Featuring Alice Mensah
In this episode of Colours of Digital Marketing, host Enoch "RobotBoy" Appiah Jr. sits down with Alice Mensah, a seasoned digital marketer, to explore the ins and outs of digital marketing education.
[0:00] Talking about getting these girls in the game, what's goes most crucial? I think they can start from the EVA, which is the social media, to me.
[0:10] I'm not saying social media is very easy, but at least they already used to it already. Who doesn't know Facebook? Who doesn't know Twitter? And so it's easier to understand.
[0:19] I always say this, not to shade anybody, but there are lots of digital marketing we have. A social media marketing. From the next studios, this is Colours of Social Media, the podcast for digital marketers and small business owners who believe in digital marketing.
[0:36] I'm your host, Enoch, RobotBoy Appiah Jr. And I am super excited to kick off 2025 with an incredible guest. My first guest for the year is an international marketer with over a decade of experience.
[0:54] She's also the author of AI for Marketing, an insightful able dedicated to integrating AI into marketing strategies. She's known as the queen of growth, and she's not just a powerhouse in the industry, but also a very good friend of mine.
[1:12] Today, I'll be speaking with Alice Mensah about a very critical topic, that is diversity in digital, bridging the gender divide in digital marketing in Ghana.
[1:26] So we will dive into the challenges women face in the industry, how she's helping to change their narrative and what the future holds for female digital marketers.
[1:38] Now before we dive in, don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube channel and follow the podcast on Spotify so you never miss an episode. Now let's get into the conversation.
[1:49] Alright, so Alice, I mean, we started the game together. So I fairly know a lot about you, you know, what you've been, you know, the journey that you've gone through, the businesses you've worked with, you know, all the successful campaigns you've accomplished.
[2:06] But then for our listeners out there, who is Alice Mensah? I told you I had this question. Okay, so as you said, we've done over a decade in the game.
[2:22] And for me, you know, I started with being a Google ambassador. I think I was at 10 hours, 22 actually. And since then, we saw it as, let me say, I saw it as a path that I could chatter.
[2:38] And it's been a rewarding path, if you ask me. Because right from our ambassadorship, I also got introduced into Google Online Marketing Lab.
[2:50] Which helped me learn digital marketing properly. Because it was a whole program from Google itself. And a few African countries are suspended.
[3:02] So right from there, I got employed by Tigo. Because around the same time, this was somewhere in 2014, I was right from school. And I had the way they were looking for a digital marketer.
[3:16] So I applied and they tend to love me. I think I love them enough. So they love this. And I got to work with them for about two years. And I went to agency, Wingye.
[3:29] Wingye. It's not a pulse. Yes. And I also did paid marketing. I was the head of paid marketing for a while. There, you know, as an agent, we had a lot of brands.
[3:43] Some song, energy bank. A lot. A lot. We've had a lot there. Then I moved to Real Estate. Apollonia. Apollonia. I remember that. Yes. There, I think, increased the scope I knew from the Google time.
[4:00] Because that was more of a full marketing board. Yeah. They are doing a bit of events. Because it's a real estate. There are a lot of events.
[4:09] A lot of exhibitions. Sometimes you do webinars and so on. But also, the strong focus was still in digital. And there again, that was the first time they were also having a digital marketing person in-house.
[4:24] Same with the Tigo team. So that really expanded my view when it comes to marketing. And I topped it up with TI and UK as well. So it was a perfect timing for me.
[4:37] Having the full advantage of learning marketing. Let's pedal back to our GSA era. Google student Amazon era. Yeah, 2012. And you in addition to Amadebra.
[4:54] You were the two ladies. Yes. The only two ladies. You guys were the only two ladies among us. And a bunch of guys. Yeah. So looking at your journey from there up to now.
[5:08] Currently, you are a weight generation. Yeah. Right. So I want to know how have you been able to fit in? I'm not going to say that right now, digital marketing is full of guys.
[5:20] But then back then, how have you been able to fit yourself in this sort of male-dominated industry? Yeah. I think it's true. Even now, the males are still a lot as compared to the women.
[5:36] Yeah. So you can imagine them. But I think it's rather been a plus and not a minus. Tell me. A lot of people think when you are a woman, when I get in a job, it's harder.
