Nothing helps undecided customers as much as receiving recommendations from others. Can user experience increase the brand value of a business?

In the midst of an increasingly plural economic panorama, where the socialist state enterprise is no longer the only form of business organization, but coexists with self-employed workers, agricultural and non-agricultural cooperatives, local development projects and MSMEs, the strategies to be followed on digital platforms, rather than a luxury, become an essential weapon for each economic entity to be able to create its own market niche.

Cuba has finally begun to retrace the long road leading to the establishment of Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), a new economic actor that promises to energize and diversify the national economy.

Several years of unstable connectivity were left behind when in 2018 Cubans were able to sit down, from the tranquility of their own homes, to surf the Internet. Up until that time, we resorted to the WiFi zones enabled by the Telecommunications Company of Cuba (ETECSA), the only service provider; and often had to brace or flee the harsh sun or the rain.

It seemed that electronic commerce was being developed in Cuba with more caution than daring until COVID-19 arrived. But suddenly, the need to maintain physical distance triggered the demand for this modality, which outside the island is the most natural thing in the world; however, for Cubans it remains a pending subject.

More than an instant messaging application, Telegram seems to be a tool specially designed for digital marketing: in addition to the usual functions of this type of app (text messages, reading confirmations and the possibility to send attachments), Telegram includes the creation of public channels that, by not imposing limits on the number of users, facilitate brands’ communication with mass audiences.

These are times in which social marketing acquires, or should acquire, special prevalence in order to influence people’s behaviour to improve their health. Attitudes and habits must be modified to ensure better social wellbeing, using the tools and concepts of traditional commercial marketing.

The world has been put to the test with the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus. It has forced us to work together, in one way or another, to overcome it. This has taken the efforts of all, not just health workers; there have been many shows of solidarity and collective or business responsiveness in the face of this challenge.

Social networks have become the leading online activity. In 2014, one in every five couples in the world met online and two in every ten divorces where linked to Facebook; it’s not hard to imagine that those numbers have grown since. This shows that the connections made in the hypermedia sphere do not only have an online impact, but also influence social relationships and consumption generated offline.

Instagram users are very active and interact twice as much as on other online platforms, therefore daily posts are a good promotional strategy.