What is the driving force behind successful individuals and successful technology companies?  What makes certain people leave a legacy of excellence and others a legacy of followership?

At Tech4Africa this year, Ndubuisi Ekekwe explored this fascinating divide specifically in Africa, and gave highly valuable insights.

Many years ago, Ekekwe explains, ideas and intellectual property had no rights and were free to all.  No one got any recognition for their thoughts and inventions and, for a period of time, people actually stopped inventing.  The implementation of IP rights in the USA saw the expansion of global GDP and higher standards of living.  Sadly, this is not the case in Africa even as of yet, which means there is no mechanism of investment to create the inventions and build Fortune 500 companies.  Minds as creative and inventive as Thomas Edison don’t get recognized financially.  They merely receive praise.

Furthermore, he expands on the fact that anything received for free is not perceived as valuable, leaving no drive or excitement for education and thus no knowledge to drive innovation within the industry.  With our technology landscape narrowing, there is a definite need to move from marketing and distribution to innovation, invention and creativity.

He believes that a monetary system + IP rights + technology will ensure that Africa will become Creators of technology VS mere Consumers of technology.

So what is your technology legacy?  What is our technology legacy?  Are we going to educate, recognize, innovate and lead, or remain comfortable followers?  Success depends on this decision.

You’ve spent hours working with a team of designers and developers to create your unique footprint on the worldwide web.  Days and weeks to conceptualise the exact image, content and portal you want to use to interact with the world out there.
But now – how will those millions of potential clients know about you?  What is the next step?  And where do you begin?

Two prevalent methods have given you the tools to do just that – get yourself known.

The first of these is similar to an online banner marketing campaign, except you can splash your adverts across many websites at the same time.  This we call Google Display Networks (GDN), and the adverts run across all the sites that have opened themselves up to this kind of marketing.  The beauty of GDN is that it creates awareness before people necessarily know about you and actively go looking for you or your products.

Furthermore, Google almost ‘tracks’ the user’s general application of the web, so if they are on certain websites often, and your advert is relevant to them, it will show to them when they go to other sites.  Kind of eerie, but from a marketing point of view phenomenal!

Having had said that, Display Network allows for a lot of awareness and positioning, but not necessarily a conversion to a sale or direct response.  People often see something, and then go in search of it later, which is why the second method is absolutely vital, we believe.

This second method is Search Engine Marketing.  This is also the most effective way of advertising online, as you have a captive audience that are ready to engage and interact with you.  The quickest way to get your product, brand or service ‘out there’ on Search Engine Marketing is by making use of Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising as it is immediate and guaranteed when managed correctly.  Besides this, Pay Per Click is flexible and can be changed and optimized real-time.

That said, however, to have a complete online visibility and presence, and to ‘dominate’ search engines cost effectively in the long run, is by optimizing your website and website content in such a way that your brand will be on the top of all major search engine listings.  This is called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).  Search Engine Optimisation is done over a period of time, and thus does not necessarily yield immediate success, but in the long run is the most cost effective way to market yourself online.

Our advice, then, would be to start with GDN en PPC, get results and increase the proverbial bottom line, and then proceed to SEO – and eventual online success!

Long before automobiles came into existence, business entrepreneurs worldwide saw the potential of advertising.  They instinctively knew even then, that if people saw the names of their companies before that of their competitors, they would more likely purchase from them before they would their competitors, firstly due to awareness, and secondly because it would establish them as trusted brands that people would want to associate with.

The first of these industries to understand the value of this kind of lure, was the hotel industry, and they not only advertised their motel or inn on the first real en masse method of advertising, but quickly adapted their billboard signage to include distance to and amenities at their establishments.

The rise of the automobile meant more people were travelling, many other industries started seeing the value of this form of advertising and quickly adapted their strategies to include a billboard (or six) along the side of industrious motorways.

Many years later, radio and television were introduced, and around that formed a hype and a belief that these forms of advertising would reach masses faster and more effectively than that of traditional advertising.  And, while this is true to certain national and multi-national companies, it does not detract from the fact that, if someone is not listening to or watching at the exact time that your advert is showing, you will not be seen or heard.

This, while the faithful billboard stands -24/7, for everyone to see, at any time, all the time – for as long as you keep your advert showing.