[5:49] I think it's the easiest. Because even for Tigo, I knew I was in a competition with somebody you know. I would mention it today. The guy is good.
[5:58] I feel that guy. So when I heard they picked me, the first question I asked my boss was, we just love the fact that you are a woman. And that has always been the case for me.
[6:11] Almost everywhere I go, I stand out with what I know. But a plus also becomes you are a woman. So I think being a woman, rather, it's a plus.
[6:20] It has actually opened a lot of ways for me. Let's talk about di-fib. What's the full meaning in a way? Yeah. So the full meaning of di-fib means digital female empowerment program.
[6:33] Also di-fib. I like that. I love that. That inspired you to start di-fib. Okay. So I think somewhere in 2017, before di-fib, Simon Allandi, you remember him?
[6:46] Yeah. He invited me to British Council, one International Women's Day in 2017, to talk to about 200 women about the digital marketing. That was the first time I was speaking to only women crowd.
[7:01] And it was fun. So in my head, I was like, wow, I love this. But I pushed it aside. So 2017, latter in 2017, Omani called me, a fellow GSA, that GISD is doing this program at Impact Hub called E-Skills for Girls.
[7:18] Right. They want a group of people who want to initiate digital programs solely for girls. And he thinks I'll be the best person to do that. Okay.
[7:28] Let's make it happen. So we called one more woman, because we wanted it to look like woman owned. It couldn't just be me or Mani. Of course. It could be more women and maybe one guy.
[7:41] So we called on Miro. I don't know if you know her, but she was also part of the Google Online Marketing Challenge. So she came on board, and then we had this group, and we partook.
[7:51] It wasn't easy, because we had people like Ivy Ballet in the competition there. Yeah. With the developers in work. Yeah. Guess what they won, and we were the second.
[7:59] So we thought, are they already in the union then? Mm-hmm. Then GISD says, no, they want both the first and the second team to travel to Germany.
[8:05] I was like, ooh, this looks good. So we went to Germany, and we went to compete with other people from Ukraine, Brazil, and some other nations.
[8:14] And everybody had an idea, and they were like, I don't know, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.
[8:24] And everybody had an idea of how to promote girls when it comes to e-skills. Yeah. Our project was more about training girls in digital markets, because that was our strength.
[8:32] Yeah. And guess what? They didn't win. Wow. I mean, yeah, if you didn't win, you still got the experience. Yes. We met Angela Merkel, because it was a G20 event, and Charlie, it was big.
[8:46] It was big. And even though we didn't win, they still gave us some money. Of course. And they said, the idea is good when we come back to Ghana.
[8:52] We should try and push it. Although, we didn't get the big, big amount that the first I can say, got. Got. We were like fourth or so. So, we still brought home that money they gave us.
[9:04] And we had a series of trainings only for girls in digital marketing. One, we did for Ashesi Girls. We went to Ashesi. We trained about 50 girls.
[9:11] And we went to, there was this program. Let me try and remember the name. It was called YAAW. I can't remember the full name, but YAAW didn't accomplish African women.
[9:23] Yes. It was about one, one lady also came from Yankee. And she wanted to start something. So, I helped her to train the girls. And we also tried some of the trainings online, where we couldn't meet.
[9:35] There was this online group called Girls World. It was a WhatsApp group full of women from all over the country. Some of them from Volta region, eastern region.
[9:44] And there were usually mothers who needed support. Skills, whatever you could give them. So, I was introduced to them. We had online training.
[9:54] There were about 200 people, 200 ladies, able to help them. But because, you know, it was fully more like a social thing we were doing. There was no money coming from anywhere.
[10:05] At the point we ran out of the money and then that team, myself, Mural, and then Omani with our diaphragm program, it slowed down a bit. Let me say, we're also trying to get sponsorships.
[10:18] But by then, 2017, 2018, it wasn't coming readily like that. You know, everybody was looking for people who were into coding. So, if you are doing digital marketing, the sponsorship wasn't coming that much.
[10:30] It was just our strength doing. And so, we all went back to our everyday things that we do. Right now, you are with generation. So, I mean, on your own, you are doing a lot.
[10:43] Now, I want us to compare back then and right now, women in the industry. How do you see, for lack of a better way, the enthusiasm in taking up digital marketing as a career path?
