A new way of connecting with customers is gaining traction globally, based on groundbreaking research from Google and Boston Consulting Group (BCG). This research, which applies to markets worldwide including Ghana, reveals a powerful marketing approach that forward-thinking Ghanaian businesses are now adopting.
According to the global research, consumers today make purchasing decisions completely differently than they did just a few years ago. The growth of mobile internet, social media, and digital payments has transformed how people shop everywhere, including in Ghana. Someone in Accra might discover a product through a TikTok influencer and immediately purchase it via mobile money. Someone else might see a storefront sign, check it on platforms like jiji.com.gh or Jumia.com.gh ask about it in WhatsApp groups, compare prices at the local market, and buy days later.
The research identifies this as the “4S behaviors” system – a framework that recognizes four key activities that drive modern purchasing decisions worldwide: streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping. This global approach can be effectively applied in Ghana’s unique market context.
By understanding and implementing this 4S strategy in the Ghanaian context, sellers here can achieve better results with their marketing efforts. This article will show you exactly how to apply this global research to your business in Ghana, regardless of its size—helping you connect with customers more effectively in today’s complex marketplace.
Why Traditional Marketing Will Fade Out in Ghana Soon.
The global research from Google and BCG shows that traditional step-by-step marketing approaches are becoming less effective in today’s digital marketplace – a finding that applies directly to Ghana’s rapidly evolving business environment. This research demonstrates that the conventional method – where you first make people aware of your product, then build interest, help them consider options, and finally guide them to purchase – no longer matches how people actually make buying decisions in today’s connected world, including in Ghana.
The global findings from Google and BCG can be directly applied to Ghana’s digital landscape. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and TikTok have transformed how people discover, evaluate, and purchase products worldwide, and Ghana is no exception.
This transformation has fundamentally changed buying behavior across markets, including in Ghana. People no longer follow a predictable path to purchase. A consumer might find a product on Instagram, research it on YouTube, discuss it with friends on WhatsApp, and buy it through a direct message—all within hours, without ever seeing traditional advertising.
This creates significant challenges for sellers in Ghana:
- Wasted spending: Many businesses invest heavily in general awareness when customers actually need specific information at key decision points.
- Wrong messaging: Sellers use generic awareness messages when customers may already be comparing features or seeking validation before making a final decision.
- Missed opportunities: Critical moments that influence purchases go unaddressed because they don’t fit neatly within traditional marketing stages.
- Incomplete understanding: Customer insights remain disconnected, preventing a complete picture of how people actually make buying decisions.
The Google and BCG global research suggests that markets worldwide, including Ghana, need to adopt a more flexible approach that reflects how consumers actually make purchasing decisions today. This is where the 4S behaviors framework can be applied in the Ghanaian context.
Understanding the 4S Marketing Strategy
The global Google and BCG research introduces the “4S behaviors” framework as a new way to understand how people make buying decisions worldwide. This framework, which can be effectively applied in Ghana, recognizes that purchase decisions revolve around four key behaviors that occur throughout the entire process, often simultaneously and in unpredictable patterns.
The Four Key Consumer Behaviors Driving Purchases
According to the global Google and BCG research, purchasing decisions worldwide, including in Ghana, center around these four key activities:
- Streaming: This covers all video content consumption – from YouTube, Instagram, Titkokt tutorials and product reviews to advertisements before streaming shows. As the research notes, streaming has become a primary information source across demographics globally, including in Ghana with its growing mobile internet adoption.
- Scrolling: Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok capture significant attention from consumers worldwide. In Ghana, as in other markets, people scroll through these platforms not just for entertainment but for product discovery, recommendations from others, and direct purchasing.
- Searching: When consumers have specific questions or needs, they turn to search— Google, Tiktok, and within-platform search on marketplaces like Jiji or social platforms. This behavior, documented in the global research, is equally relevant in Ghana where search indicates high interest but occurs throughout the decision-making process.
- Shopping: The actual transaction process, which varies by market. In Ghana, this might happen in physical stores, through mobile money transfers after WhatsApp negotiations, or via e-commerce platforms—reflecting the uniquely fluid nature of shopping between digital and physical worlds in this market.
The key insight from the global Google and BCG research, applicable to Ghana, is that these behaviors don’t follow a predictable sequence. Instead, they occur and recur throughout the decision-making process, often overlapping and influencing decisions at multiple points.
Focusing on What Actually Influences Decisions
According to the global Google and BCG research, what makes the 4S approach powerful across markets, including Ghana, is its focus on influence—identifying the moments that truly impact customer decisions, rather than pushing people through predetermined stages.
