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.

Effective Business Communication through Websites

In these times of challenging economic conditions, businesses are being forced to find alternative means of communicating with stakeholders, especially customers. On the other hand, the subjects of Internet and websites are no longer painful ones as they were a few years ago. The distance between the consumer and the company is now being made shorter through websites, as more businesses in Zimbabwe are launching their businesses, products, and services on the “.CO.ZW” cyber landscape.

Reaching customers, knowing their concerns over products or services provided, and ensuring return business is are the core concerns of any company, and all Business Communication is channeled into various media in order to achieve this. Without struggling for recognition or dominance, the Internet has become the fastest growing and most effective delivery channel for all Business Communication in the World, and Zimbabwe has not been an exception. Marketing, Product Delivery, and Public Relations are the three most important functions that guarantee business success in the future. To facilitate the achievement of this purpose, websites are the easiest and most cost effective platform to deploy these strategies to ensure success.

For businesses to be effective in the communication – Marketing, Public Relations, Customer Relationship Management, and Product/Service delivery, websites have to be at the core of their strategies. A website has the ability to transform a company’s Marketing Strategies, as it is the fastest platform to deploy promotions and launch products. With a good website, revenues can surge and market share increase in a short space of time. At present it is very difficult to measure a brand’s market share in a short space of time using other media, other than websites. With a website, you are guaranteed enough statistics that help in market share analysis. A company is able to know how consumers behave, and how long they spend on the Internet, so as to formulate effective marketing communication strategies. Marketing on the Internet is often referred to as Online or Web Marketing. We have gone past this stage of ignorance, as the Internet or Website, is an integral part of the “4Ps” of Marketing.

The opportunity cost of not having a website puts a huge dent on effective business communication, resulting in loss of business, inability to acquire market intelligence, decrease in sales revenue, and eventually closure of business. There are reputable companies which are suffering from the pricing blitz only because they did not maximize on the potential of their brands on the internet.

Examples of Effective Business Communication through Websites in Zimbabwe, is in the Retail and Banking Industries. The year, 2007 has brought in some improvements on the “.CO.ZW” cyberspace, as a few companies are now offering Online Transactions from their websites. Several Chain Supermarkets and Hardware Stores now have online shopping facilities.

Effective Business Communication through Websites or Internet can also be achieved through online communities such as eGroups, which are consumer discussion groups, and Newsletters, published weekly or monthly. Examples of these include the Unleash Greatness, a newsletter published by Innov8 – The Motivation Company, and “Youth Encounter Online”, an eGroup for Youth Encounter Zimbabwe.

This article was published in the Financial Gazzette in Zimbabwe, on the 20th of September, 2007.

ASuccessfulWebsite Wildfire 2007

After publishing the book in August 2006, I have closely looked at the progress of the book, to see if it is a success in itself. To date, through the book, I have trained more than ten companies and individuals, ranging from Internet Cafes, Internet Service Providers, Web Developers, Students, Marketers, Churches, Pastors, and Entrepreneurs, who have bought a copy of the eBook.

The book has sold approximately 25 copies, of which a Website, Training, and Web Consultancy have been born out of "each" Copy. I am currently working as a Consultant with Innov8 - The Motivation Company, where amongst other goals, one of them is to assist the company add on to the ".CO.ZW" sphere, two more websites and blogs, in the ".COM" sphere. Innov8 will be launching www.innov8motivation.com and www.innov8bookshop.com, in October 2007, which are transaction enabled, giving people the ability to buy books and pay for workshop online, using the eTranzact platform.

One of the other exciting results of this book has been the Youth Encounter Online Project, that begun in September 2006. The YEO Project comprises of a Newsletter, a Website, and an eGroup. The eGroup has approximately 500 Zimbabwean Youth and Twenty-somethings, from Zimbabwe, Australia, United Kingdom, Zambia, New Zealand, South Africa, Botswana, just to name a few, who chat online. This is a healthy platform for counsel and an opportunity to advertise products and services.

Innov8 - The Motivation Company also has a vibrant eGroup, a result of ASuccessfulWebsite eBook, called Motiva8ed. This group consists of more than 1500 people, from all parts of the world who are customers and readers of Innov8 publications and motivational literature. This group has allowed the company to have good Customer Relationship Management, generating buying traffic in all their outlets.

I believe that this the ASuccessfulWebiste eBook has begun a wildfire in the ".CO.ZW" web sphere, which will help in building a strong economy, as Zimbabwe begins to reform, for African Dominion.

written by Oscar Manduku, AUTHOR