Engagement with brands is increasing, according to Dave Duarte, digital media and marketing educator, speaking at the ITWeb Executive Forum on the engaged Web held in Sandton, yesterday.
Citing information from PostRank, a site that monitors engagement with online content, Duarte noted that online engagement has grown 30% year-on-year from 2008 to 2009.
He stressed the value of real-time engagement, like Twitter. “We're moving into a real-time engagement environment. It's how you can tell something is authentic, it's in real-time. That's how we know we're having a conversation with a real person.”
Dan Matthews, SA technical architect for EPiServer, which co-hosted the event, said the South African Internet market is growing very quickly. He argued that Web sites aiming to tell their message to present and future clients are outdated, and said companies need to engage with not only clients, but any visitor to the site.
It's important to listen to visitors rather than constantly trying to sell to them, noted Matthews. “You cannot measure the value of a visitor on whether they are clients. The value of a visitor is much more.”
Philippe Morin, business unit manager of e-business at 3fifteen Technology Solutions, said the Internet is changing buyer behaviour. “The way the user works is changing. People look for opinions online and they are more likely to buy from someone when there are multiple opinions available.”
According to Birger Lundgren, EPiServer SA country manager, the Internet in SA is going through a shift. The Internet is getting cheaper, and we can expect an Internet boom in the next 12 to 24 months, he said. “We can develop faster than Europe because we don't have to make the same mistakes.”
He added that in SA, there are some solutions more advanced than in Europe, because of the South African entrepreneurial spirit and the mindset of getting things done.
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