A Social Media Marketing Analysis Report For 4 Zimbabwean Mobile Money Platforms (Ecocash, O'Mari, Innbucks and OneMoney)

In Zimbabwe, there are four major mobile money wallets/platforms: EcoCash , InnBucks , O'mari Zimbabwe , and OneMoney. There is stiff competition among the four. Ecocash has been in the market for more than a decade now; it has had its highs and lows, and as of recent months, it has had its lows. It became reluctant and suffered blows from the regulator (RBZ). Simbisa Brands Limited then hit it with Innbucks, which was a game-changer and the talk of the town. When it realized that Innbucks was taking its market share, it reawakened and started pushing. That is when O'Mari, a product of Old Mutual ZW , entered the ring. People didn’t think it would offer substantial competition, but guess what it did. You are wondering where One Money is in all this. It is the ancient of them all, the first to hit the market before Ecocash and Telecash, but it never grasped the market. It is just there; we acknowledge its presence but it really isn’t a threat to the other three mentioned platforms. However, it is still there, lurking in the shadows.

Another important point to note before delving into the social media marketing analysis of these four is that Ecocash and One Money have been in the market for about 13 years now, while Innbucks and O'Mari have been in the market for less than two years.?

Let’s delve into the social media marketing analysis of the four to see if One Money is truly lurking in the shadows or offering significant competition, and to see how Innbucks and O'Mari are faring as the new entrants in the market.

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FOLLOWERS

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To start the analysis, I looked at the follower base for each company on the four major social media marketing platforms in Zimbabwe: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), and Instagram. All three have managed to gain decent followings on Facebook. Ecocash boasts a huge following on Facebook (242,000), Twitter (143,044), and LinkedIn (28,735). On Twitter, the least followed is O'Mari with 2,708 followers. It seems to be having a difficult time gaining followers because its counterpart, Innbucks, has a following of 33,523, which is more than that of OneMoney on Twitter.

Interestingly, on LinkedIn, O'Mari is the second most followed with 1,990 followers. One Money does not even have a presence on LinkedIn, while Innbucks is third out of four with 690 followers.

It’s the same dire situation on Instagram, but Innbucks seems to have found the trick to get followers as it has 14,900 followers while everybody else is struggling. OneMoney is in second place with 2,114 followers, while O'Mari (1,805) is in third place and Ecocash is the least followed on Instagram with 1,484 followers.

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POSTS

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After noting down the number of followers each company has, I then counted the number of posts each made in a 15-week period spanning from May 6th, 2024, to August 19th, 2024, on each platform. For LinkedIn, I counted the number of posts made in the previous three months, from June 19th back.

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Everyone has a high posting rate on Facebook compared to other platforms, except for Innbucks. Innbucks made four more posts on Twitter than it did on Facebook, where it posted 52 posts. Ecocash and O'Mari had the highest post counts on Facebook, with 248 and 148 posts, respectively.

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It is interesting to note that on LinkedIn, Innbucks made one post in 105 days, while O'Mari made 68 posts in the same period. Innbucks was, however, in second place with its single post because Ecocash didn't make a single post despite being the most followed on LinkedIn. Then there is OneMoney, which doesn't even have a presence on LinkedIn.

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Despite low activity on Instagram, the mobile money platforms didn't abandon Instagram the way they did LinkedIn. O'Mari boasts the highest post count on Instagram with 122 posts, followed by Innbucks with 40 posts. Ecocash lags behind with only 15 posts. OneMoney, however, did not post anything on Instagram during the same period.

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ENGAGEMENT SCORE

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To calculate the engagement score, I added the number of likes from all the posts made on each platform and then divided that by the number of posts made in the same time period. The closer the score is to 0, the less engagement there is; the further it is from 0, the more engagement. Companies that made 10 or fewer posts during the data collection period did not have their engagement score calculated. Instead, a 0 was placed as a placeholder.

