In digital marketing? You need to understand your services and products

In today’s digital connected world where we communicate with our network and social circles through social media, mobile, and local technology, if you want to succeed online, you need to understand and engage with your clients’ needs at a deeper level. Social media has taught us to be open and transparent online by engaging with others, but the next trend will all be about having conversations at a more meaningful level than just engaging with people.

Today, many businesses, marketers, and sales people are using their websites, blogs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other digital tech to provide us with information and to educate us. We are quickly trying to integrate technology into our processes to make things easier and to streamline business.

With this, did you know that many of your clients and customers might already know your services and products better than you do? People are now doing their research and looking for information before making the final decision. Many of us are doing research and some homework before we buy.

The realtime nature of social media has also made it easy to find answers when you have a question or looking for a specific solution. The information they are gathering can be very important, especially where negotiations are involved because these people are already informed and educated to make a purchase. This might sound good to you, but it does present its own set of challenges.

Do you know your services and products?

It’s important that you really understand your services and products better than ever. People are searching online to see if you really understand and know your stuff. In a nutshell; this means that you have to be closer to all of your business processes to ensure you are meeting the needs of your target audience.

You might have heard this before, but it is also important that you start listening to what your target audience is talking about online so that you can provide them with valuable information to educate them further on your services and products. This is key to being authoritative in your industry.

The online world is also crowded with information and the trick is to find the content that is actually valuable. By looking at the needs of your clients, you will be able to modify and adjust your content to make sure they find it valuable and help them with the queries or problems they might have.

Take time and make sure you as a business owner, manager, line worker or even client service representative are always listening at the needs of your clients and informing your co workers of information that will help you stand out from the crowd and the noisy digital landscape. Everyone of us needs to move on from just the basics of using digital technology and social media and return to really knowing your business and understanding the needs of your target audience.

The digital world is changing at a rapid rate and if you don’t change with it, you will be left behind. Article first published on Memeburn.

Introducing the SPI scholars

By Ettione Ferreira

The Sol Plaatje Institute for media leadership introduces the new Primedia and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) scholars for 2014:

The 2014 Primedia Scholars

The Primedia scholarship encourages students to focus on digital media advancements during the course. This year Primedia chose these four PDMM students:

Lengwadishang ‘Lee’ Ramphele

Lee received her BA (media and communications) at the University of the Western Cape in 2004. In 2011 she started working for a community radio station, Phalaborwa FM as the program manager. “Being awarded a scholarship to study the PDMM is a dream come true. I have always had the urge to study further but never got the opportunity…My biggest aspiration is to get a job in one of Primedia’s radio stations,” Ramphele says.

Neo Khoza

Radio broadcaster at Rhodes Music Radio (RMR), Neo, has a BA in journalism and media studies from Rhodes University. She proclaims that she wants to become a developmental journalist and use radio as a tool to tell the stories of people who need it. She also wants to be a media leader who, in her words, “shape current media content and hold media accountable to those ideals that make it a vehicle of social change and upliftment.”

Qama Qukula

Cape Townian, Qama, completed her undergraduate degree last year at the University of Cape Town, graduating with a BA in film, television, media and writing. She is interested in television production and programming mainly and wants to use the PDMM course to prepare her for the media world. She wants to tackle pressing issues in the country through television and explains, “I aspire to generate unique local television content that unapologetically addresses the complexities of race and sexuality in our country, as well as the notion of body politics.”

Sithandwa Ngwetsheni

Sithandwa finds herself close to home as she comes from Port Elizabeth. This B.Journ graduate specialised in radio and according to her, “radio production is my first love because it allows me to create and to escape into other worlds.” She wants the PDMM course to help her understand the business side of media organisations. She wants to empower the youth of today and help them connect, breaking down barriers. Sithandwa emphasises the importance of education and helps children from Nathaniel Nyaluza High School with their school work and life skills.

