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What is Social Media?

People have a tonne of misconceptions about social media in South Africa, but the one which without a doubt stands out the most is the idea that business owners in Durban are the voice of their companies. You see people (especially entrepreneurs) are often hell-bent on saving money and doing things for themselves. The truth is that while you may be the very best person to run the company, you may not be the person to speak for the company.

Here’s why!

A Brand needs to have their own distinct voice, do you really think Ingvar Kamprad (Billionaire & Founder of IKEA) is sitting behind a desk at 91 years of age, telling people on Facebook and Twitter to buy IKEA Furniture. Of course not! The simple truth behind it is not even the fact that they guy is 91 years old, but because Kamprad like many other entrepreneurs understands that he will ALWAYS have a biased opinion towards his brand, which will without a doubt come through in his material, should he choose to brand the company himself OR use an in-house marketing team which may be equally as biased.

This is why external marketing agencies such as Dutch Ink in Durban make such a great choice as an advertising agency. The agency is impartial and cannot be bought buy a brand, the way in-house marketers are “forced” to love a company. What makes them stand out is their unbiased opinions which are free from emotional attachment. This makes it easy for them to spot holes in marketing, establish a truer brand image and manufacture a far clearer direction for that brand to take.

We would actually go so far as to say that allowing a brand to manage its own social media account, is SOCIAL SUICIDE! Don’t fall victim to yourself, USE social media & brand building experts such as Dutch Ink to allow your brand to grow out of the shadows and into the proverbial light which shines on the social media platforms of the successful brands of the world.

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One of the things people often forget about social media is not some little thing that people who have spare time do for fun but rather a form of advertising which will affect your bottom line exponentially!

How?

Well, you see while there are companies out there advertising on traditional media platforms, we can use analytical data to understand where today’s traffic can be found. According to Adelet Snyman of Web Africa, there are in excess of 13 million Facebook users in South Africa alone and this number is growing every single day. This means that your potential viewership for any advertisement you make on that social media platform has the opportunity to make 13 million impressions!

Now obviously, you wouldn’t want to waste money on people who would never buy your product and this is where Facebooks analytics come into play. Let’s say you are a motor vehicle sales company who is selling a family vehicle. You wouldn’t want your advert to show up on teenagers Facebook, you would want them to show up on mums and dads Facebook pages, who have two or more kids and require a vehicle large enough for that kind of family. Well, the great news is that Facebook will let you do this with everything you put out there. No more shooting adverts into the dark abyss of traditional media. Facebook and social media will let you be specific like it’s nobody’s business!

What does this mean?

This means that unlike traditional media, social media marketing agencies such as Dutch Ink in Durban are able to target your key audiences without breaking the bank on the waste of space and resources that is traditional media. We’ve actually heard stories of companies advertising for thousands of Rands in local Newspapers and their adverts were seen by no one and generated little to no income.

Social media strays from this result because its cost per impression compared to the readership of local newspapers is exponentially cheaper which means your reach is greater and your advert will go further. Impact MORE of your target audience, NO MORE paying exorbitant advertising fees to newspapers who barely get you a phone call, and just simply enjoy social media successes!

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Why Customers “Like” Social Media?

Unlike traditional advertising, Social Media Advertising offers a level of back and forth conversation which is often impossible via traditional media. A great example of a social media conversation would be when a company posts a message on their Facebook Page and one of their follower’s comments on the post saying “they hate this product”. Seems contradictory but the truth is that it’s absolutely necessary. Customer brand and product evaluations are essential for the growth of a brand. While this may seem harsh/hard to swallow at times. Companies who don’t know about the flaws in their products and services will continue to make the same mistakes. This lack of change will lead to a static brand which bypasses innovation, gets left behind by the industry and eventually dies a slow and painful death.

Dutch Ink is a social media marketing agency who is fighting the good fight, preventing brands from falling into the extinction of companies being caused by traditional media. What this Durban based company understands is the IMPACT social media has on people’s businesses and the effect the right kind of social media can have on a company’s bottom line. This in all fairness can be boiled down to the EXPONENTIAL GROWTH of a company’s income with a direct correlation to the implementation of social media!

Unlike traditional media, brands who have a following are seen as being part of “the people”. This is actually exactly where you want to be, it is where people will fall in love with you, tell you when you are doing something right and especially when you are doing something wrong. They will tell you how much they love you and they will let you tell them that you love them in return. Not because of their money or the growth they bring your company BUT due to the social responsibility you’ll have as a company to please your audience who can’t wait for you to come back tomorrow.

Your company stops being a business, it transcends into a brand, an entity! You stop selling your product and just simply talk about it and the ways you’ll be making it better. People STOP buying the product because it’s great (even though it is) and start by the brand because they want the (insert famous brand here) Lifestyle!

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Let’s talk stats!

There are literally over 14 million active South African Facebook users and that number is growing strong. Looking into the professional brands, of the 116 brands surveyed (be in mind these are SA’s biggest brands) 91% of them are on Facebook. In perspective, that’s just over a quarter of the South African population who’re active on social media.

What does this mean? This means that if your company is not active on social media you’re missing out on approximately one-quarter of sales because your advertising isn’t making an impact on the social media platforms where your South African clientele lives.

Yes, we know what you’re thinking, “we’ll just do our social media ourselves, we have our own personal Facebook accounts, can’t be that difficult right?” Wrong! You can’t begin to fathom how wrong you are, brands are not their CEOs and often people forget that. So, don’t sit there thinking you’re a marketing director or brand builder, when you’re a CEO. You be a CEO let someone else handle your brand image.

The great news is that you aren’t alone and you don’t have to be. Social Media Marketing Agency Dutch Ink is a company who truly believes in the power of social media and strives to build the future of brands and branding like no other agency will, in a digital space. They do this by truly understanding all of their clients and their brands, reinventing their ideas and refining their activation’s to create social media interaction which shocks and awes its viewers, leaving a lasting impression which provides the impactful longevity needed to create a sale. If you want to get on the social media bandwagon to success with some of South Africa’s leading brands, make sure that you contact Dutch Ink for a brand consult to discuss the status of your brand and the direction it can be taken.