The covid 19 pandemic wiped out over a third of all businesses in Kenya leaving millions of Kenyans jobless and with zero financial aid.
The imposed lockdown by the government saw Kenyans turn to digital channels to sell their products as physical businesses were undoable.
This saw the demand for digital marketing surge creating job opportunities for marketing enthusiasts like Reema Doshi, the Founder and CEO of Ardy Marketing, a marketing firm that helps startups and SMEs with their marketing needs.
“Our business started at the cusp of Covid-19 when physical businesses were seeing how to make a better impact on digital channels. We thus focused more on marketing strategies in digital spaces to assist them. Services like Keyword SEO, Reputation marketing online, and Content marketing for social media were more popular and we were able to provide these to clients,” Reema stated.
With lack of marketing being one of the challenges affecting business growth, Ardy Marketing’s effective marketing techniques have been a game-changer in promoting startup sales.
Among the marketing solutions that the firm offers are Market audit, market research (mostly desk), marketing strategy and plan, social media marketing, and digital media buying.
Businesses working with Ardy Marketing have also benefitted from the firm’s marketing training, coaching, and consultancy, among others.
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“We start by helping them define or clarify their customer segments and buyer personas, understand their unique value propositions, research on their markets, trends, and competitive landscape to help create an effective marketing strategy and marketing plan to reach their customers,” Reema adds.
The entrepreneur admitted that being in the startup, small and medium businesses space has not been easy with cash flow being the biggest challenge.
“As much as they would like to make an impact and grow sales, one of the first budget cuts is marketing as they navigate the various business landscape challenges in the country. This means we need to be more flexible and periodically pause marketing efforts until they can increase their marketing budgets again,” she adds.
She notes that partnering with organizations to train entrepreneurs has helped her business stand out in the crowded industry, evidenced by the positive Google reviews.
Reema, who has over 15 years of marketing experience in the corporate world holds a CIM professional diploma in Marketing from London.
She is passionate about targeted marketing and loves supporting Women in Business.
Her expertise is in marketing strategy, marketing training and coaching, and reputation marketing, with a keen focus on content marketing and customer experience to impact Entrepreneurs and their businesses.
She currently serves as the Chairperson of Women of SNDBX International – The Village Formula, a collective of professional service providers who aim to grow SMEs sustainably for the African business ecosystem.
Reema also served as a Marketing trainer, mentor and coach for Startups and Entrepreneurs with Techstar – Startup Weekend Women’s Edition (SWWE) Kenya between 2018 and 2019.
Other firms she has worked with are Startup Boost, TechBridge, Founders Institute, Wylde International, and Afrilabs, among others.
