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Marketing & MediaSouth African elected president of AMA an opportunity for African marketing
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Addressing delegates, Sarah Macdonald said there are many reasons that consumers follow brands online. While many seek benefits from promotions or special offers, some want to get more information about the brand - its products or services - and others just want to support or connect with a brand they enjoy.
"Biggest carriers of messages"
"I feel that, in order to make a brand known, the company needs to invest in marketing, and in this fast-growing technological world the Internet and social sites are the biggest carriers of messages," she pointed out.
SA has currently close to four million Facebook users, 55 000 Twitteratti and over 10 million active unique Mxit users.
"Companies should latch on to this and take advantage of it. Social networking is the way to go to uplift brands. All brands should be connected to some form of social media. These days, it would be crazy for them not to."
However, things are becoming too complex and moving so fast in the social media space to such an extent that many brand managers and marketers in South Africa are getting more and more confused - and therefore losing the plot altogether, delegates were told.
Applying intl strategies sometimes irrelevant
According to Macdonald, applying international strategies in the local marketing scene is sometimes proving to be irrelevant. Therefore, she recommended the following 10 commandments for successfully marketing brands in the social media space:
"Consumers desire more interaction with brands and are taking initiative to facilitate interactions with brands via social media channels," Macdonald said, quoting SA technology commentator Mike Stopforth.