1. Your market and competitors are already there. If you market and sell products
or services to a middle-class clientele, you need to extend your strategy to
include the internet.
2. Web users expect the highest convenience and information at their fingertips.
All companies need a website as their central point of contact. If your details
don’t come up in a web search, you will be ignored.
3. Customers are fickle. They will not expend a lot of energy to find you online.
Even worse, if your competitor is easy to find online, your potential customers
will happily turn to them.
4. Since South Africans are using, socialising and buying on the web – and
especially because current advertising spend is still very low – now is an
excellent time to move your marketing into the online sphere and capitalise
on a new and connected audience.
5. Audiences want to interact with and converse about your brand and products.
Give them the opportunity to do it in a mediated space, and become part of
the discussion.
6. Online marketing is almost always cheaper and more targeted than traditional.
You can reach the best customers at the lowest price.
When done smartly, your online marketing plan will integrate seamlessly with your
traditional tactics, won’t cost a fortune and will expose you to a market that you
had previously been invisible to.
Why you need to educate yourself Despite its seeming ease and accessibility, internet marketing is not something that just anyone can do without formal training. The online space is full of cultural, legal and financial pitfalls. Traditional strategies don’t translate directly onto the web. Customers have different and challenging expectations. The way that you spend money and schedule your campaigns works very differently. And with the plethora of new developments, tools, protocols, strategies and approaches, it is impossible to keep up with everything on one’s own. Keeping yourself educated and informed is the only way to ensure that you stay relevant and innovative. There are two parts to this: first, learning the basics and the principles of the field, and second, keeping up with new developments.
All companies need a website as their central point of contact. If your details
don’t come up in a web search, you will be ignored.
3. Customers are fickle. They will not expend a lot of energy to find you online.
Even worse, if your competitor is easy to find online, your potential customers
will happily turn to them.
4. Since South Africans are using, socialising and buying on the web – and
especially because current advertising spend is still very low – now is an
excellent time to move your marketing into the online sphere and capitalise
on a new and connected audience.
5. Audiences want to interact with and converse about your brand and products.
Give them the opportunity to do it in a mediated space, and become part of
the discussion.
6. Online marketing is almost always cheaper and more targeted than traditional.
You can reach the best customers at the lowest price.
When done smartly, your online marketing plan will integrate seamlessly with your
traditional tactics, won’t cost a fortune and will expose you to a market that you
had previously been invisible to.
Why you need to educate yourself Despite its seeming ease and accessibility, internet marketing is not something that just anyone can do without formal training. The online space is full of cultural, legal and financial pitfalls. Traditional strategies don’t translate directly onto the web. Customers have different and challenging expectations. The way that you spend money and schedule your campaigns works very differently. And with the plethora of new developments, tools, protocols, strategies and approaches, it is impossible to keep up with everything on one’s own. Keeping yourself educated and informed is the only way to ensure that you stay relevant and innovative. There are two parts to this: first, learning the basics and the principles of the field, and second, keeping up with new developments.