Social media is defined by Wikipedia as “primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.” Social media comprises not only social networks like Facebook and MySpace, but also forums, blogs and podcasts to name a few. One of the best social media marketing campaigns seen yet was created by Barack Obama’s team. His election campaign proved that online marketing is not a trend, but here to stay. In South Africa, there are a few examples of social media campaigns that have been successful, with the latest one from Perdeberg Winery impeccably integrating online and offline media to create awareness for their products. How can online marketing benefit you? Say for example you own a Cape Town-based company that specialises in high-end office furniture. Your promotional campaign consists of radio advertisements, print advertisements and flyers. A potential client might hear your advert on the radio or see the printed version in a magazine in passing, but when they want to contact you they can’t remember the name of your company. What do consumers do these days? They turn to Google. They remember the ad mentioned “high-end office furniture” and this is what they type into the search bar on Google. “If your website does not rank on at least the first two pages of Google’s search results you don’t exist in the mind of the consumer” says da Silva. Social media is one of the elements that can create a buzz for your brand online. What are the other elements? Social media works well in conjunction with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). SEO forms the foundation of a successful online marketing campaign. Therefore, if you’re running advertisements on radio, television or in print, it is important to ensure that the keywords mentioned in these advertisements are relevant to your website. “What people remember from an advertisement is what they are going to use when searching for you online” says da Silva. To create a more comprehensive campaign, Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) can be included. PPC can complement an SEO campaign very nicely, especially in the early stages of an SEO campaign when the website in question is not yet ranking favourably in search engines. PPC is an excellent tool to get immediate exposure on the search engines results pages and across content networks. It is important to remember to close the loop. All promotional activities and materials, be they online or offline, should tie in and complement each other. With the world’s current economic situation it is important to use channels that yield return on investment (ROI). Online marketing enables you to measure and track exactly who visit your website, how long they stayed on a page, which pages they were most interested in and so forth. If you are interested in an online marketing campaign but don’t know where to start, contact us for a complimentary Lite Website Audit which will highlight areas that can be improved upon in order to increase ROI from your website. Contact Information: AlterSage www.altersage.com tel: (+27 21) 462 0036 fax: (+27 21) 465 2613 email: info@altersage.com