[10:59] I would say, now it's better because the people we have now are already tech enthusiasts. The average Gen Z lady already knows how to post. They even know how to create content.
[11:14] Some can create amazing TikTok videos and realize, hey, even me, the digital marketer can't. No, you can't. I don't touch. So, that gives them a plus.
[11:23] So, once they enroll, they are able to easily assimilate whatever you are teaching them. Just that sometimes, they feel it's only about social media.
[11:30] So, we make them understand that there is SEO and there's email marketing and so many other things. Sometimes, it gets overwhelming with the SEO because they've always thought the digital marketer is social media.
[11:42] It's just social media. But I think the group is better than way back. Nonetheless, we are still looking at the Accra ladies. When you go back to other regions, for example, this year with the Generation 2 cohort, a number of them are from the North when it comes to the training.
[12:02] And you see that the gap I saw when we started for the ladies, I'm now seeing it in the Tamale cohorts. So, it means that we may be in Accra and think, oh, these Gen Zs know what they are up to.
[12:15] So, doing the digital marketing is easy. But immediately, you bring in other regions, you still see that there is still a big gap. Sometimes, very simple things like yeah, duplicating a document to just create something, even if it's difficult.
[12:31] So, you can imagine trying to show that because it's paid advertisement. It's going to be a bit tough. But they are very focused and I think it is something that we can actually capitalize on and then teach them.
[12:45] Maybe with more patience, they will be able to grab it easily. All right. Let's look at, let's focus on Daifei, right? Your own platform of training girls in digital marketing.
[13:00] Yeah. What is your approach in teaching them? Is it like purely offline or you include a bit of online here and there? I just want to know your approach.
[13:13] Okay. So, our approach was physical if the people are within the same region. So, for example, there was a physical event. We went to meet the ladies.
[13:24] It was in a conference room. We have our projector. We have our board. We're trying to teach them one-on-one. But there's also been a case with a girls' world example where because they were all scattered in Ghana and trying to get them in one location would be a problem.
[13:40] So, in that case, we use the online video conferencing tools to do the teaching. Talking about getting these girls in the game, what skills are most crucial?
[13:52] You think they need to at least, they should get this if they want to get into digital marketing? Yeah. I think they can start from the easiest, which is the social media.
[14:03] To me, I'm not saying social media is very easy, but at least they already used to it already. Who doesn't know Facebook? Who doesn't know Twitter?
[14:11] So, it's easier to understand. Then, once they've been able to grab that, we move to the more technical stuff like SEO. I always say this, not to shade anybody, but a lot of digital marketers we have are social media marketers.
[14:28] They know nothing else. Yeah, I guess. I mean, maybe you can include that, make it your aim that in 2025, we are moving away from social media marketing just for a second, include other channels.
[14:48] Exactly. So, as you said, we can start with the easiest ones. Then now, we don't leave it at that. We move to the more technical ones like SEO, like Google Analytics, email marketing, all those are very important.
[15:06] So that it can stand out. Because if everybody is doing social media marketing, and you're also doing social media marketing, why should I leave somebody who already has five years' experience in social media marketing?
[15:17] And come for you, a lady we just completed a year ago, and they're also doing social media marketing. But if you're coming on board with, let's say, an additional skill, SCU, SCM, then now the employer will see you to be very different.
[15:35] You have additional skills that he can count on. So I think that should be the approach. Easy as best, but continue with more technical and the retail markets and stuff.
[15:45] Coming to ask me, I know your journey. I know, especially, I've already said this, I know your success when you were at Fido, Apollonia, I know all yours.
[16:00] But then, what gives you the right? For lack of better phrase, more like, how dare you, what gives you the right to teach someone? You know, I've been coming, especially ladies.
[16:14] Yeah. Yeah. What gives you the right to teach them? Oh, this one there's like, I'm bragging small. Yeah, so I want to know. I actually want to know.
[16:24] In fact, they want to know. Me, I know. Okay, I'll tell you. But they want to know. So, with my journey, I've been to a lot of industries. Yeah.
[16:37] So when I'm teaching you, Alisa, I can give you so many examples of somebody who hasn't traveled, my partner gave. Yeah. And so, let me say, I started from UCC because I was managing UCC's social media.
