It does not matter how good the product is that you are selling or how outstanding the service is that your company delivers.
You could be the absolute best at what you do and not make a cent if no one knows about you. This is why marketing should be a main priority in your business.
The good news is that you can pay an expert to handle your internet marketing for you.
The role of digital marketing agencies in South African businesses
Gone are the days of flyers and newspaper advertisements. Sure, they still exist, but they don’t have nearly the effect that digital marketing has.
Online you are spoiled for choice with different tools and techniques to market your business. You could, for example, opt for one or more of the following:
- Design and development of your website
- Pay per click advertising
- Search engine optimisation
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
- Affiliate marketing
- Content such as webinars, blogs, e-books and online tutorials.
Online marketing generally allows you to reach more people, while paying less. Even better, you can target exactly the type of person that your business aims to serve.
Another benefit is that you can easily track everything you do. You can see how many people interacted with an ad, and what type of content gets you the most leads.
If this is not your cup of tea, just let a digital marketing agency handle it for you. This type of company specialises in marketing in this very competitive environment.
Depending on your chosen agency, different packages will be available to you. You need to know what you want to achieve with your online marketing plan.
What are some of the marketing goals an online marketing agency is designed to help you achieve?
Create a strong online presence
Having an online presence simply means that you are everywhere your target market is looking. If as many people as possible see your marketing content as often as possible, you will remain top of mind.
This means that you will be the first person that comes to mind when someone needs the service or product that you are offering.
Increase leads
Brand awareness and a strong online presence won’t help you much if you don’t have leads coming in. Your agency can help you identify the reasons why leads aren’t coming in, and fix the issue.
Increase sales
Once you have a solid online presence and you have leads coming in, it follows naturally that you will have more sales.
Increase your revenue
If you are going to hire a digital marketing agency, it goes without saying that you will want to achieve a return on your investment.
Everything the agency does for you is aimed at increasing your business’s revenue.
The main aim of the agency should be to create a win-win situation in which they help you to make more money, which in return will motivate you to keep making use of their services.
If your business is still in its baby shoes, you might want to hire an agency to help you with certain aspects of your marketing, while you handle some of it yourself to save costs.
In your consultation with your agency, these are some options you could discuss to determine exactly what package will suit your needs:
- They could design your website, but updating the content and blog posts are done by you.
- You could choose to manage your own social media posts, but enlist an agency to manage your paid social media ads.
- You can create all your content, such as blog articles and press releases, and pay an agency to distribute it for you.
- Or, opt to do it the other way around, where an agency creates the content for you, but you handle the distribution.
Can your business benefit from hiring digital marketing services?
These days, very few people spend money on a product or service without doing proper research online. You can even compare restaurant menus before choosing where to go for supper.
If someone researches the product or service on offer from you, what will they find? Will they see you educating and informing your target market, responding to queries and getting glowing reviews from customers?
Or will they simply find nothing, meaning that they will probably go straight to your competitor?
If you can find customers online, it’s important that you are visible online. A few examples of industries that can benefit from the services of a digital marketing agency include:
E-commerce
This type of business functions solely online, so driving traffic to their website is of vital importance.
Auto dealerships
This type of business is visible from the street, but an online presence ensures that you get those customers who do a search for “auto dealerships near me.”
Contractors and construction companies
Businesses in this category need a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. If your competitors dominate the search results, landing new jobs month after month will be a challenge.
Moving companies
This type of business is highly localised and needs local search engine optimisation to stand out in local search results.
The South African digital marketing landscape
Digital marketing is big in South Africa, and constantly growing and evolving. A 2022 survey showed that it is by far the most popular and effective way for companies to advertise.
South Africa is unique in many ways, and digital marketing is no exception. We are a diverse nation and there is a difference between how people consume content.
Things to consider are the different languages spoken in South Africa, cell phones being the preferred platform, plus the fact that your market might consist of people who don’t have access to the internet.
All of the above need to be taken into account in order to compile an efficient marketing plan.
Bottom line
Your business’s success depends on customers knowing about you, and seeing reasons why they can trust you.
Therefore you need to be where they are – and they are online. A digital marketing agency’s job is to help you make use of this optimally and get the most out of it, especially if online marketing is not your strong point.
