The Use of Social Media as a Marketing Tool at the Non-bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA ), Gaborone Botswana

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine how effective the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) use social media as a marketing tool. The purpose of the study was divided into three research objectives which were to: determine the extent NBFIRA uses social media tools in its business processes; establish opportunities and challenges faced by NBFIRA with using social media for marketing and; find out how NBFIRA can improve its social media marketing strategy to reach its target market. To materialise the research objectives, the study used a mixed-methods approach. The triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative methodologies also extended to include a self-constructed questionnaire and interviews. Quantitative data were analysed through Social Package for Social Sciences and presented through descriptive and inferential statistics, and qualitative data were analysed through themes and presented as such. The study revealed that NBFIRA primarily uses Facebook followed by Instagram and Twitter as its social media platforms. The results further show that the NBFIRA uses social media mostly for communication, information sharing and gathering. The study also established that NBFIRA could market its institution, mandate, and objectives, but the institution is not as interactive in the comment section. The challenges emerge when the NBFIRA fail to utilise the social media platforms optimally and to its advantage. The study established ways in which the NBFIRA can improve its social media marketing strategy through determining key goals, identifying the target audience, choosing content, selecting channels, and gathering feedback.