What do you think will be the fate of your business today if Instagram decides to lock you out of your business account? Will there still be a trace of your business or content online?
Digital real estate is a form of digital property otherwise known as digital platforms. Digital platforms can be thought of as the sum total of a place for exchange of information, goods or services to occur between producers and consumers as well as the community that interacts with the said platform.
Digital platforms take a lot of different forms depending on the specific purposes they seek to serve. These includes:
- Social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc
- Knowledge platforms – Quora, StackOverflow
- Media sharing platforms – Youtube, Spotify, Vimeo
These are examples of digital real estate and almost every brand can be found on these platforms. Digital real estate gives brands and individuals the ability to build a platform, work from anywhere and make money online amongst other things.
However, it’s worthy to note that on these platforms, we are not owners but tenants.
Why Should You Invest in Digital Real Estate?
Dr. Dipo Awojide made a comment on twitter some time ago, he said “we are all tenants here and our Landlord can do as he pleases. If anything happens to my Twitter account, you will find me on Linkedin”.
This was his way of trying to protect his investment if future terms and conditions of twitter doesn’t favour him. But again, he forgot that even on Linkedin, he’s also a tenant.
This is the reality we find ourselves in, on these digital platforms, we’re only tenants. Think of it this way, you provide Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with your private details and they give you a “free” space to interact with friends, followers and a virtual office where your business can exist and reach prospects and customers.
You don’t “own” any of these platforms, they’re rented out to you, but for how long? Well, as long as you keep to the terms and conditions which keep changing, and many of us don’t read those terms.
This leads us back to the first question I asked, “What will become of your business if Instagram’s terms and conditions doesn’t favour your business? Will there be a trace of your business or content online? Share on X
Your own website is the single most important platform for your business for one very important reason: your website and its audience are the only digital assets that you own.
On any platform that is not your website, you’re renting access to an audience. You’re playing on someone else’s land under someone else’s rules and they can change those rules whenever they like as we’ve seen in the past. Now, businesses need to pay for ads to get their content to reach a wider audience.
It’s not a good idea to build your entire business on someone else’s land. Share on X Why not invest in your own digital real estate, spend the required time and energy developing your digital asset? With your own website, you can control the terms and what someone else does when they land on your website and how they interact with your brand.
I’m not in any way asking you to build digital platforms to rival Facebook or Twitter but rather, use these platforms to spread the word about your business and build your personal brand.
- What results will I get if I search your name on Google?
- Have you secured your domain name?
- Do you have a presence online outside social networks?
These are questions that are begging for answers, and until you can answer yes to these questions, you need to analyse your use of other digital platforms. Smartphone apps is another digital real estate, if you don’t have a domain registered under your name, do you have an app?
The goal is to become a virtual landlord. Unlike traditional real estate, the cost of entry is relatively cheaper. With as low as $6 (five thousand naira), you can buy a domain name and host it for less than $5 a month. If you’re not looking at developing your website, you can flip domains and earn cash in return.
Why Now Is the Best Time to Invest
According to Ali Isa Pantami, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, he said “any country where broadband penetration increases by 10 percent will witness GDP increase of between 1.6 percent and 6.8 percent. Digital economy indeed is the future, and it is all about prioritizing digital innovation and digital entrepreneurship”
Digital economy refers to a broad range of economic activities that use digitized information and knowledge as key factors of production. The internet, big data, fintech, and other new digital technologies are used to collect, store, analyse, and share information digitally and transform social interactions.
The backbone of the digital economy is hyperconnectivity which means growing interconnectedness of people, organisation and machines that results from the internet, mobile technology and the internet of things (IoT).
The world is going digital and the digital economy is the new trend that’s driving opportunities and economic growth in the world today and Nigeria is not left out.
According to the World Bank Group’s support for the African Union Digital Transformation, the five pillars of the Digital Economy for Africa Initiative (DE4A) includes:
- Digital transformation
- Digital infrastructure
- Digital platform
- Digital services
- Digital entrepreneurship
In a report titled “Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product Report for Q2 2020” the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that while Nigeria’s GDP decreased by -6.10 percent (year-on-year) in the second quarter of 2020 that ICT’s contribution rose disproportionately. The contribution of ICT increased by 20.54 percent in comparison with the figures a year earlier.
Similarly, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) has been developed to boost the digital economy, cater for the innovativeness of the youths and create employment opportunities amongst other mandates.
The NDEPS will enable Nigeria to take advantage of digital transformation and become a leading player in the global digital economy and provide a catalyst to facilitate the diversification of the economy.
All these are pointers to the fact that digital transformation spearheaded by the digital economy is finally upon us. Investment in digital real estate is one of many ways in which you can take advantage of this opportunity to create platforms that you can truly call your own.