[16:50] In fact, the YouTube channel of UCC has to speak, was my creation. The very first videos, I did the uploads, I did everything there. So from educational background to a telco, working in a telco is not an easy thing.
[17:05] Yeah. You are in a team that has over 30 markets, and they are the only digital marketing. Sometimes even to make it make sense to even your own marketers who may not really be exposed to digital marketing.
[17:16] Digital marketing. It's a big game. Yeah. Then I moved to agency where you had a lot of clients. So, Bluecrest has been my client at the point.
[17:24] Goyle has been a client at the point. And Sam Stone has been a client at the point. Name them, Bunkin, Holy Insecticide, Peck Biscuit, Energy Bank, a lot.
[17:38] You have a lot under your belt. Yes. At the point, I was handling about 14 clients when it comes to Wingye. Yeah. Yeah. And my boss even at the point said, you need an assistant.
[17:48] That is interesting. I'm fine. I'm fine. We can manage it. Yeah. Now, to Fido. Fido was one company that I was so passionate about because that was the first time I was really involved with sales.
[18:03] You know, with some companies, marketing ends that leads. Yeah. Your activities should connect with sales. For Fido, there is no sales department.
[18:12] Marketing and sales is for you. Yeah. So, maybe the marketing manager in Fido means that if every month I'm supposed to bring 10,000 new customers, not assistant.
[18:21] New customers, it means whatever marketing, digital marketing activities that I'm doing, I'm not just for brand awareness. No. It has to pass through the whole funnel till conversion is done.
[18:32] Yeah. And you know how a loan processes. KYC, Burio or Baby. Yeah. And Rick's Engine, all of that, before the person becomes a customer. And you want the end product, Bakobako, 10,000 in every month.
[18:46] That's right. And the following month, the first month, 10,000, I don't want new people. Yeah. So, if we say we bring 10,000 new people. It should be new.
[18:56] Another month, another set of 10,000 people. Now, how many people in Ghana all the time looking for loans? Yes. But we made it happen. Yeah. The peak, I can never forget this date, November 2022.
[19:09] We had 23,000 new customers. That day there was a party in the office. That's right. Yes. It was a big deal to me because we do marketing and sometimes people question.
[19:22] They are just spending money. They are just wasting money. Nothing is coming. So, to do marketing and get that fulfillment that your results are actually customers that you can count.
[19:32] You can call them the phone number and they will respond. Yeah. It was a loan that game changer for me. For this submission, I have two questions, right?
[19:43] One about when you were at agency ring here. Basically, this, I want listeners of up and coming digital marketers. You were able to get to know how you were able to handle multiple brands.
[20:01] Were there like a tool? Were there like mindset prepping that you initiated for you to be able to handle multiple brands? To the extent that you didn't even call for assistance.
[20:15] No. Because one thing I like about agency work is that everybody had a role to play. So, if I'm the paid advertisement person, I'm not the one coming to do graphics.
[20:25] Yeah. The graphics teams, all I need to do is write an email. This client, I want this and it's done. Right. Right. Budget. There's a finance team who make sure that your card is always loaded.
[20:36] So, I'm not coming to check. Why is this card not working? At every point when I'm doing ads, my cards are loaded. Yeah. Even copy. There are copywriters.
[20:45] So, yours is a strategic move of, who am I targeting? How do I understand the client to know that this target was for the client? How do I smartly create campaign?
[20:55] So, if I create a campaign and it works for me, the following day, I'm not creating a new campaign. I'm just duplicating it. You get me? Campaign in the sense of on the ad dashboard.
[21:04] On the ad. Yes. So, my bet was the ads. The media angle. Because I was head of paid marketing. Right. Not any other thing. The media means that yours is to grow the business when it comes to paid ads.
[21:19] And every other thing is taken care of by other people. So, that structure also helped. Right. But if you were supposed to be doing this in the company, then you might as well be the one doing the graphics, writing content, and it might be overwhelming.
[21:31] And that is how come I could do a lot of clients. Right. Yes. You see, when you were just, I mean, when you were about to tell me about your journey, that you were like, hey, this one day I will brag a little.
[21:44] And you bragged. Now. Okay. So, especially your girls up and coming digital marketers. Someone might do something good. But then for the person to put it out there, it becomes an issue.
