Zoho, an enterprise software corporation with 130 million users across over 150 countries, admits that one of its biggest challenges in Nigeria is still brand recognition, even after five years of operating in the market.
Zoho offers businesses a single, modular system to manage their core functions, including sales, finance, HR, and operations. It is priced in naira, reducing foreign exchange exposure for businesses.
“One of the problems we still have is brand recognition,” Kehinde Ogundare, country head of Zoho Nigeria, told at the Zoholics conference in Lagos on Monday. “We are still being compared with our competitors. But when people come on board, they are usually surprised at our capabilities.”
At the media briefing, some journalists pointed out Zoho’s logo colours, which closely resemble Google’s. Around 2024, Zoho even ran a marketing campaign that leaned into this.
Zoho is competing against global giants such as Microsoft and Google, and has been stepping up in Nigeria as an affordable alternative. But gaining brand recognition remains a crucial part of its strategy for market share.
It launched in Nigeria in 2020, but gained momentum after becoming a cheaper naira-priced alternative with the local currency losing over 55% of its value in 2023 after the Central Bank of Nigeria reformed the foreign exchange market. Zoho recorded its highest-ever growth of 83.68% in Nigeria that year.
In 2024, growth slowed to 74.28%. Ogundare explained that this was not linked to its recent price adjustments. “It is not because of the price adjustments, because right now, what we sell to the general customer is heavily discounted,” he said.
According to the company, its product stickiness has improved. In 2015, just 4.4% of customers stayed beyond two years. Today, 2.4% remain for almost four years on average. The company noted that its top products in Nigeria include Workplace (enterprise email and collaboration suite), Books (accounting software), Campaigns (email and SMS marketing), and Zoho One (a bundle of more than 55 business applications).
Zoho claims that government agencies are emerging as key clients, but it is also stepping up its marketing efforts to build wider awareness. “We are addressing that with a lot of our marketing activities and initiatives,” the Zoho boss said.
Part of this push is the Zoho startup program, which gives startups ₦3 million ($1,990.92) in credits to use any of its products for a year. “It provides relief,” Ogundare said. “I think they stay on after they use up the free credits.”
Zoho does not publish local revenue figures, but globally, it crossed $1 billion in 2023. Nigeria is a critical market for its African strategy, with planned expansions into Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal.
“We tested our models in Nigeria, and it is working really well for us,” Ogundare said. “Ghana is a good market. Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal also. We are seeing strong uptake in tech adoption in these countries.”
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