To shed more light on consumers’ tastes and the channels they can be reached through, GeoPoll ran a Rapid App survey in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda between the 10th and 15th of December 2020, with a sample size of 999. This report summarizes the findings on topics such as the most popular media channels, media consumption changes, trust in advertisements, the prevalence of online channels, and the most effective types of advertisements.

Most popular media channels in Africa

GeoPoll’s study found that the internet (social media and other websites) and TV are the most consumed media channels by respondents in this study. Fifty-five percent of the respondents said they access online media channels every day. In contrast, 23% said they watch TV daily. Sixteen percent said radio was their go-to channel, and only 5% said they read newspapers and print media every day. This differed from country to country and between genders. For example, females in Ghana said they prefer TV (45%) over social media (20%), compared to males (24% for TV and 39% for social media). In Tanzania, on the other hand, females preferred social media (56%) over TV (just 4%) while males were relatively even with 33% picking social media over TV (26%).

To gauge how media preferences are changing, we examined how much more or less of each channel the respondents were consuming in the last 12 months, compared to the previous year. A large majority (72%) reported that they are using social media more than they did a year ago. TV also had an upsurge in viewership, as discovered in recent GeoPoll Audience Measurement reports, with 54% saying they are watching more television, which was in direct contrast to print, which over half of the respondents (54%) said they are reading less of compared to last year.

Trust levels in Advertising 

The influence of a media channel depends, to a great extent, on if its audience can trust it, especially so for advertising. In the survey, we asked the respondents which media channel they trusted advertisements on the most. TV was cited as the most trusted by almost half of the respondents (46%). The internet and radio followed with 30% and 12% trust levels, respectively.

Overall, asked about which of traditional channels or modern channels they find more trustworthy, the respondents were split almost evenly, with 43% trusting online advertising over traditional media (41%). Seventeen percent said both are about the same. 85% of the respondents have purchased a product or service after coming across an advertisement.

Internet Usage and Online Advertising

Given how popular the internet has become and how influential it has become in marketing, we asked the respondents about their frequency of using the internet. In a week, a vast majority (80% said they access the internet every day. Over 65% said they access the internet at least four hours every day, pointing to a growing number of eyeballs on online channels addressable by online advertising. For context, it should be noted that the audience was online-only as the survey was conducted on the GeoPoll App.

Indeed, consumers find online advertisements influential. When we asked, “do you find online advertisements influential to your purchase decisions?”, 95% said they find them compelling either to a great or to some extent.

Having established the popularity of online channels over other channels, the next question becomes which specific online channel is most popular. As we have found out in other surveys we have conducted across Africa, Facebook was the most popular in all the countries we surveyed, by a big margin, with 45% choosing Facebook as the favorite channel. Overall, YouTube was second with 15%, followed by Twitter at 14%. However, the order varies when we look at the findings by country.

The Most Effective Advertisements

Many factors go into an advertisement. Channel selection, which we have already looked at, is as important as the message, the design, and the target audience, among other factors. The GeoPoll survey also sought to know what ad elements are most influential from a selection we provided. The offer (price) was the most crucial element (28%), followed by relevance to the person seeing the advert (24%) and access (convenient availability of the product, at 19%). So, it is essential to pay attention to the price and discount being offered, audience targeting options, and how the product will reach the buyers if you are an advertiser.

Finally, the survey sought to establish the type of adverts that customers find most enjoyable; hence the advertisements advertisers need to create most. In a society that craves reality, lifestyle images and videos of real people such as influencers were the most popular, as well as creatively designed banners.

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About this GeoPoll Survey

This Rapid Survey was run via the GeoPoll mobile application between the 10th and 15th of December 2020 in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. The sample size was 999, composed of random App users between ages 18 and 64. Since the survey was randomly distributed, the results are slightly skewed towards younger, male respondents.

To get more details about such GeoPoll surveys or conduct a scientific study on advertising or other topics in any region in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, please contact us.

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Audience Measurement Tracking

Although audience measurement metrics alone cannot provide a map of a customer’s journey from noticing an ad through to purchase, it is important to measure these metrics for ad campaigns so we know how many people had the opportunity to see or hear the ad, and how many times they had that opportunity. Gross rating points (GRP’s), share, reach, CPM, and other similar audience measurement metrics are key determinants of an ad placement’s performance and a campaign cannot be deemed effective if it falls short here.

GeoPoll’s audience measurement platform is a powerful tool for advertisers evaluating campaign performance in this way due to the post-campaign evaluation tool. This tool allows the user to input the campaign’s proof of flighting data, then the tool calculates and provides the GRP’s for each individual ad and the campaign as a whole. This enables a quick and easy adjustment of a media planning strategy that can even be made mid-campaign.

The information provided by GeoPoll’s post-campaign evaluation tool is important for evaluating advertising effectiveness, but it only tells us who had the opportunity to see or hear the ad. To determine if they actually noticed it, paid attention, and acted in response to it we need to conduct attribution research.

Attribution Research

In the advertising industry, you may hear attribution tracking research referred to as other terms like Each of these are types of attribution research, typically focusing on specific metrics, KPI’s, or particular communication tactics.

Attribution research attempts to measure the changes in consumer behavior that can be attributed to a particular channel or a specific campaign. In fact, “More than 60% of client-side marketers agree that ‘surveys to test advertising effectiveness provide a strong indication of the success of an advertising campaign,’ and 54% agree that these surveys are essential to advertising validation.” It is essentially a test of the campaign’s media mix, creative, and content—as well as the appeal of the product or service being advertised. Failure or underperformance in any of these areas impacts the effectiveness of a campaign, regardless of how much reach and frequency is achieved.

GeoPoll’s attribution research experience

GeoPoll has extensive experience with a range of attribution research projects. From tracking KPI’s over 11 weeks to monitor the effectiveness of a TV campaign for a major FMCG brand in Nigeria, to tracking behavioral changes among small farmers in Ghana in response to an NGO’s social awareness radio campaign—GeoPoll research experts have done it all.

Attribution research of this nature is tailored on a project-by-project basis based on what the client is intending to find out. However, in most of the studies GeoPoll conducts, consumers are interviewed through their mobile phones in two or more waves. The first wave precedes the campaign launch to establish the baseline against which movement in metrics can be measured, then the subsequent waves seek to answer attribution research questions like these:

– Did the target consumers have the opportunity to see or hear ads from the campaign?

– Did target consumers notice the ads from the campaign?

– Did target consumers recall the product or service that was advertised?

– Did the ad provoke consumers to take the desired action?

The feedback received from these surveys can be analyzed to build an understanding of which marketing initiatives within a campaign drove sales and which initiatives did not. This analysis uncovers the cause and effect relationship between an ad and a sale, allowing organizations to understand the returns on investment that were received from a campaign.

GeoPoll’s research experts are always available to assist in these projects, whether that means identifying the KPI’s to be measured, developing a questionnaire, analyzing resulting data, or anything in between. To learn more about GeoPoll’s custom attribution tracking research solutions, contact us today.

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