This research-backed approach recognizes that different customer groups are influenced in different ways across all markets. In Ghana specifically, a university student in Accra making an impulse fashion purchase is influenced differently than a family making a considered appliance purchase—even if both ultimately buy through the same platform.
For those selling in Ghana, applying this global strategy helps ensure marketing efforts address what actually matters to local customers at each point in their decision process. The result is a more effective way to connect with how Ghanaians actually make purchasing decisions today.
Why Reaching Many People Doesn’t Always Work
A critical insight from the Google and BCG research is the important difference between reach and influence. While traditional approaches focus on visibility (how many people see your message), the 4S approach evaluates activities based on their actual impact on customer decisions.
According to the research, real influence comes from three key factors:
- Attention: How engaged is the person? A quick billboard glance while in Accra traffic offers minimal attention, while 15 minutes watching a product demonstration video represents deep attention.
- Relevance: Does your content address the person’s current needs? Generic messaging typically has much less impact than specific information that solves an immediate problem.
- Trust: How much confidence does the person have in the source? In Ghana’s relationship-driven culture, recommendations from friends on WhatsApp typically drive more action than paid advertisements.
These three factors, combined with reach, determine whether your marketing actually influences decisions. The research suggests that sellers in Ghana should focus resources on activities that truly drive purchases rather than simply maximizing visibility.
Ghana’s Unique Consumer Journey Landscape
To apply the influence map effectively in Ghana, marketers must understand the distinctive characteristics of the Ghanaian consumer landscape. Several factors make Ghana’s marketplace uniquely challenging—and uniquely suited—for the influence map approach.
Mobile-First Nation
Ghana has emerged as one of Africa’s most mobile-centric economies. With mobile penetration exceeding 130% and smartphone adoption continuing to accelerate, mobile devices serve as the primary digital touchpoint for most consumers. This creates both opportunities and challenges:
Opportunities:
- Rich data collection from mobile interactions
- Location-based marketing capabilities
- Seamless integration with mobile money for immediate transactions
Challenges:
- Limited screen real estate for complex messages
- Network reliability issues in some regions
- Data cost sensitivity among certain demographics
For Ghanaian marketers, this mobile-first reality necessitates influence maps that prioritize touchpoints optimized for small screens and potentially intermittent connectivity. The most successful campaigns recognize that mobile isn’t just one channel among many—it’s the primary lens through which most consumers view brands.
The Rise of Social Commerce
Perhaps nowhere is Ghana’s nonlinear consumer journey more evident than in the explosive growth of social commerce. Platforms originally designed for social connection have evolved into powerful commercial marketplaces:
- Instagram shops with direct mobile money payment
- WhatsApp business accounts facilitating entire purchase journeys
- Facebook Marketplace transactions negotiated through messenger
- TikTok’s growing influence on purchase decisions
This social commerce ecosystem creates consumer journeys that bear little resemblance to traditional funnel models. A consumer might discover, evaluate, purchase, and advocate for a product all within a single platform, often within minutes. Alternatively, they might bounce between multiple platforms over days before making a decision.
Influence maps for Ghanaian brands must account for these social commerce pathways, recognizing that the boundaries between awareness, consideration, and purchase have effectively dissolved within these ecosystems.
Traditional Market Dynamics in a Digital World
Despite rapid digitization, Ghana maintains strong traditional market structures that continue to influence consumer behavior. Open-air markets, small independent retailers, and relationship-based commerce remain vital components of the economy.
This creates a fascinating hybrid landscape where digital discovery leads to physical purchases, offline research informs online transactions, and word-of-mouth recommendations drive digital engagement. Recent research indicates that 72% of Ghanaian consumers regularly cross between online and offline channels during a single purchase journey.
Effective influence maps must account for these hybrid journeys, identifying the connections between digital and physical touchpoints rather than treating them as separate funnels. For example, a product demonstration viewed on YouTube might create maximum influence when combined with in-person product testing at a local store—a connection that traditional funnel models would fail to capture.
Can Your Business Use This Approach ?
The Google and BCG research framework has been applied by businesses across different industries. Here are examples of how the 4S approach might be implemented in Ghana’s business context:
Financial Services
In the financial sector, the 4S approach can help address specific challenges like building trust in digital banking services:
Streaming: Creating YouTube, Tiktoks and Instagram Reels videos showing real customers safely using mobile banking features and explaining security measures in simple terms.
Scrolling: Developing Instagram and Facebook posts highlighting specific banking features with clear visuals that can be quickly understood while scrolling.