[21:59] Yeah. Imposter syndrome sets in. Yeah. So, how do you teach them how to overcome imposter syndrome? Yeah. Because, I mean, they are doing a good job out there, but then we don't know because they don't post it.
[22:16] Exactly. So, how do you deal over, I mean, how are you telling them to overcome imposter syndrome? So, for example, me being an instructor with generation, there is a whole model about branding yourself.
[22:28] Right. And also, there is a model about imposter syndrome. We try to identify things that make girls or people in general feel not so comfortable sharing their ways.
[22:38] Yeah. Ghana is a very modest country if you compare it to Nigeria. Yeah. And Nigeria can proudly say, I did this, and it's a fly. Ghana would say, oh, Shenoy, Chibi, Intidane, that kind of thing.
[22:50] But I always say, once it's true, then it's not brag. Of course. If, let's say, I should tell you that I helped Fido get this number of customers.
[22:57] And she speaks to Fido, and they say, oh, no. There was no Alice Mensa. She was never a marketing manager. She never gave us these numbers. Then I would have lied.
[23:05] But if you call anybody there and they can confirm it, then I am only stating facts. I am not lying. So as up-and-coming marketers, especially the ladies, it is not a brag if it is a choice.
[23:21] Yeah. Speak out. I always say that if you are going to buy something and the thing is not on the shelf, I can't buy it. Sure, sure, sure. So you can be good, but you're not on the shelf.
[23:34] Nobody even knows you exist. But until you tell me on LinkedIn that you exist, this is what you have done, then I can't take you seriously. Let me give this as an example.
[23:48] There was someone who contacted me randomly that she wanted me to train her 101. But because of my number of things I do, I was about to turn her down, so I can't do it.
[24:01] And I remember that one of the generation marketers just completed their training. I saw her post on LinkedIn saying that she went back to her school, at SS school or something, and trained the students there.
[24:16] Maybe just a brief introduction about what they just are marketing, just so that they get in touch about it. So I called her. This is the gig I've gotten.
[24:24] Would you be interested? No. She's willing to learn. If only our trainers would do. You are good. I saw you teaching somebody. Yeah. So what do you need training for again?
[24:32] What do you need for? And you've been in my training for three months. I've got everything in digital marketing. So yeah. Yes. And so as we speak, she's engaging whoever it is.
[24:41] We are making sure the money is good enough. Our content is solid. She'll need a bit of supervision. And she's taking off. How did I get to know and give her that gig?
[24:52] What do you think? What's it called? She shared it on LinkedIn. On LinkedIn. What if she had kept it to herself? Yeah, you wouldn't have reached out.
[24:59] I didn't cry if I posted. They would say that I'm bragging. I wouldn't have reached out. Yeah. So I know sometimes they do what we do in education.
[25:07] Sometimes I see them posting. Oh, three things you should know about SEO. Yeah, they do a lot of education. That's fine. People want stories.
[25:17] Tell me, how did this gig go? Okay. How did this thing tell us experiences? People love stories. That's why we watch movies. So tell us your stories.
[25:27] And that is why we intrigue more people to purchase you as a brand. We are a brand. Consultancy is a brand. Yeah. Yeah. So you would have to live up to that and then be seen so you can get more gigs.
[25:41] Awesome. Great. Great. Great. Let's talk about your vision for DIFEP, right? Or any other organization that you're part with on teaching. I mean, in teaching girls, in digital marketing.
[25:54] What is the end key for you? What is the end key? Yeah. So for me, even for DIFEP, if we should get a very good sponsor, why not? The three of us are already digital marketers.
[26:09] We've been... You know Amani. Amani is not a speaker to this field. Those days we were even looking for trends of people who were very influential.
[26:19] He had this whole... Oh. You remember? Click. Click a freak. Click a freak. Click a freak, yeah. He had a whole SMS platform and everything. We coming together to pull this off again isn't going to be a challenge.
[26:33] Without it, whatever digital marketing training I'm doing, whether it's with generation, whether it's with myself doing my own one-on-one with people, I believe in giving back.
[26:42] Yeah. And I think if Google didn't give me this opportunity, I wouldn't be here. You wouldn't, yeah. So I always say this teaching thing is more like a calling.
