Daryn Smith

When you need a website, most companies will try to find a graphic designer, web designer or simply brief their advertising agency. This is the worst mistake a company can make as designers have the wrong priorities when it comes to web design.

To get the best results when looking at web design you need to get someone in marketing to do your website design. The number one priority of marketing types is to generate revenue, and this should always be the number one priority of your website… Show more

When you need a website, most companies will try to find a graphic designer, web designer or simply brief their advertising agency. This is the worst mistake a company can make as designers have the wrong priorities when it comes to web design.

To get the best results when looking at web design you need to get someone in marketing to do your website design. The number one priority of marketing types is to generate revenue, and this should always be the number one priority of your website design. Show less

A marketing audit is something that every company should be conducting on a regular basis, although many do not conduct a marketing audit at all or only on an annual basis.

The ideal situation is to never have to schedule a marketing audit because all your marketing metrics are readily available at your fingertips and you marketing strategies are highly agile so that they can adapt to insight from the metrics.

Marketers hate the thought of having to conduct a marketing audit, it… Show more

A marketing audit is something that every company should be conducting on a regular basis, although many do not conduct a marketing audit at all or only on an annual basis.

The ideal situation is to never have to schedule a marketing audit because all your marketing metrics are readily available at your fingertips and you marketing strategies are highly agile so that they can adapt to insight from the metrics.

Marketers hate the thought of having to conduct a marketing audit, it goes against their creative sides and so they look for any excuse to postpone it. Nonetheless it is a necessary evil to ensure you are directing your strategic marketing plan. Show less

Putting thought into your content strategy before jumping into content marketing is very important, without doing this you will run the huge risk of content marketing just becoming a short lived and costly fad within your marketing strategy.

Everyone is talking content marketing and many CMO’s have included it in their marketing strategies. When looking at developed markets such as the US and Europe, we can see it has proved to be successful, so implementing it within the South African… Show more

Putting thought into your content strategy before jumping into content marketing is very important, without doing this you will run the huge risk of content marketing just becoming a short lived and costly fad within your marketing strategy.

Everyone is talking content marketing and many CMO’s have included it in their marketing strategies. When looking at developed markets such as the US and Europe, we can see it has proved to be successful, so implementing it within the South African environment is a logical step. Show less

There certainly is a place for tried and tested marketing strategies that have served a company well for decades, they once were strategic and that is why they have worked for so long, the results are predictable and everyone within the company is comfortable.

The very nature of the word “strategic” though makes you feel that things are being approached in a smart way, even in a scientific way. By rolling out an almost identical marketing strategy on an annual basis can therefore hardly… Show more

There certainly is a place for tried and tested marketing strategies that have served a company well for decades, they once were strategic and that is why they have worked for so long, the results are predictable and everyone within the company is comfortable.

The very nature of the word “strategic” though makes you feel that things are being approached in a smart way, even in a scientific way. By rolling out an almost identical marketing strategy on an annual basis can therefore hardly be called strategic.

Every year new media types and marketing platforms become available, just think a few years back there was no such thing as social media or content marketing around. By adding these new media types and platform to your marketing plan does not mean you are being strategic, as your target market may not be using them, so you end up wasting marketing budget.

Here are several steps your Chief Marketing Officer can take to adopt a Strategic Marketing approach. Show less

Being able to accurately do a sales forecast has huge benefits for companies and many have a sales process and forecasting methods in place to do this. However when you dig deeper into these forecasting methods you soon discover they are merely sales predictions made by the individuals in a sales team.

In fact, very few companies in South Africa have the ability to know exactly what business marketing they need to do in order to fill the top of the sales funnel, and what the… Show more

Being able to accurately do a sales forecast has huge benefits for companies and many have a sales process and forecasting methods in place to do this. However when you dig deeper into these forecasting methods you soon discover they are merely sales predictions made by the individuals in a sales team.

In fact, very few companies in South Africa have the ability to know exactly what business marketing they need to do in order to fill the top of the sales funnel, and what the characteristics of a lead are that will highlight an almost exact date as to when they will make a purchase, so that this can be documented in an accurate sales forecast. Show less

You need to get your potential customers attention and the best way to do this is through creative marketing ideas.

Is the marketing you have done before still effective?

Before you begin looking for new creative ideas for marketing, you need to ask yourself why you are looking for these ideas, is it because the marketing you have done up to now is not as effective as before?

The marketing evolution

It is important to adapt your marketing campaigns as the World… Show more

You need to get your potential customers attention and the best way to do this is through creative marketing ideas.

Is the marketing you have done before still effective?

Before you begin looking for new creative ideas for marketing, you need to ask yourself why you are looking for these ideas, is it because the marketing you have done up to now is not as effective as before?

The marketing evolution

It is important to adapt your marketing campaigns as the World evolves otherwise they will no longer pay attention to you. Show less

Video is a great medium to get your message out to potential customers, it is generally short, but due to its visual and audio nature it is highly descriptive. Here are six essential tips for create how to videos for South Africa.

Many South African Youtube visitors every month

In South Africa there are 3.7 Million Youtube visitors every month - that is a lot of potential customers you could be reaching if you started to create how to videos showcasing the use of your products or… Show more

Video is a great medium to get your message out to potential customers, it is generally short, but due to its visual and audio nature it is highly descriptive. Here are six essential tips for create how to videos for South Africa.

Many South African Youtube visitors every month

In South Africa there are 3.7 Million Youtube visitors every month - that is a lot of potential customers you could be reaching if you started to create how to videos showcasing the use of your products or services.

