19
2011
SA’s Digital Marketing Directory
An article by 
I launched the Online Directory of digital vendors recently, and it’s already gotten some nice traction, which is good.
But I’ve now realised that the online digital services directory still doesn’t really solve the actual problem that I wanted to address: I want to promote the digital marketing industry, and our local companies, to those people who might not necessarily even know they want those services. Yet.
In other words, most people who visit the online directory will do so because they are already looking for a specific digital skill. But what about the people who need a kick up the butt to either launch a digital strategy, or improve their current one?
I still think the best way to do that is to create a series of free, downloadable .pdf resources that encourage the development of digital strategies. I’ve had a number of false starts in making this happen, but this time I think I’ve addressed all my (and others’) concerns, and I am starting off with the South African Digital Marketing Directory.
I envision this Directory to be a comprehensive listing of all our top digital houses and vendors. You can see a dummy version here.
The problem with Directories though, is that they are only as good as the quality and quantity of the companies that are listed. So I hope that all those companies that profit from the industry will cough up the measly R1000 to be listed (hint hint), and that we can have a comprehensive, thourough resource that we can proudly distribute to potential clients.
(I did consider not charging for listings, but that would be a bad strategy on many counts. For starters, if you cannot afford the R1,000 fee, then you shouldn’t be listed. Simple as that. But also, I do offer a free listing on the online directory, so I am not really leaving anyone out of the loop. Plus, it actually costs a lot of money to make something like this happen, so no one should really object to R1000. Right?)
The Directory will be one of a number of similar resources. The next one will be a collection of local case studies, and a thorough exploration of the actual online landscape in the country. But one step at a time!
So…. if you run a digital company, sign up immediately! And if you know someone who does, tell them to do the same.
Let’s make it work!
