South Africa surges ahead with social media advertising

 In South Africa, digital advertising on smartphones and computers will generate 52% of the total increase in ad spending during the next five years, with over half of South Africa’s internet traffic on mobile phones, making it the greatest opportunity for growth in the immediate future, according to digital media buying agency Atmosphere Orange’s Media Director, Chanel MacKay. She points out that, “95% of South Africa’s major social media marketing resume brands use Twitter and 92% use Facebook to advertise. With 53% more YouTube users and 65% more Instagram users over the past year alone, marketers are increasing their social media budgets as they grasp the potential for market share growth on their doorstep.” According to the Chief Marketing Officer Council digital ad spending across the Middle East and Africa is ripe for expansion and will skyrocket to $1.35bn in 2015, more than four times the global average. The Pro Shop is just one example of South African businesses forging ahead. Marketing Manager, Trevor Rebello says, “Online spend now makes up about 8% of our total budget and we realise that even this is a low figure. We were very clearly shown that for less money we can target more golfers across all age groups. Our budget spend has to continue to increase in this direction. We are also putting more focus on our social media profiles and all have grown as a result, in just one year. We realise digital is the way forward, we definitely see social media marketing conference the results.” Media is consumed over tablets, mobile smart phones and desktop with the average South African spending five hours online. Digital advertising is bought and sold on automated and superior targeting tactics with as many as 80 differentiating measures, including age, geography, and gender, far more than traditional advertising. This allows advertisers to sharply focus their campaigns and reach and communicate on a one-to-one basis with their market wherever they are and at whatever time of day they are online.

GOP Candidates On Social Media: Trump Winning, Carson Doing Well

The 2016 Election is fast approaching, and the GOP field is still duking it out. With the first primaries in Iowa fast approaching, a candidate’s appeal can be measured by the popularity of their social media platforms. While Donald Trump is out in front with his “Let’s Make effective social media marketing America Great Again” campaign that has overshadowed all of the other campaigns in all forms of media, there are some making stronger cases than others in social media. The “Hemingway of 140 Characters,” Donald Trump invests a lot into his social media platforms. He uses the platforms to attack rivals across all aisles, highlight favorable poll numbers, and make the case that he can make America great again. The message is focused and full of a single concept: winning. Trump’s current status is indeed that of a candidate that’s winning. At 35.3%, his national poll averages are 15.3% higher than his closest competitor Ted Cruz. In the Social Media stratosphere, he’s similarly unrivaled, with his only competitor being Ben Carson’s 5.03M likes on Facebook, which almost reaches Trump’s 5.19M. The appeal to Trump’s candidacy and social media is wrapped in a public engaged with Trump’s celebrity outsider status and hyperbolic rhetoric that make waves on daily news cycles. He is also clearly very hands-on with his twitter handle that is trademarked with Trump’s brash opinions and disregard for political correctness or party platforms. Trump’ uses Twitter extensively – He updates every social media as a marketing tool couple of minutes with biting responses to rivals and news stories, announcements of public appearances, boasts of favorable poll numbers, and to thank his supporters. Trump’s twitter account is the life pulse of his digital campaign, and news stories are written daily about his every comment.

Why social media is an important business tool

As the not-so-old adage goes, we’re better connected. Considering that the average internet user has an average of 5.54 active social media accounts, it seems that we’re better connected than ever. But we don’t just need social solutions in our personal lives, we need them in our professional lives too. Businesses must providing users with an internal social media platform so that colleagues can collaborate in real time. Social media has transformed the way we communicate, not just with our families and friends, but our clients and colleagues. Thanks to IBM’s Social solutions, our businesses can now be as connected social media in marketing as our personal lives. Providing users with an internal social media platform, IBM social solutions make collaboration and cooperation a piece of cake – no matter how large, small or geographically stretched a business is. Keep up with colleagues; collaborate in real time. IBM’s social business tools help you to work smarter and faster, no matter how big or small your business may be. With real-time collaborative systems, you can avoid drawn out delays on projects and streamline shared work processes. At the heart of any successful small business is its character. A company culture that sets it apart from the rest, a core set of values that make it unique. Yet company culture is often one of the first things to go as a business grows, internal structures change, and values become diluted as more team members are brought on board. With IBM Enterprise social solutions, you can keep sight of what’s at the heart of your business, bringing everyone together as your business grows by easily small business social media marketing sharing information. They say long distance relationships never work, but with social solutions, you can stay close to your overseas partners; in business, at least. One building supplies firm with semi-independent offices across the globe used IBM Connections to collaborate on a new product that appealed to all markets, using the social platform to share information and ideas at every step of the process.