Impact of Online Advertising in Zimbabwe

The Internet is only one of many platforms on which an enterprise can publicise itself. At present Websites are competing for advertising attention with Print and Television advertising content. Let us seek answers for the following questions:

How much advertising material are web consumers exposed to?
This helps an enterprise formulate effective marketing strategies, which involve their website. DSTV, ZTV, Billboards, Clothing Publications (Labels), Movies, Food Courts, Specific Magazines, Newspapers, just to name a few.

Do webverts ™ (Website Adverts) work?
It is not a matter of just advertising, but an effectiveness measurement has to be put into place. Relevance, convenience, quantity, structure, of adverts should be considered.

What is so different about Webvertising ™?
Marketing gurus classify Advertising methods according to emotions nowadays – Fear and Love being the two extremes. We see this on Television and in Print media. Marketers often make consumers feel as though left out, if they do not acquire their product or service. This does not work on the internet, because they so freely move onto another website.

The most effective extreme is love based advertising, wherein marketers build a sense of belonging that allures consumers. The most common emotion to address on the internet is love, because every consumer wants to belong somewhere. I am a good example. Cabsonline.co.zw and Google.com have given me care and a personalised touch, hence will be loyal to them. We all have our websites we visit because of the loving aspect.

LURING WEB CONSUMERS
When it comes to “Zimboz” (as they are called), cyber strategies that work in the west or east do not apply. There are two issues concerning this subject – What Annoys them and How to promote your website.

What Annoys Zimbabweans?
Zimbabwean web consumers are serious and shrewd people when online. Without education, they can filter SPAM, POP-Ups, and other JUNK MAIL. Anything in these lines will not be tolerated. They value their space and freedom on the Web, to the extent of dismissing any form of deemed violation, whether valuable promotional material or not. My advice to enterprises that want to deploy POP-UP strategies is being very careful. When I worked as a Systems Administrator in a Printing company, I noticed how my network clients so often expressed their irritation in regards to SPAM (annoying email from unknown senders) and POP-Ups (Webverts that flash onto your screen after a web page is opened).

How to attract Zimbabweans
How then, do we attract Zimbabwean web consumers? Try the following:
- Promotions that have incentives.
- Through search engines.
- Advertising on other websites.
- Offline – Build Web oriented marketing strategies that are applicable in brick and mortar set ups. Examples are given in the Examples.co.zw chapter.