Celebrating 10 years helping SA’s online businesses grow!
On 24 September 2011 we pressed the ‘go-live’ button and AdMarula was born. It was a terrifying and thrilling moment. We had no idea how the market would respond and we sat watching as one publisher after the next signed up to our network. Now, one decade, 3 office moves, and several new product offerings later, we thank each client, publisher, staff member and friend who has been a part of our journey so far. We could not have done it without you. We dedicate this milestone to you! #AdMarulaTurns10 #AdMNews #PerformanceMarketingSouthAfrica #DigitalMarketingSouthAfrica
How 2020 has changed Digital Marketing
2020 and the emergence of COVID-19 has altered the way we all live and work, including the world of Digital Marketing. While the pandemic’s full impact is still to be determined, its effects on Digital Marketing has been profound as people increasingly go online to meet their day-to-day needs. From SEO to the way businesses interact with consumers, the script is being rewritten for better and for worse. The way we interact with each other has significantly changed, so it doesn’t come as a surprise that companies also need to change how they interact with customers. From giving back to the community by offering free services to putting a positive emphasis on marketing messaging, most businesses have had to shift their digital strategy in order to adjust to this new world order. For many companies who hadn’t already gone online, 2020 was the ‘point of no return’. With customers spending more time online than ever and looking for information and safer ways to shop, online is now a ‘must have’ even for services industries. 2020 has profoundly changed online consumer behaviour. For lunch or dinner options, instead of searching for restaurants closest to our locations, we are searching for delivery options. We are more online than ever before. Online appointments are now the norm for many businesses. Online meetings and Zoom calls are on the rise while face-to-face interactions are on the decline due to the COVID-19 crisis. Consumers are hopping on websites and communicating through brand’s social media platforms more than ever. Digital marketing is one of the best and most cost-effective ways for businesses to reach their target audiences. New behavioral practices like social distancing are accelerating consumers’ use of e-commerce options, forcing traditional marketing to take a backseat. As interpersonal communication declines, businesses are becoming more reliant on digital tools and other accessories to accomplish their goals, I.e., Facebook Messenger, live chat on websites, text message marketing, etc. Brands investing in SEO may have initially seen a decline in revenue when the pandemic began but now may be seeing a rise. 2020 has been a challenging year for most businesses, and marketers have had to put their thinking caps on and adapt quicker than ever. The good news however is that many of these changes, are likely to be with us for the foreseeable future, and in a way this has been a year of accelerated learning and finally executing those plans many have been talking about, but just haven’t had the urgency to follow through on. What will 2021 hold? Only time will tell. The Publisher Management Team
AdMarula launches digital consultancy services
With AdMarula now in its ninth year of operation we are entering an exciting new phase in the business. Initially launched as an Affiliate/Performance Marketing network, we have built a solid reputation the past decade as South Africa’s no.1 channel for performance-based affiliate advertising, however due to our deep knowledge and understanding of digital we’ve more recently also been working with clients in a consultancy capacity, upon their request. These ‘new’ areas of Digital Strategy, Paid Search, Social Media and Mobile Advertising are fast becoming a real growth area for AdMarula. Digital is no longer a stand-alone item on the overall marketing agenda. The world is digital, and businesses are playing catchup with increasingly demanding customers who expect their online experience to be seamless, quick, intuitive yet not invasive or annoying. It is therefor only natural that clients who have experienced great success through their performance-marketing campaigns with AdMarula, want us to work closer with them on other aspects on their digital strategy in order to ensure a cohesive and integrated approach. This is an exciting yet natural development for us as a business, as well as an affirmation that our team is highly skilled and respected in the industry. For the performance network side of the business its business as usual, while we will be adding to our team to handle the expansion of our consultancy arm. On a different note, AdMarula will be relocating its offices from Technopark outside Stellenbosch to Paardevlei in Somerset West. This will allow our team to be more efficient by cutting out commuting time, as well as give us more direct access to major routes like the N2 towards Cape Town and the airport for meetings. We will of course communicate our new address to you in the appropriate time and manner, and aim for the move to be done by the year end. I trust that all our clients and publishers had a successful Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend and that it will in part make up for lost revenue during lockdown earlier this year. It is encouraging to see that some of our programs that were paused have been restarted, and that clients are starting to increase budgets and channels again. I wish you all a well-deserved break and time with family and dear ones, and look forward to taking on 2021’s challenging with you. Onwards and upwards! Daniel Gross – CEO