Searching: Optimizing content
How to Implement the 4S Strategy When Selling in Ghana
The Google and BCG research offers a framework that any business in Ghana can implement, regardless of size or industry. Here’s a practical approach based on their findings that works even for businesses with limited resources:
Research Methods to Identify What Influences Your Customers
The Google and BCG research emphasizes that understanding your customers’ actual decision-making process is essential. For businesses selling in Ghana, several research approaches are suggested:
Customer Interviews: Have conversations with recent customers about how they found and decided to buy from you. In Ghana’s relationship-oriented culture, people are often willing to share their experiences when approached respectfully.
Digital Analysis: Look at your digital data across platforms to identify patterns, especially focusing on mobile behaviors that dominate internet usage in Ghana.
Social Listening: Pay attention to conversations about your products or services across WhatsApp groups, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms where Ghanaians discuss purchasing decisions.
Staff Insights: Regularly ask your sales staff what they’re hearing from customers – they often have valuable information about how people make decisions.
Competitor Analysis: Observe how competitors connect with customers, identifying what seems to work well and what doesn’t.
Even small businesses with limited resources can implement these approaches. You can start with just 10-15 customer conversations, look at your existing digital data, and gather insights from your sales team without significant expense.
Using Resources Wisely for Maximum Impact
The Google and BCG research suggests that once you understand what influences your customers, you need to use your resources strategically. This involves three key steps:
Evaluate Each Touchpoint: Look at each way you reach customers based on its reach, the attention it gets, how relevant it is to customers, and how much they trust it.
Compare Cost vs. Impact: Figure out which marketing activities give you the most impact for your money.
Reallocate Resources: Move spending from low-impact, high-cost activities to high-impact, cost-effective alternatives.
This process often reveals surprising insights. According to the research application in markets like Ghana, businesses sometimes discover that expensive traditional advertising generates awareness but minimal purchase influence, while more focused digital approaches deliver much higher results per cedi spent.
Content Strategy for the 4S Approach
Based on the Google and BCG research framework, your content should align with how people actually make decisions through the 4S behaviors (streaming, scrolling, searching, and shopping). For selling in Ghana, effective content typically addresses:
Streaming Content: Videos optimized for mobile viewing that showcase your products or services in action, addressing real problems Ghanaians face.
Scrolling Content: Visual, attention-grabbing social media content designed for Ghana’s mobile-first consumers that can be quickly understood while scrolling.
Search Content: Information that answers specific questions Ghanaians ask when researching products like yours, focusing on comparison points that matter locally.
Shopping Content: Material that makes purchasing easy, such as clear payment options, delivery information, or warranty details relevant to Ghanaian consumers.
The key difference from traditional approaches is flexibility. Rather than pushing everyone through the same content sequence, the 4S approach helps you deliver the right content based on where customers actually are in their decision process.
AI’s Role in Powering Ghana’s Marketing Revolution
While influence mapping provides the strategic framework, artificial intelligence offers the execution capabilities needed to deliver personalized marketing at scale. For Ghanaian businesses, AI presents both significant opportunities and unique implementation challenges.
Overcoming Implementation Challenges
Ghanaian companies face several challenges in implementing AI-powered marketing:
Data Infrastructure Limitations: Many organizations lack robust data collection and integration systems needed for advanced AI applications.
Technical Expertise Gaps: The pool of experienced AI and data science professionals in Ghana remains limited, with high demand for skilled practitioners.
Cost Concerns: Enterprise-level AI marketing solutions often come with price points prohibitive for all but the largest Ghanaian companies.
Integration with Existing Systems: Legacy systems common in many Ghanaian businesses may not easily connect with modern AI platforms.
Despite these challenges, pragmatic implementation paths exist for companies at various resource levels.
AI Tools Accessible to Ghanaian Businesses
Several AI capabilities are particularly valuable and accessible for implementing influence mapping in Ghana:
Content Generation: GenAI tools can accelerate the creation of tailored content for different influence points, helping resource-constrained marketing teams produce the volume and variety needed for personalized journeys.
Predictive Analytics: Even with limited data, AI can identify patterns in consumer behavior and predict likely influence pathways for different segments.
Automated Campaign Optimization: AI tools can continuously adjust campaign parameters based on performance, ensuring marketing resources remain focused on the highest-influence touchpoints.
Conversational Interfaces: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can provide personalized guidance at critical influence points, particularly valuable in Ghana’s messaging-centric digital ecosystem.
Visual Recognition: AI tools that analyze images and videos help brands understand how their products appear in user-generated content across platforms, a crucial capability in Ghana’s visual-heavy social media landscape.