Offer free assistance or education as a sales strategy

In today’s World where most consumers are highly educated, as well as having easy access to the Internet, the best sales strategy that businesses can adopt is to provide free assistance or education on how to purchase the product or service that they sell, as opposed to incumbent hard sell tactics. By providing educational content such as how to Youtube videos, the business will also be positioned as a thought leader. Show less

In business to business marketing the giving of corporate gifts is abundant. Leads are given gifts in order to try close deals, and customers are given gifts to reward them for their loyalty, or as part of CRM strategies to retain customers.

Corporate gifting has long being in marketing strategies, and can be very effective in acquiring and retaining customers. However, corporate governance policies, in particular those in South Africa and the rest of Africa, are restricting the ability… Show more

In business to business marketing the giving of corporate gifts is abundant. Leads are given gifts in order to try close deals, and customers are given gifts to reward them for their loyalty, or as part of CRM strategies to retain customers.

Corporate gifting has long being in marketing strategies, and can be very effective in acquiring and retaining customers. However, corporate governance policies, in particular those in South Africa and the rest of Africa, are restricting the ability for employees to receive gifts as it could be seen as a bribe.

Remarkable and educational content is filling this gap that has opened up. Decision makers need statistics, reports, guides and templates to build business cases and strategies, and brands that are providing this type of content to them for free are getting their attention. Show less

“Marketing” has too little responsibility. “Marketing” should have the exact same performance measure, of revenue generated, as “Sales”. In fact, make the functional head of “Sales” and “Marketing” the same person, and then you will see a significant change in approach.

“Marketing” should be taking care of a much larger portion of the sales funnel, generating awareness more effectively, generating more leads, and qualifying the leads before handing them over to “Sales” at the last… Show more

“Marketing” has too little responsibility. “Marketing” should have the exact same performance measure, of revenue generated, as “Sales”. In fact, make the functional head of “Sales” and “Marketing” the same person, and then you will see a significant change in approach.

“Marketing” should be taking care of a much larger portion of the sales funnel, generating awareness more effectively, generating more leads, and qualifying the leads before handing them over to “Sales” at the last minute, to close. Show less

Marketing strategies need to evolve from incumbent outbound marketing whereby messages are pushed out that interrupt people, hoping to find someone wanting to buy, to inbound marketing strategies whereby buyers find brands through the outstanding content they have provided.

In the last two years, Marketing teams in developed markets such as the US and Europe, have been rolling out marketing automation software to improve the effectiveness of their Marketing efforts. Coincidently, at the same time, local company, MPULL began development of their end-to-end marketing software solution, which, having been in its beta phase for over 2 years now, is being used by innovative South African trend-setting brands.

Says Daryn Smith, director at MPULL: “An IDC study… Show more

In the last two years, Marketing teams in developed markets such as the US and Europe, have been rolling out marketing automation software to improve the effectiveness of their Marketing efforts. Coincidently, at the same time, local company, MPULL began development of their end-to-end marketing software solution, which, having been in its beta phase for over 2 years now, is being used by innovative South African trend-setting brands.

Says Daryn Smith, director at MPULL: “An IDC study carried out in 2012 shows that 29.2% of companies’ annual marketing budget is set out for Digital Marketing Allocation which includes a portion for Marketing Automation which covers Resource and Operations Management, Multi-Channel Marketing, and Lead Nurturing. And while most Marketing Automation solutions integrate into CRM systems, from where they source customer and prospect data, they do however differ in functionality entirely.” Show less

A salesman cannot waste their time though on unqualified leads, their entire income is dependent on making sales. Overtime, the salesman realises that there are more effective methods of generating business than responding to leads generated by Marketing, and stops responding.

This could have a huge negative impact on the brand, not only are their qualified buyers in the assortment of leads that Marketing generates who will be left with negative brand impressions due to receiving no… Show more

A salesman cannot waste their time though on unqualified leads, their entire income is dependent on making sales. Overtime, the salesman realises that there are more effective methods of generating business than responding to leads generated by Marketing, and stops responding.

This could have a huge negative impact on the brand, not only are their qualified buyers in the assortment of leads that Marketing generates who will be left with negative brand impressions due to receiving no response. But it will become increasingly difficult to justify return on the investment your company makes on marketing and you could face budget cuts.

So, by handing over a lead immediately to your sales team, are you in essence giving up on all your hard work to this point? I would think that this is exactly what you are doing, but there is a solution, and it’s called “lead nurturing”. Show less

More than three-quarters of SA’s mobile users are frustrated with their telecommunications service provider because of issues such as limited data coverage, dropped calls and the cost of services.

A political election is much like a marketing campaign showdown, and the team with the best product usually sways the biggest audience. Look at Barack Obama in his first campaign — cited as the most successful “new marketer” in history for his ground-breaking use of online and social media to reach out to potential supporters.

Kenyan consumers are increasingly using mobile devices such as cell phones to make shopping decisions through price comparisons and references from friends on social media, a consumer study has shown.

A debate on what industry is most important to sustained growth in Africa can easily be won when you bring up Travel and Tourism. Africa may be rich in oil in some parts, and minerals in others, but it is rich in beauty in all places and is increasingly attracting domestic and international tourists.

The high-definition Retina display used on the new iPad may not display old adverts correctly. But, InMobi has optimised its technology to automatically upgrade existing content to take full advantage of the iPad’s display.

There have been many predictions made by journalists, analysts and research houses that the “App” will eventually replace the current Internet, as we know it today. Having said that the App Developer community on the African continent is still very much in its infancy when compared to many other parts of the World.