necessary skill sets to navigate the online space. This is very crucial. Someone might have a PhD in marketing but doesn’t know how to navigate the online space so they fail.
This is a tactical and strategic skill that will help you succeed in online or affiliate marketing especially if you are just starting and you don’t have money to pay someone to do things for you. You need to know and satisfy each buyer’s intent, so if you can’t, that means you will fail, sad to say.
But, why do people lack these essential skill sets? There are numerous reasons, but most of the time is a lack of finance, which is what I’m going to discuss next.
3. Financial Constraints
If you think this has to do with money, yes, you are right. Yes, I know things are hard, dollar rate to naira, fuel price, etc.
Because of this, it’s hard for Nigerians especially to buy online courses, tools, and even data (internet subscription), to run their online business.
Sadly, today’s economy has made it difficult for most to have enough money to take care of themselves, family and even their businesses, including online businesses.
Today, buying an Android Phone or A Laptop can be very difficult for starters, and even for those that have started already, there are still other things that may come up along the line that need money and it’s hard to get it. So they fail.
4. Lack of Focus
Another factor here is lack of focus, people often get demotivated when they are not getting what they expected. This is probably because of the mindset they had initially, so since they are not getting results they lose concentration.
This comes in many ways, you can lose focus on your audience, goal, and intentions why you started at first, and lots more.
This can also affect people who have started making money already, how? Because you might get blinded or maybe you made some money accidentally if I could use that world, as such you lose track of your analytics, audience pain points and solving them, ranking factor, traffic, etc.
5. Time and Consistency
Time and consistency are very crucial when it comes to succeeding online, most people seem to overlook this factor, so they fail.
People give different excuses like, I’m a student, I’m working, I’m a nursing mother, I’m always very busy, and all sorts of excuses. I mean, why all these excuses? They just lack the understanding of how online marketing works that’s why all these excuses come in.
Also, laziness can cause inconsistency, you might be so lazy that you forget your publishing schedule and that hurts your ranking factor and authority.
Another factor is the period of relevance. Timing is a crucial component when it comes to online success, if you target the wrong keyword at the wrong time that hurts your success. But how will you know all this if you lack the education in online marketing?
And that brings me to the final part of our puzzle, which is being too rigid.
6. Too Rigid
How? This is when someone sticks to one particular thing that is not driving him/her results, but they are too strict not to make adjustments and start seeing the result they need.
Most people seem to lock themselves down to one particular thing that it’s very hard to adjust to and diversity. As you have already guessed it hinders online success.
How To Overcome These Factors and Become Successful
With what I’ve discussed so far you might find yourself in one or more situations, don’t worry about that. I was like that too, but with smart work and focus on why I started, I remained consistent and things started falling into place.
1. Mindset
First, to make it online, you need to change your mindset of making quick money. To start making real tangible and consistent income online takes time. I’ve seen people make 10s of thousands and even hundreds of thousands online every month.
One thing you need to know is that before you start making consistent income every month, there are things you need to set in place that will give you the recurring income you need.
Online marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme that people tend to be publishing about. One of the causes of this problem is online video influence on how to make $1000 a day and its kind. These people just put up this content online to entice you to click and watch because they know that’s what you want to see. And guess what, they are using you to cash out.
I’m not saying that watching online videos is bad, but what I mean here is that you should not let them come into your head. You have to do your research before jumping into the promising video of how you will turn into a millionaire overnight.
These people won’t tell you that it takes time because if they said something like “how to make $1000 in a year”, you will not want to watch. Besides, you don’t want to wait that long, you want to make money fast.
In essence, you will make a lot and a lot of money online if you change your mindset and start thinking about long-term success in the online space. I can tell you with confidence that if you can do just a little change of mindset, and focus on the goal you will be proud of yourself, while others who want to make quick money are still out there jumping from one website or app to the other.
This is one of the things I wish I had known earlier. And I’m very happy that I’m writing about it today because this article will help a lot of Nigerians and Africans to succeed online.
2. Lack of Proper Education
About this, I will keep it simple and go straight to the point. There are lots of courses out there that are free to use, you can get started with that and you will see results. Trust me, I’ve been there before.
You can get free video courses on YouTube, and Udemy, and even written articles too can help you. But as a bonus to you reading till this point, I have a list of reputable coaches and Youtubers who have great content on online marketing and I learned from most of them when I started, and I still view their content because of how good they are.
Here is my list of recommended YouTube channels you can start learning online marketing and its related topics today;
- HubSpot content marketing YouTube channel.
- Adam Enfory affiliate marketing, and blogging YouTube channel
- Income School SEO, and blogging YouTube channel.
- Rank Math SEO, and blogging YouTube channel.
- Neil Patel digital marketing, SEO, and blogging YouTube channel.
- Ahrefs blogging, and SEO YouTube channel.
- Adam Erhart digital marketing YouTube channel.
3. Financial Constraints
Financial constraints are a huge factor, but there’s still a way around it. Since you don’t have money to buy online courses and tools you can follow the list of Youtubers I’ve mentioned above and learn for free, at no cost except for your data.
Also, you can check this website, I have great content that will also help you get started as a beginner.
You can use your old Android phone that has at least 2GB RAM for internet speed. You don’t need anything fancy to get started. If you have a laptop, that’s even better.
To get an internet subscription, I advise you don’t purchase daily bundles because you will be on a hece to finish it up before it expires the next day. Instead, data from vendors, you can get 1GB for 300 Naira valid for a month.