Building AI Capabilities with Limited Resources
For Ghanaian businesses embarking on this journey, a phased approach to AI implementation maximizes impact while minimizing risk:
Phase 1: Foundation Building
- Implement basic data collection across key touchpoints
- Explore accessible AI tools with low implementation barriers
- Pilot small-scale AI applications within limited customer segments
Phase 2: Capability Expansion
- Integrate data sources to create unified customer views
- Develop AI-assisted decision-making for campaign optimization
- Expand successful pilots across broader customer base
Phase 3: Advanced Implementation
- Deploy sophisticated predictive models for journey mapping
- Implement real-time personalization across touchpoints
- Develop custom AI applications for unique business needs
This graduated approach allows Ghanaian businesses to build capabilities progressively, generating results that justify further investment rather than requiring massive upfront expenditure.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
For Ghanaian marketers ready to move beyond the traditional funnel and implement influence mapping, this practical roadmap provides a structured approach adaptable to businesses of various sizes and resource levels.
Phase 1: Research and Analysis
Step 1: Journey Documentation
- Conduct 15-20 in-depth interviews with recent customers
- Document detailed purchase pathways from initial awareness to final decision
- Identify common patterns and significant variations across journeys
Step 2: Touchpoint Inventory
- Catalog all existing brand touchpoints across digital and physical channels
- Document current resource allocation and expected outcomes for each
- Collect available performance metrics for each touchpoint
Step 3: Influence Analysis
- Score each touchpoint on attention, relevance, and trust factors
- Calculate influence-to-cost ratios for all touchpoints
- Identify high-influence moments currently underserved by marketing efforts
Step 4: Journey Mapping
- Create visual maps of the most common customer journeys
- Highlight moments of maximum influence within each journey
- Identify gaps between current marketing focus and actual influence points
Timeline: 4-6 weeks for medium-sized businesses, scalable for smaller organizations
Phase 2: Strategy Development
Step 1: Resource Optimization Plan
- Develop reallocation strategy shifting resources toward high-influence touchpoints
- Create phased implementation timeline with clear milestones
- Establish baseline metrics for measuring improvement
Step 2: Content Strategy Alignment
- Audit existing content against identified influence points
- Develop content briefs addressing gaps in the influence map
- Create personalization framework for major customer segments
Step 3: Technology Assessment
- Evaluate current martech stack against influence mapping needs
- Identify priority technology investments or optimizations
- Develop data integration plan to support cross-journey measurement
Step 4: Organizational Alignment
- Brief key stakeholders on the influence mapping approach
- Adjust team structures and workflows to support influence-based marketing
- Develop training plan for marketing team members
Timeline: 3-4 weeks for strategy development, with implementation timeline varying by organization
Phase 3: Execution Framework
Step 1: Pilot Program Launch
- Select 1-2 high-potential customer journeys for initial implementation
- Deploy optimized touchpoints and content for these journeys
- Implement measurement framework to track influence-based metrics
Step 2: AI Capability Building
- Implement accessible AI tools for highest-priority use cases
- Develop talent through training and strategic partnerships
- Establish data feedback loops to improve AI performance
Step 3: Touchpoint Optimization
- Redesign underperforming touchpoints based on influence analysis
- Create new touchpoints to address identified influence gaps
- Develop testing framework for continuous improvement
Step 4: Scaling Success
- Analyze pilot program results and refine approach
- Expand implementation across additional customer journeys
- Develop automation to increase personalization capabilities
Timeline: 2-3 months for initial implementation, with ongoing optimization
Phase 4: Measurement and Optimization
Step 1: Performance Evaluation
- Compare pre- and post-implementation metrics
- Calculate ROI based on resource reallocation
- Identify both successes and underperforming areas
Step 2: Journey Refinement
- Collect new customer feedback on optimized journeys
- Update journey maps based on observed behavior changes
- Identify emerging influence points for future focus
Step 3: Capability Advancement
- Expand AI applications based on initial results
- Increase personalization sophistication through data integration
- Develop predictive capabilities for proactive influence
Step 4: Continuous Improvement
- Implement regular influence mapping reviews
- Develop A/B testing program for touchpoint effectiveness
- Create feedback mechanisms for ongoing customer input
Timeline: Ongoing, with quarterly review cycles
The Future of Ghanaian Marketing
As Ghana’s digital transformation accelerates, the marketing landscape will continue evolving at an unprecedented pace. Several emerging trends will shape the future of influence mapping in the Ghanaian market:
Voice-Based Influence: As voice search and interaction grow through increasing smartphone adoption, new influence points will emerge in conversational interfaces. Ghanaian brands must prepare for voice-optimized content and commerce.
