Yes its been a while since we wrote on our blog! Tut Tut! But moving offices and other exciting changes had us running around like wild creatures for a few weeks. Things are settling into a manageable pace again so hopefully some more chatter from the Traffic Branders is on the cards.
I have also put some writing efforts into a new travel industry blog which has been consuming my words :). Online Travel Focus is a great new blog focussed on information and challenges facing the South African tourism industry’s online presence. It has some very informative topics and articles and provides a great resource for the web savvy travel industry experts to keep abreast with developments in the field.
Online Travel Focus is run by Paul Hobden who recently returned to South Africa after many years in the UK. Paul was also instrumental in hosting the successful Online Travel Summit last month. His focus on research and disseminating information for the wealth of local online travel companies promises to fill a much needed gap and I am sure that his expertise will add great value to our existing knowledge pool.
aaaarrrgghhh! Maybe you could get away with it if you had some direct satellite link to the bandwidth Gods…but please flashy people - have you never tried to surf the net in South Africa and had to wait 5 minutes for a site to open because it’s all flash-based? I beg you to do some more research in your chosen field. No-one’s denying that flash elements on a website look great and are super useful and there are some brilliantly designed flash websites that actually work and load quickly. You good developers are exempt from my rant! It’s the old school flash sites that show you the loading bar percentage process that are my particular gripe. It’s a fact. Our bandwidth speed and consistency in South Africa is a problem. A site that takes ages to load because of shoddy development work…well you can certainly count me out and tab me up with your other frustrated potential clients.
Of course there are several companies who have finally caught on to the worldwide trend of transferring a large percentage of marketing dollars to online channels. But as a whole I would say that there is still a severe lack of comprehensive understanding of the opportunities that online marketing and specifically PPC can offer South African companies.
I was pretty shocked yesterday when I spoke to the marketing director of one of the biggest car rental companies in South Africa when she said that she already has “an online strategy because she has a web designer”. EEK! Dangerous territory for a travel related company. Especially when the web is the preferred channel for 50% of UK users searching for financial and travel items. [Source: Equi-Media, February 2006] and that an industry study revealed that nearly 75% of travel buyers used search engines before making a purchase. [DoubleClick / Performics / comScore, “Search Before the Purchase”, March 2005].
Whether your travel company is an online operator or not it stands to reason that an effective online marketing strategy is vital to your survival.
I also spoke with someone who has an inside interest in one of the major food and beverage retailers in South Africa who was also at his wits end trying to convince the big marketing honchos of the need for and the effectiveness of search marketing.
It is amazing to me that anyone in marketing has no interest or understanding of online marketing channels. Even if they are over 50 and have to get their children to set-up their online banking profiles…one would think that on a professional level they would hire a young online marketing professional who could source and manage relevant agencies to establish their brand’s online profile.
These two incidents revealed to me just how much revenue and indeed national and international exposure big corporates in SA are missing out on.
It is my opinion that the South African companies who are already operating in the online space or who are considering including it in their marketing mix in the next year are going to have a massive advantage over their competitors who are too intimidated by online marketing to even consider its worth. These ostriches who bury their heads do not realise that online advertising is a multi-billion dollar industry already in the US and that every day they shy away from the leap to online is lost revenue and lost branding opportunities.
There has never been a more targeted channel that provides such massive opportunity for feedback on consumer preferences and purchasing habits. Wakey wakey Marketing head honchos!
