The loudest seller at Computer Village never makes the biggest sales. But the quiet phone repair guy who always fixes your problem properly? He has customers lined up every day.

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The loudest seller at Computer Village never makes the biggest sales. But the quiet phone repair guy who always fixes your problem properly? He has customers lined up every day.

My people, let me tell you something. You know that feeling when someone calls you during your favorite Nollywood movie just to sell you insurance? That angry feeling in your chest? That is exactly why smart businesses in Nigeria are changing how they talk to us.

See, we Nigerians are not stupid. When MTN sends us those random SMS about data plans we never asked for, we just delete them. When banks call us during our lunch break to sell credit cards, we cut the call. Why? Because nobody likes to be disturbed when they are not ready to buy.

But you know what we love? When someone helps us solve our real problems without asking for anything first.

Picture this. You are struggling to save money in this Lagos economy. Instead of a bank sending you ads about their savings account, they create a simple video showing you five easy ways to cut your monthly expenses. You watch it, you learn something useful, and you start to trust them. Three months later, when you are ready to open a savings account, which bank do you think of first?

That is inbound marketing. And it works because it matches how we actually behave as human beings.

Think about your own life. When you want to buy something important - maybe a phone, a car, or even choose a school for your child - what do you do first? You ask friends, you search online, you read reviews. You do not just buy the first thing someone shouts at you from a billboard.

This is why the old way of marketing - the one where companies just shout "Buy this! Buy that!" - is slowly dying. We have smartphones now. We have Google. We can research anything in five minutes. We have become smarter shoppers.

But here is the beautiful part. Some Nigerian businesses have figured this out. Instead of chasing customers like a tout (bus conductor) chasing passengers at Oshodi, they make customers come to them by being genuinely helpful.

For example, there is this real estate company that started making YouTube videos about "How to Spot a Good Neighborhood in Lagos" and "Questions to Ask Before Renting an Apartment." They never once said "Buy our houses" in those videos. But guess what happened? People started calling them when they were ready to buy or rent houses.

A tech company started writing simple articles about "How to Start Online Business in Nigeria" and "Best Apps for Small Business Owners." They gave away this knowledge for free. Result? Entrepreneurs who read these articles later hired them to build websites and mobile apps.

This is the psychology of modern consumers. We do not want to be sold to. We want to be helped. We want to feel smart about our choices. We want to trust the people we buy from.

And in Nigeria, where relationships matter more than anything else, this approach makes perfect sense. We buy from people we know, like, and trust. Inbound marketing builds all three.

The companies that understand this are winning. They create helpful content that solves real problems. They answer questions before people even ask. They build relationships before they build sales.

Meanwhile, the companies still using the old methods - sending random SMS, making cold calls, placing irrelevant ads - are watching their customers run away to competitors who actually understand how humans make buying decisions.

The future belongs to businesses that help first and sell second. Because in a world full of noise, the brands that provide value and build trust are the ones that cut through all the chaos and win our hearts - and our wallets.

This is not just marketing theory. This is human psychology. And any business owner who wants to succeed in today's Nigeria needs to understand it.


Jbm Sopuruchukwu — The Copywriter focused on multiplying Nigerian business revenue. WhatsApp: +2347069275374

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