Augmented Reality Experiences: AR capabilities are becoming accessible even on mid-range smartphones common in Ghana. These technologies create powerful new influence opportunities, particularly in categories like fashion, home goods, and electronics.
Super App Ecosystems: Following trends in other emerging markets, Ghana is seeing the rise of super apps that combine multiple services. These platforms will create new influence pathways as consumers navigate between services within a single application.
Predictive Marketing: As AI capabilities advance, Ghanaian brands will increasingly shift from reactive to predictive influence, anticipating consumer needs and addressing them before consumers actively begin their journey.
Cross-Platform Identity Resolution: Improvements in tracking consumer identity across platforms will enable more sophisticated influence mapping, ensuring consistent experiences despite Ghana’s fragmented digital ecosystem.
Forward-thinking Ghanaian marketers are already preparing for these developments, building flexible frameworks that can adapt to emerging influence channels while maintaining focus on fundamental consumer needs and behaviors.
The marketing landscape in Ghana has fundamentally changed, making conventional approaches increasingly ineffective. Today’s Ghanaian consumers make purchasing decisions through complex, unpredictable paths that combine digital and physical interactions in ways that vary dramatically between individuals, product categories, and contexts.
This new marketing strategy offers a powerful alternative—a flexible approach that aligns with how Ghanaians actually make decisions rather than forcing them through theoretical stages. By focusing on the moments that truly influence decisions rather than predetermined steps, businesses can achieve greater impact while spending marketing budgets more efficiently.
While implementing this approach requires thoughtful research and planning, the potential rewards are substantial. Early adopters among Ghana’s leading companies are already demonstrating the competitive advantage that comes from understanding what truly influences their customers’ decisions.
As artificial intelligence tools become increasingly accessible, even smaller Ghanaian businesses can leverage these technologies to execute this strategy at scale. Through a phased implementation approach, companies of any size can begin adopting this more effective marketing method.
The next decade of marketing in Ghana will belong to the brands that understand the difference between merely reaching consumers and truly influencing their decisions. By embracing this powerful new strategy today, Ghanaian businesses can position themselves for success—creating more meaningful connections with consumers while driving measurable business results in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
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FAQ Section
Q: How does influence mapping work for small businesses with limited marketing budgets?
A: Influence mapping is particularly valuable for resource-constrained businesses because it helps identify the highest-impact touchpoints. Rather than spreading limited resources across all funnel stages, small Ghanaian businesses can focus investments on the specific moments that truly influence consumer decisions. Even with modest budgets, companies can conduct basic customer interviews, analyze existing data, and reallocate resources to high-influence touchpoints without significant additional spending.
Q: Does implementing influence mapping require completely abandoning our existing marketing framework?
A: No, the transition can be gradual. Many successful Ghanaian companies begin by implementing influence mapping alongside their existing funnel-based approach, starting with specific customer segments or product categories. This allows for controlled testing and gradual organizational adaptation while building evidence of effectiveness. The key is beginning to collect journey-based data and identify influence points, even while maintaining some traditional structures.
Q: How can we effectively measure the ROI of an influence mapping approach?
A: ROI measurement should focus on efficiency metrics rather than just volume metrics. Key indicators include: cost per conversion compared to previous funnel-based campaigns; changes in customer acquisition costs; improvements in journey completion rates; and increased customer lifetime value. Most Ghanaian businesses implementing influence mapping see initial gains in efficiency metrics (lower costs) followed by volume improvements as optimization continues.
Q: What types of AI tools are most accessible for Ghanaian businesses new to this approach?
A: Several categories of AI tools offer strong accessibility and value for Ghanaian businesses: content generation platforms with pay-as-you-go models; social listening tools with targeted functionality; basic predictive analytics that integrate with existing CRM systems; and chatbots that can be implemented through common platforms like WhatsApp Business. The key is starting with focused applications that address clear influence points rather than attempting comprehensive AI transformation.
Q: How does the influence map approach address Ghana’s significant regional differences in consumer behavior?
A: Unlike rigid funnel models that assume similar journeys across segments, influence mapping embraces variation. The approach actually becomes more powerful when applied to distinct regional segments, allowing for customized influence maps that reflect different behaviors between urban Accra, northern regions, coastal areas, and other distinct markets. Many Ghanaian brands develop region-specific influence maps that account for variations in digital access, language preferences, and purchasing patterns across the country.