Lijeng Ranooe

BASOTHO have been urged to make use of social media marketing tools such as twitter to grow their brands and businesses, a local entrepreneur has said.

National University of Lesotho (NUL) student, Motebang Senaoana, who co-founded the Entrepreneurship Lesotho initiative along with fellow student, Sechaba Keketsi, made the plea to Basotho in a recent interview with the Business Journal.

The duo founded Entrepreneurship Lesotho in October 2017 with the aim of teaching local entrepreneurs on the importance of twitter in networking and marketing.

They will launch a campaign #LesothoStartups on 1 February, 2018 which is also aimed at creating a hub of information on entrepreneurship in Lesotho.

“The project was motivated by the realisation that while most local entrepreneurs are present on Facebook and Instagram, they do not have a similar presence on the equally important Twitter platform,” Mr Senaoana said.

“Our key topics for the project are networking, marketing and learning using social media platforms. These are issues we cover every week on our Twitter platform.

“Their presence on Twitter is not adequate. Those who are present on Twitter are not as equally active as they are on other platforms. This means they lose out on the networking capabilities Twitter provides as well a segment of their potential market that predominantly uses Twitter.”

He said the marketing of a business was incomplete without the business listening to online conversations concerning their brands.

“Social media allows for such listening, especially when hashtags are used properly and consistently across social media platforms.

“This means creating a healthy route for entrepreneurs to start, operate and develop businesses.

“We believe the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Lesotho can grow if entrepreneurs properly use their social media platforms. Social media has the capability to help entrepreneurs network, connect and sell,” Mr Senaoana stated.

He also called on the government to invest in infrastructure and provide a healthy economic environment.