Yahoo and Microsoft concluded an agreement last week that will see Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, used on Yahoo. This effectively creates a new rival to Google, the search-engine giant. How does this affect us? Locally Bing has an estimated search market share of 4% and Yahoo 2%. Their combined market share of 6% is still […]
Ferdie Bester
Ferdie Bester is founder and MD of ClickMaven, a leading Internet Marketing company in South Africa. He's a reformed accountant turned marketer and loves the fact that everything online can be measured.
Posted inMedia
Jobs now more popular than sex
I recently had a look at Google Trends and noticed that jobs have now finally overtaken sex as the most searched term in South Africa. Google trends monitor what people search for on Google in South Africa. This information is displayed over time and provides an insight into current affairs. In the graph below, the […]
Posted inMedia
Soccer fever will pick up before the World Cup
International interest in the Fifa World Cup is expected to pick up about nine months before kick-off in June 2010 based on data supplied by Google. We determined that interest started in September 2005 by looking at which relevant World Cup keywords were popular on Google in the run-up to the World Cup in Germany […]
Posted inMedia
You know the US is in a recession when Cash4Gold.com advertises in the Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is one of the most watched events on the US calendar. You can compare it with a Curry Cup final where the Blue Bulls are playing and Pretoria has a population of 50 million people. An estimated 100 million US viewers watched the final on Sunday. For most people the game on […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
The first step to building a brand is having one
One of the most critical elements in marketing a business is its brand. It’s the symbol that identifies and distinguishes a business. Achieving name recognition in the marketplace usually takes years to establish and big advertising expenditure. Why then, do businesses not take the time to develop a proper symbol, name or logo to help […]
Posted inMedia, Tech
Will Wikia Search become as popular as Wikipedia?
Wikia Search is to take on the big three search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN) in the next couple of weeks. With the dominance of the top three, it is going to take nothing short of a miracle to upset the current status quo. Enter Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. Wales launched the popular […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
The power of word-of-mouth marketing
Referrals are one of the most effective ways to market and grow a company. Many people think referrals just happen, but to take full advantage of this technique, you need a formal plan to encourage it. Some tips on how to maximise your referral business: 1. Ask for referrals. Schedule periodical feedback calls with your […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
Four marketing and media predictions for 2008
While 2007 was one of the most exciting years in the online marketing space internationally, I’ve been wondering what 2008 will hold in store for South Africa. Here are a few of my thoughts on what we can expect: 1. Watch out for Google South Africa. A local Google office will open in February 2008 […]
Posted inMedia
It’s the story that sells
Recently I was in Stone Town, Zanzibar, browsing the large selection of local paintings on offer. When I engaged one of the vendors in friendly barter, the sales pitch unfolded. I was told by the vendor that he had painted it. Isn’t it romantic to buy art from the artist himself? I decided to do […]