[Thought Leadership Digibates] 03: Search-based marketing

"Search marketing is something that needs to be incorporated into every marketing strategy there is and through the Digibate, we hope to have educated our audience on the importance of this facet of the marketing mix," said Dawn Rowlands, CEO, Aegis Media, sub-Saharan Africa.

Mobile and search

One of the major discussion points was that of mobile and search. Wireless penetration sits at 96% and, in 2011, Google reported that search via mobile smart phones had increased by 400%. Whereas historically, mobile marketing took up 1-5% of advertising budget, it will increase to as much as 15% during 2012. Therefore, marketers will have to adapt their digital strategies and streamline them towards a more mobile market.

Another key discussion point highlighted that only one third of the top 100 brands in South Africa are online.

Panel of experts

The panel of experts that was moderated by Rowlands included Peter Stewart, MD of Clickthinking/iProspect; Etienne Beneke, head of SEO, Clickthinking/iProspect; Paul Galatis, founder of Yuppiechef; and Jon Ratcliffe from Google South Africa.

The next Thought Leadership Digibate will be held in February 2012 and will cover the current state of print media in SA.

The debate was held on Thursday, 19 January 2012.

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Listen every month

The Thought Leader Digibates are held monthly and include a panel of leading media-marketing experts who will discuss, debate and share their knowledge - gleaned over years of experience - with a wider audience. The official Twitter hashtag is #aegisTL.