The Future of Digital Marketing in Africa
https://admateacademy.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-future-of-digital-marketing-in.html
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Quite on the contrary, it is also majorly about organization and control, government regulation and standardization of the digital marketing industry, particularly in the developing countries, especially, in West and Sub-Saharan Africa, where digital marketing is growing exponentially, but there is a visible absence of back-end technological infrastructure, support personnel and governance mechanisms in the sector.
Poor Performance Rating
The tremendous growth experienced in the digital marketing industry in Africa has created many high net worth individuals and agencies, making the industry in Africa to be one of the fastest growing and wealthiest in the world but it is equally one of the most under-rated. There are many factors that attributed to this development, which includes poor assessment and rating processes, unavailability of financial records to truly capture the true financial position of practitioners, and the absence of effective control and regulatory organizations.
The digital marketing industry has impacted both the marketing and advertising sectors, and it has thereby raised the bar of the digital marketing practice in the Africa continent. In advertising, particularly in big cities such as Santon, Nairobi, Lagos and Abuja, outdoor advertising has since gone digital, especially with the big agencies. This development has further expanded the scope of digital marketing, which now includes digital outdoor advertising.
Without over-emphasizing the fact, its worthy of note that online marketers on the other hand, have successfully pushed its boundaries beyond desktop computers, but it has started encroaching into mobile and wearable devices via the Internet. Digital marketing has the advantage of multi-channel marketing, and this has availed greater opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audience through these multiple channels content marketing methods.
The digital marketing industry has impacted both the marketing and advertising sectors, and it has thereby raised the bar of the digital marketing practice in the Africa continent. In advertising, particularly in big cities such as Santon, Nairobi, Lagos and Abuja, outdoor advertising has since gone digital, especially with the big agencies. This development has further expanded the scope of digital marketing, which now includes digital outdoor advertising.
Without over-emphasizing the fact, its worthy of note that online marketers on the other hand, have successfully pushed its boundaries beyond desktop computers, but it has started encroaching into mobile and wearable devices via the Internet. Digital marketing has the advantage of multi-channel marketing, and this has availed greater opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audience through these multiple channels content marketing methods.
Growth of Outdoor Digital Advertising
The rapid growth of the digital marketing industry has created massive wealth in the sector, particularly in the area of outdoor advertising, which is better organized and has controlling bodies, Such as the Outdoor Advertising Associations of the various countries where advertising is practiced, but the same cannot be said of the digital marketing sector.
The unavailability of professional bodies, organizations and institutions to regulate and control the digital marketing industry has left the sector open to all sorts of sharp practices including hate speech, fake news and bait advertising, which has impacted negatively on the image of the industry, especially the Internet in the last few years.
The proliferation of fake news sites and bait adverts has caused the lingering rift between publishers and advertisers, and that has cost advertisers enormous loses in advertising revenue. This crises which is now tagged by industry followers as the Ad Block War, and at the centre of this war are two key players, which is Eyeo, owner of #Adblocker Plus and the social media giant, Facebook, being one of the most impacted by the adblocking community.
The rapid growth of the digital marketing industry has created massive wealth in the sector, particularly in the area of outdoor advertising, which is better organized and has controlling bodies, Such as the Outdoor Advertising Associations of the various countries where advertising is practiced, but the same cannot be said of the digital marketing sector.
The unavailability of professional bodies, organizations and institutions to regulate and control the digital marketing industry has left the sector open to all sorts of sharp practices including hate speech, fake news and bait advertising, which has impacted negatively on the image of the industry, especially the Internet in the last few years.
The proliferation of fake news sites and bait adverts has caused the lingering rift between publishers and advertisers, and that has cost advertisers enormous loses in advertising revenue. This crises which is now tagged by industry followers as the Ad Block War, and at the centre of this war are two key players, which is Eyeo, owner of #Adblocker Plus and the social media giant, Facebook, being one of the most impacted by the adblocking community.
Governance and Control of Digital Marketing
Instituting a body to control the practice of digital marketing is inevitable, and must therefore be considered urgently, especially in Africa where there is no existing structure to control practitioners and instill discipline in the industry. The onus is more on digital marketing, social media managers and bloggers from the African continent, where digital marketing has made significant inroads, to come together and brainstorm on the way forward for the industry.
There are many existing bodies with unique models in other parts of the world, especially in the United States that digital marketing companies and practitioners can emulate. Some of these bodies are the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and other related bodies.
Instituting a body to control the practice of digital marketing is inevitable, and must therefore be considered urgently, especially in Africa where there is no existing structure to control practitioners and instill discipline in the industry. The onus is more on digital marketing, social media managers and bloggers from the African continent, where digital marketing has made significant inroads, to come together and brainstorm on the way forward for the industry.
There are many existing bodies with unique models in other parts of the world, especially in the United States that digital marketing companies and practitioners can emulate. Some of these bodies are the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) and other related bodies.
Conclusion
There is an enormous opportunity in the digital marketing industry, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. The growth in the digital marketing industry in Africa is mostly driven by a small segment of the private sector, mostly comprising of young men and women in their early 20s to late 20s. Its a sector that still very much in its infancy. The relevant government agencies and the ministry of technology and digital economy are not giving the deserved attention to the enormous resources that these generation X can bring to the table.
If Africa will grow and indeed compete with the International community in both revenue generation and application, then, government must allow the younger generation drive the growth in this sector. To expedite rapid development of digital marketing in particular and digital economy in general, government must commence the training and engagement of these young men and women in the national efforts to develop the sector.
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