The 2014 OSISA Scholars

The OSISA scholarship for SADC women leaders focuses on the empowerment of women. Meet the three scholarship winners: Baboki Kayawe

In 2009 Baboki graduated at the University of Botswana with a degree in media studies. She then worked for a daily newspaper, Mmegi to start off her career in journalism. She is also part of the World Association of Newspapers and Publishers’ empowerment drive which focuses on women in the media in Southern Africa. It is here that her interest in media management became promonent and she decided to do PDMM. She was a suitable candidate for OSISA with her focus on women in the media. “I hope to learn a lot from PDMM on media convergence and divergence…” she says.

Chisomo Ngulube

“Journalism is an exciting profession, more often not too predictable,” Chisomo summarises her interest in media. She lives in Malawi and graduated with a BA in journalism in 2003 at the Polytechnic. After which she worked at Nation Publications Limited, one of Malawi’s leading media organisations. She then became sub-editor at the sports desk. This position saw her making history as the first woman to work for the sports desk of the newspaper. She also obtained a Post-graduate diploma in Media for Communication in Development, from the University of Malawi. She found herself in broadcasting after moving to Television Malawi. She became a member of the editors group, Women’s Edition. She finds herself now in the chief editor position and wants to build on her managerial and leadership skills within the media industry, thus making PDMM the perfect choice. Her strong background as a woman making history landed her the OSISA scholarship for SADC women leaders.

Inutu Himanje

As Head of Production and Operations of TV2 at Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Inutu supervises a team of television producers, graphic artists, editors and cameramen. With a journalism degree from Zambia and her M.A. in international journalism at City University in London, she is well equipped for the journalism world. However, this does not give her enough for her role as a manager. "So far my media training has focused exclusively on journalism, but I need to develop knowledge and skills in other areas of management," Inutu says. The PDMM course will help Inutu and the others understand the role of a manager in the media environment.

For more information about next year’s PDMM course email l.snam@ru.ac.za

Evaluation of a scholarship programme

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) invites applications from suitably qualified consultants who will carry out an evaluation of a scholarship programme that has been funding the education of Southern African media leaders and managers at a leading South African university.

Background

To date the scholarship programme, which has targeted women, has funded around 20 media managers from across Southern Africa since its inception in 2006. Most of these managers today occupy mid-level or senior positions in their media organizations, contributing to staff diversity and transformation of how these media institutions are managed and led. Some of the beneficiaries have gone on to do further studies in media management and/or in journalism.

Terms of Reference

Suitably qualified and experienced consultants are expected to cover the following broad areas, although some of these do overlap:

Assess the impact of the scholarship programme on beneficiary media managers’ professional careers and on their organizations;

Assess the effectiveness of the scholarship programme in empowering beneficiary media managers to become better skilled and knowledgeable managers in their organizations;

Assess the relevance and utility of the programme to the beneficiary media managers and their organizations; and

Make appropriate recommendations on how the programme could be strengthened to better fulfil its key objective of mainstreaming women into leadership positions in the region’s media.

Scope of Work

It is anticipated that the evaluation will involve a fair amount of interviewing a representative sample of the scholarship beneficiaries, primarily using electronic and/or telephonic communication, and interviewing in person the key implementers of the project at OSISA and at its partner university. Using the Terms of Reference above, the appointed consultant will deliver an interim report by no later than 31 March 2014 and a final report by no later than 30 April 2014.

Candidates

Candidates must have a thorough understanding of the dynamics and complexities of Southern Africa’s educational and media sectors and ideally should have conducted a similar evaluation for a reputable organization, preferably an international non-governmental organization. Candidates will have postgraduate-level education and experience in research in the social sciences. Candidates should send their applications, which should include a detailed CV and a motivation on how they will approach the evaluation, their methodology and the expected consultation fees, to benedictk@osisa.org, with a drop copy to s.mbengashe@ru.ac.za. Applications close at mid-day on 28 February 2014. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

SPI reflections on 2013

Words: SPI Course Coordinator Linda Snam Editing: SPI Director Francis Mdlongwa

2013 has been an exciting year for the SPI. We started off in February with the arrival of PDMM students and, in no time, the year is soon coming to a close. We had an eclectic mix of students that kept us company throughout the year, and during every vacation period we would feel the quiet that we feel right now with everyone heading back home.