But, advertisers say, isn’t it expensive?
In light of TV and radio?  In light of a 15s or 30s advert possibly lost on a phone call, a thought, or the 10seconds it takes to read a billboard instead whilst in traffic?

But, advertisers say, is it measurable?  How do I know it is not a complete ‘spray and pray’ approach?  And what is my return on investment?
In lieu of these absolutely valid questions, we have set up a few questions to ask yourself before considering a billboard, or any other form of marketing, to see its viability:
1.  What is my strategy? Is it brand awareness or direct response?
2.  How will I structure my messaging to incorporate my strategy?
3.  And finally, where will I place said message?

Either way you look at it, though, people will need to be aware of you before they will associate with you.  And in reference to cutting through the clutter, this is one of the effective ways of standing out above the rest.

It goes without saying, then, that a business without a sign is not only a sign of no business, but a recipe for disaster.

We’re living in an era of information-overload, so cutting through the clutter is no longer an option.  It has become a necessary skill that every one of us has acquired – and mastered.

Gone are the days of waiting patiently for a letter in the post, of standing in line to see if you got some form of communication from a far away friend or relative, and then cherishing every second and every word the letter contained.  In fact, gone are the days of even reading every word in every letter.

What does this mean to us corporates wanting to impart valuable educational information to our clients?  How does this affect our marketing strategies and capture the attention of our potential clients?

We need to innovatively adapt. We need to look at avenues where customers choose to interact with us, rather than the other way round.  We need to impart product knowledge, educate and sell, rather, to the customer while they are either in need of it, or actively looking at acquiring it – where they are most amenable to receiving the information and acting on it.

Where is this, you ask?

The internet.
It has become the single, biggest source of information, education and product listings and guidelines – not only for this next emerging generation, but for everyone.  Lugging the Britannica encyclopedia series or sets of catalogues of all your favourite (and new) products along with you, now means carrying a laptop with 3G access, and most probably utilizing search engines.  In fact, with the emerging market of smartphones, accessing the internet has become even less than all of that already.
Looking at this trend, it would be of utmost importance then, to ensure that you have a website – and more importantly, to have it visible.

While everyone is uncluttering and wading through oceans of information, take the lead by streamlining and honing in your advertising and marketing.  It will probably be the best time spent on business strategy ever!

“I know that only 50% of all advertising works.  I wish I knew which 50%” – David Ogilvy

Isn’t that a scary thought?

Today, statistics show that only 20% of marketing and advertising still works in its traditional format.
The market is becoming saturated with similar products, services and solutions.  Our challenge today is no longer just being the most innovative producer, but the most innovative marketer in getting our products to the fingertips of the consumer seeking it, and almost more so, making the person who is yet unaware of it, feel that they need it.  You have to be able to get into your customers’ heads before you can get into their pockets.

How, you ask?
Well, the first few things to be cognizant of, is that people are drowning in the sheer volume of messaging out there, as well as the amount of media formats and choices of media formats in which they receive the messaging. Even products previously perceived as luxuries, today, have become commodities.  Most marketing messages will not stick out above others…
So how do you establish your product as trusted and known, a brand that stands out from the rest , a brand people want to associate with?

We say “It’s simple”:  You can achieve these goals by speaking to your captive audience, in their language, and at their time…  Your message will now not only be well received, but also processed well, and you are able to create the initiation of a trusted relationship between your customer and your brand.

You say “Problem”  With all the different ways to communicate at this time, how do I do that?
We have looked at, and found, one large common denominator in when this perfect time is to interact – and that is online, and specifically while people are searching for products or services like yours.

In South Africa alone, online sales broke the R2bn mark in 2010, with a predicted increase of 40% in 2011.  And this does not include the amount of sales done physically or telephonically relating to or following an online interaction.

And what is more, is that it is all tracked and measured – from the moment someone clicks on your advert, right through to them becoming your customer.  The flexibility of online also means that you can fine-tune your campaigns real-time, ensuring optimum results.

The key, thus, is to get people to know about you before learning about your competitors, and this can be successfully obtained by changing your marketing and advertising strategy to include Online Marketing and Search Engine Marketing – and getting more traffic to and interaction on your website.

Make more than 50% of your advertising work…