Kagem Tibaijuka founded Kagem Tibaijuka & Co,  a small-scale B2B marketing company based in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. But, all of her clients are based outside Tanzania. While India is part of the outsourcing boom, companies like Kagem Tibaijuka & Co, customize marketing campaigns for international small businesses in markets such as London and Prague. They are a part of the sudden outsourcing growth on the continent.

According to Kagem, “outsourcing is traditionally seen as something in the IT sector to cut costs but in marketing, outsourcing from a business to business angle can be an excellent way for small businesses to focus on what they do best and allow us to do the heavy lifting for them to ensure that they meet their business goals.”

Kangem Tibaijuka & Co has worked with companies like Peachy Loans, Designer-Clothes.co.uk and Signature Car Hire.

“Kagem was contracted to create fashion guides to go on my e-commerce website. I would say it was high quality writing that Kagem provided, it ticked all the boxes in terms of the way I wanted it written. I would work withKagem again on new projects” Matt Seigneur at Designer -clothes, writes in a testimonial.

“We always put their priorities first which is why clients work with us to create campaigns that will resonate with their buying audience,” states Kagem.

How can more entrepreneurs venture into the business of outsourcing? What business opportunities are there for African countries?
In this interview, Kagem shares her experience and sheds more light on the business of outsourcing and how African businesses can take advantage of the surge. Enjoy!

How will you describe B2B marketing in a layman’s language?

B2B marketing is best described as assisting the director of a blockbuster film, while B2C work is like doing the make-up of the movie star in the film. While companies like Mars, Inc sell to consumers with bright graphics and complex marketing campaigns, we sell to businesses who are passionate about they do and simply want to grow.

That is an interesting analogy! So tell us, what does your company do currently? 

At the moment we are working with several clients internationally by helping them with content marketing, which is using content to help promote and market their products and services. Content marketing is one of the most exciting areas of marketing because the ability to tell vivid stories gives businesses a human side that clients and customers want to see. Content marketing creates engagement which is needed to make sales.

Drawing from your experience, how do you think more African companies can take advantage of outsourcing?

The Internet is like an unopened Christmas gift that African companies can use in order to find outsourcing clients. African companies whether they are based in Nairobi, Johannesburg or Dar-es-Salaam can use tools such as email marketing and low cost telephone calls to promote themselves to international clients who need key services outsourced with a focus on value for money and a high standard of work.

So far you have worked with different international companies. How do you get these clients? Explain the whole process from first contact to full achievement of set goals.

What I do is I first read as much as I can about specific industry sectors such as financial services and I learn what the key trends are. I look at industries which are destined for growth and then I use search engines to find relevant businesses to contact. I use cold call approaches most of the time – all of my clients were converted through cold call approaches where they were not expecting me to get in touch. I normally email or call the business involved and I ask to speak to the right person. I ask if I can submit my ideas on how we can help them achieve their goals. Through achieving their goals by putting their priorities first, we achieve our goals of finding new clients every month.

And generating revenue for the business?
Kagem Tibaijuka & Co is a bootstrapped startup that has made over $10,000 in turnover in its first year of trading without any external funding. The company has absolutely no debt and all cash was reinvested back into the business. We broke even in the first year due to minimal expenses and virtual working. I just recently moved into a new office to keep up with demand for new content marketing campaigns from London-based clients.

 

Who are you current competitors and what is your competitive edge in the industry?

Our competitors are definitely mid-sized marketing companies in the countries that our clients are based because they have the advantage of localisation. However, the overarching advantage we have is that we offer specialised content marketing services instead of being a jack of all trades marketing agency that does everything. We only do content marketing and that pushes us to the front for clients who want tailored content marketing services.

Any plans for expansion?

I would love to expand into other international markets – the Lusophone cities of Maputo and Luanda seem interesting, and London is ideal as well as a central location to promote the company. My top tip for other companies in content marketing would be to specialise in a form of media, whether that is only delivering brochures or creating sales letters or to choose an industry that you specialise in because companies who create a unique blueprint can expand and charge more for their services.

To learn more about the company, please visit: www.kagemtibaijuka.com Follow on Twitter: @KagemTibaijuka