[26:51] I love to talk. I love to teach. And so it's my way of giving back. I know there is a girl struggling somewhere like me when I was struggling with my IT on campus then.
[27:03] Yeah, yeah. Who needs just a hand to also come up? And I'm willing to pull out many hands that I can so that there'll be a tech industry where it's not just about co-desk, but there are digital market tests.
[27:17] And primarily there are a lot of female digital... Digital market tests. Yes. You know, recently I have this international gate with lantern committers where I do consulting for clients in Belgium, UK, Nigeria, and all other places.
[27:33] I can tell you that gives me more money even compared to the teaching. Yeah. While you see me almost always talking about the teaching, I think that's all I do, is because of the passion that I have for that.
[27:44] So I believe whether Accra, Tamale, Cape Coast, wherever, there are girls that I need to pull along. Yeah. So that's the vision. I like that.
[27:55] I mean, basically, I mean, Colossal Social Media podcast is in that angle. Yeah. That is a way, you know, my base of giving back to the community.
[28:03] Yeah. Yeah. So let's talk about girls who want to come into the game, into the industry. Girls who wants to be the next Alice Mason. What advice would you give them?
[28:16] Uh-huh. Like someone who is sitting behind over there. She knows that. So I will say, if you've not yet started, find a program and join. I know Generation has a digital marketing program.
[28:34] ALX to an extent has one. Shunku Academy has one. Mest, even Mest runs digital marketing programs. And lots of digital marketing programs are upcoming.
[28:48] And usually they're even getting funders from international organizations. And so they are generally free. You don't need to pay anything. Just be available and be there.
[28:57] And at least you can get the skills that you want. If you've also partaken in any of these skills training hubs and you are done, it shouldn't end there.
[29:08] Showcase your work. If you've got a gig, showcase it. Tell us how you went about a particular problem you faced while I was working on the gig.
[29:17] Or tell us your success stories about the gig. Or tell us even your challenges about the gig. That is what makes us know that you are working on a gig in less energy sector.
[29:25] And so it's more I get another gig within the energy sector. I know maybe Sarah or Mary or whoever is the right person to call on. And so you do that.
[29:34] It will be hard. It will be hard. And people, there are a lot of digital marketers now. So if you don't pull your weight, we wouldn't know you.
[29:41] So that will be the advice. And also be bold. Naturally the Ghanaian girl or the Ghanaian is reserved in nature. You get the very few of us who are flamboyant.
[29:53] And you know how we're always talking. And even sometimes we come across as oh, hard drink. Kind of thing. But it works for us. Trust me if I were to be this very dull, quiet woman.
[30:05] Maybe, just maybe. I'm in every way I am. So let's forget about what people say. And do you. Push along. Yes, do you. Be bold. Speak up. When you get opportunities, take it.
[30:18] And when you take it to showcase it, most importantly, there are more gigs who keep coming. And continue learning to escape. That's it. You can never learn something from our generation three months program and think that you are done.
[30:32] No, no, no. Even me, I'm learning. Ten years experience. I'm learning. You are still learning, yes. Now you're three months. You have to keep learning.
[30:40] Yeah, and I think with that. And once you keep experiencing, you know, sometimes learning on the job is also key. Once you are doing gigs, you keep learning things.
[30:48] And that even sticks faster. Yeah. Yeah. You feel on the mission. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'll side with you perfectly. Yeah, because you take opportunity.
[30:59] But then what I will stress on is them being available. Because most people see digital marketing as sort of glamorous. You know, I'm a digital marketer, social media.
[31:14] I post. I post and get paid. But then in the training, are you available? You know, you just don't come and sign up. And don't show up. And don't show up.
[31:25] The more you call for online classes, you don't come. You don't partake in quizzes and all that. Yeah. So I side with you and I'm glad that you came onto the show.
[31:39] Thank you. And I hope that whether you're working with DIFEP, World Generation, any other, you know, these NGOs that you get in touch with, you are able to pull a lot of ladies.
[31:51] Thank you so much. Thank you for coming. Yeah. Yeah, you for coming to see me. I'm the idiot. So thank you. I'm the one who's coming to see me.
[32:05] Yeah. So thank you for coming.