We knew who the perennial late-comers were and those who always came to class on time and, as colleagues, we at times would joke about how, each year, each PMM group of students is so different from the other.

We wish all the members of the Class of 2013 real success in their careers in the media industry and we would like them to keep in touch with the SPI, regularly updating us on their successes and challenges in the real world of work.

We also look forward to welcoming the new 2014 PDMM students, who will be joining us shortly (how time flies!) in their quest to learn new knowledge, understandings and skills on how to become better media managers and leaders.

Below we capture some observations from a few of our current 2013 students on what the PDMM meant to them:

Zimbabwean student Robin Tatenda Chaibva says the highlight of the PDMM for her was the way in which the course encouraged students to reflect on the kinds of leaders they would like to be. Robin has a Bachelor of Science degree and she created a fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog called “Concrete Jungle” before she started the PDMM course. Her blog has been ranked in the top five of the Zimbabwe Fashion Week fashion awards.

MTN scholarship winner Mike Moodie says he decided to do the PDMM because he wanted to learn about the business side of media. So far, he says, the PDMM has given him a good understanding of the industry. Moodie completed his mid-year participant observation at the Media24 publication Men’s Health and has described his experience as “the best”.

PDMM student Babalwa Nyembezi spoke about her time as a participant observer at Primedia in Cape Town and Johannesburg. She has been invited to return there to work for them again. “Who knows what can happen when you do this course?” she said. Babalwa was awarded the prestigious scholarship from Primedia to study the PDMM.

We welcome applications from anyone who already has a degree – any degree really – who is interested in studying media management at the SPI next year. The applications are still open until the end of January next year. For more details on how to apply, please go to our website at http: //spi.ru.ac.za. Also, don’t hesitate to contact me, Linda Snam (l.snam@ru.ac.za) should you have any questions/issues regarding the application processes, procedures, requirements, etc.

During the year that is closing, we also educated and trained more than 160 people from the African media industry through a range of our media management short courses. We have repeatedly trained on-site as well at the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) in Johannesburg and at the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation in Victoria, the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

We will conclude the year with an on-site training course in digital media management at the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication in Lusaka. The experience that the course delegates take out of these courses is tremendous, they keep telling us in their feedback. They also benefit from a rare networking opportunity with and sharing work experiences with course attendees who come from different African countries and varied media institutions.

We are grateful to OSISA for its generous scholarships support for 20 PDMM students from across Southern Africa over the past five years, to MTN for supporting 20 students for the PDMM and 130 course short participants from the South African media in five years, and to Primedia for sponsoring five scholarships for PDMM students in the past two years.

We are also grateful to Media 24 for lending its support to the South African community print sector by sponsoring 12 participants to attend a short course customised for this key sector at the SPI this year.

All of these sponsors have made a huge and positive difference to the lives of so many media people, and the SPI thanks each and every one of these sponsors for their generous support and keen awareness of their corporate social responsibility and corporate social investment.

The research arm of the Institute launched a new media book at this year’s annual Highway Africa Conference. This event was well attended, with some of the book’s contributors talking about the chapters they wrote for the book.

All in all, a very exciting and yet still challenging year. We now look to the joys and the unknowns of 2014!

 Linda Snam is the SPI Course Coordinator, Marketing and Communications Officer. She can be reached at l.snam@ru.ac.za; telephone 046-603-8949; telefax 046-603-7257.  Editing by SPI Director Francis Mdlongwa (f.mdlongwa@ru.ac.za).