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On Facebook, to come up with the overall engagement score (ES), I calculated the ES for likes and the ES for comments, then added the two scores and divided them by 2. You can see each platform's respective scores in the graph below, along with a comparison of each score to the number of posts made on each platform.

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Ecocash, Innbucks, and O'Mari (in that order) have some meaningful engagement. Onemoney has an overall engagement score of 7.2 from 48 posts. Ecocash had an ES of 175.96 and Innbucks 128.02 from 248 and 52 posts, respectively.

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Innbucks is the only one with reasonable engagement on all platforms it's active on. It scored an engagement of 39.34 on Twitter and 33.18 on Instagram, which are the highest engagement scores on both platforms. O'Mari, on the other hand, has almost similar engagement rates on Instagram (15.18) and LinkedIn (15.9). Ecocash lands in second and third positions as far as engagement is concerned on Twitter and Instagram, respectively. Onemoney lags behind on all platforms. It has no engagement to speak of on Facebook (ES of 7.2) and an ES of 1.5 on Twitter.

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COMMENTARY

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All mobile money platforms focus mainly on Facebook for their social media marketing. This is a natural instinct for Zimbabwean companies, as Facebook boasts the most Zimbabwean subscribers. This isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't mean all other platforms should be ignored. Innbucks is doing a great job trying across platforms, although they need to improve their presence on LinkedIn.

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They are also the only mobile money platform on TikTok, where they have 960 followers. However, the question is what they've done besides being present. In the past 100 days, they made one post on TikTok, which featured an influencer but didn't offer much insight. Innbucks seems to be doing well overall, pushing on all platforms, garnering a lot of followers, and getting significant engagement.

Part of their strategy seems to be a heavy use of paid ads, and they occasionally break big news, keeping people hooked. They might soon need an Innbucks event due to their amazing rate of innovation. Additionally, having a product that seems different and solves major problems will make you a darling of the masses, thereby getting followers and engagement easily. This goes back to something I always say: with a "wow" business model, marketing can easily bring results.

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Ecocash, even though it's the most followed and active on Facebook, needs to rethink its whole strategy. If you look at all their platforms, one would think they only have 1 strategy, which is why they're struggling with content and don't know what else to post on other platforms. Their Facebook strategy is working now, but it might not last forever and they need to make it work on other platforms as well. Ecocash does a lot of traditional marketing including promotions such as the Chaka Chaya Promotion and those roadshows. They turn pictures and videos from these events into content. This got them their most liked post? (11 000 likes) with Killer T performing his hit kana ndanyura.

?However they don't have good enough videos and photos to use on Instagram and TikTok. Because of their Facebook content, they look like a ghetto/rural brand which is not a bad thing since they know their target audience. Their marketing people can't make those roadshows and outreaches to look cool, even if they are a bit ghetto or rural. If they fix this, it'll be easier to get Instagram content. Plus, Ecocash is always with the people, so their posts usually do well. For a brand that big, I expected better on Instagram and LinkedIn. I'm a bit disappointed.

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O'Mari doesn't really have a strategy; they're just another brand trying to make it on social media. But they're the only one I've seen doing proper polls on Facebook, and their biggest one had 453 votes. That's a good way to get feedback. They however need to sit down and think about their strategy if they want to do well on social media.

?OneMoney, there's not much to say. I was disappointed, but I was right. It's just there and does not pose any significant threat to the other players. If they want to be successful, they need to start over with their business model, then their marketing strategy . They have some customers, but they're just sharing customers with Ecocash, Innbucks, and O'Mari.

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In conclusion, the mobile money industry in Zimbabwe is marked by intense competition. While Ecocash's legacy is undeniable, the landscape is rapidly evolving. Innbucks has emerged as a formidable force, and O’mari shows promise. One Money, however, needs to reevaluate its strategy to remain relevant.

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The battle for social media dominance is far from over, and the platforms that can effectively engage their audiences will likely emerge as market leaders.

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