As traditional forms of media and communications give way to an upwardly mobile industry, those dealing in content are forced to curate information in a manner that is attractive to online readers, while still offering the information users are looking for. According to the latest IAB stats, the online environment in SA sees about 43 million unique browsers each month, many of whom are on mobile.
Publishers and companies looking to present themselves online therefore rely heavily on opinion mining and analytics to connect straight off the bat. Understanding the market is key to how we engage with readers from a B2C perspective, but that’s just one part of the equation.
“As a relative newcomer to the online publishing scene, we certainly punch above our weight in terms of rankings; which is a direct product of capitalising on what the reading public often look for: genuine engagement,” says Patrick Atherton, MD of TheSouthAfrican.com.
The South African has an established audience of over 250 000 SA expats globally, but have more recently been toppling the big players in SA with over 4 million pageviews a month from SA alone.
Anyone can get people’s attention; it’s keeping it and staying relevant that builds true engagement and ultimately community. Your voice and style have a major impact in these areas. This presents a golden opportunity to businesses eager to engage these readers with high value propositions, like property, for instance. “We’ve seen a lot of growth in readers and engagement whenever we connect with South Africans on matters that are important to them, and deliver them in the form of a conversation instead of what can, at times, feel like a lecture,” Atherton said.
As things currently stand, 59.3% of all South Africans currently have access to the internet in some way, shape or form; so when it comes to digital, there will always be room at the table for those willing and able to diversify their means of engagement with the public.
Check out the latest article regarding TheSouthAfrican.com’s experience of Cube Workspace.