This can help you save some money and worry less about it expiring soon, but as you already know, 1GB for a month doesn’t mean the data won’t finish before that, it all depends on your usage.
You need to know that one thing you cannot escape from online marketing is to buy data. Unless you have a place where you can get free wifi, then there’s nothing to worry about. So assess yourself, Will you be able to keep up with the lifestyle? That’s what makes people quit earlier because they didn’t know it has to do with buying data.
4. Lack of Focus
Also, you need to stay focused on your goal, before you can do this, it means you’ve set a goal already. So work towards achieving that goal, and readjust if you can’t meet the time you set.
Don’t let anything distract your attention from achieving your goal. Most people spend time on irrelevant things that don’t drive them to results. And I don’t want you to be that person.
So, set a goal today and work towards it.
5. Time and Consistency
Time is a crucial component when it comes to online marketing, like you’ve seen already, wrong timing can hinder your online business growth.
Timing can come in two aspects, time of doing research, writing, publishing, and promoting. Another aspect will be the time of marketing, which has to do with your audience.
Let me give a little illustration, let’s say you are in the education niche, and you want to promote a product for kids, maybe a back-to-school starter pack or something. Your target audience is nursery, primary, and secondary school children. Then you are promoting your product in the middle of the term, how much do you think you will sell?
Compared to someone who is also in the same niche, he chooses to promote his product during the holiday when school is about to start.
Who do you think will make more sales, let me know in the comment section below.
Consistency is key, we’ve all heard that a lot. What does it mean, and how do you implement it? Well, it’s simply creating a content calendar for your online business. Web algorithms love consistency.
The more regular and consistent you are in your approach the more authority you gain. Because that shows dominance and confidence. More so, your audience will always look to you to deliver on time.
You can choose to publish daily, weekly, monthly, and so depending on the type of content you are creating.
6. Be Flexible
Always adapt to changes around you. Be flexible and adapt to trends in your industry. Don’t be so rigid that you can’t change a few things. What you should be focusing on should be your analytics and how your audiences are responding to your content.
Make some necessary adjustments to suit their needs at their different buying journeys.
We’ve discussed what could stop you from succeeding online and how to overcome them. What are the requirements to awaken, or start your online marketing business again?
What Are The Requirements To Start Your Online Marketing Business
To become successful in online marketing you have to understand the following, together with what we’ve discussed above.
Niche
This has to do with the industry you are going into. There are thousands of profitable inches that you could venture into. I’m not going to explain everything in this article, I’ve provided two links below this list, where I’ve talked about it in detail.
Audience/Customer
This has to do with who you will be marketing to. You have to understand your audience, know their pain point, and tackle solving it. I’ve discussed this too in the two articles below the list.
Tools
These are the equipment required to start your online marketing business. I don’t want to go much into this so I will just provide you the two important tools that you need to get started.
- Laptop/phone or both
- Keyword research tools
I’ve discussed the recommended keyword tools in my other articles.
Marketing Medium
This is how you can share your content. There are many marketing mediums and tools, but I will list the most popular ones.
- Website/blog
- Social media
- YouTube
- Podcast
- Ebooks etc.
You can do more research on each of these online marketing mediums.
Promotion Medium
This is where you will push your content to reach more people. It ranges from social media, and email, to paid advertisement.
Also Read: Content marketing in Nigeria: ultimate beginners guide and how to start a content marketing blog in Nigeria-(Earn +$500/month). This can give you a heads-up to make the right decision and get started today.
Why You Should Start Affiliate Marketing And Your Online Business
Before I go into this, I have an inspiring video I saw on YouTube while I was writing this article, and I feel it’s important I share it with you too. Because this is a Nigerian from Ibadan, who started making $42 a month to making $250m every month. It’s very life-touching and inspirational, so I insist you watch the video.
It might seem intimidating to start at first, especially with all we’ve talked about. But don’t let that get into your head. Here are the benefits you get for awakening or starting your online marketing today.
Visibility And Brand Awareness
You will be able to reach out to more audiences and potential clients and people get to know you for what you do, and as such you become a go-to source for them anytime they have a problem.
Solving A Problem
There’s no doubt that the internet nowadays solves most of our problems, so you could be that person that helps solve some of their problems. You know that when it comes to making money online, you must be able to solve a problem or satisfy a search intent to make money.
Financial Freedom
When you have brand awareness and visibility, you become a go-to source. The more people visit your site and make purchases based on how intensive and problem solver you are to them, the more you make money.
In essence, when you make money online, you can be the millionaire you’ve always dreamed of.
Final Thoughts
Wow! That’s a lot to take in at once, but it’s worth it. I’ve discussed factors that could stop you from achieving online success, how to overcome those factors, the requirements needed to start your online business or awaken your dead online business, and why it’s important to start your online business today in Nigeria.
I’ve also linked to great sources that will help you achieve this success, from my other article that will give more details on some parts I’ve discussed here, to my recommended YouTubers I’ve found helpful to help you achieve success in your online career.
I want you to stop all kinds of doubt and focus on the goal, which is starting, growing, and earning from your online marketing business. It will be a life changer for you and the people around you, so take it seriously.
Even if you are a nursing mother, there are packages for you. I know an online coach Whitney Bonds, who is focused on mom so you can check her content out on YouTube It will help you too.
Take action today, and if this article helped you in any way, leave a comment below, and you can stand a chance to be added to my prepared testimonial section. Also when you make your first $500 from applying what I’ve said here, you owe me $20. Go and succeed in the online space!
