The seminar is open to all members of Google Engage for Agencies - a support programme for advertising agencies, webmasters, search engine marketers and anyone else who provides web services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Engage members receive free access to educational resources, training workshops, telephone support and promotional vouchers to help their customers get started with online advertising.

The Engage Academy will be opened by Google’s head of New Products for Africa, Brett St. Clair, who will deliver a keynote on reaching consumers in a multi-device world. Google recently announced an upgrade to AdWords with enhanced campaigns: agencies will learn how this helps advertisers reach people with the right ads, based on their context like location, time of day and device type - including phone, tablet, PC or even TV. After the keynote address, there will be in-depth training sessions (ranging from basic to more advanced) on online marketing skills, including products such as AdWords, Google Analytics, Google Display Network and YouTube.

The Google Engage South Africa programme launched in Johannesburg in July 2011. To date, more than 1000 agencies have registered and received assistance in developing their clients’ online advertising campaigns. As a result, Engage has indirectly empowered hundreds of thousands of SMEs to grow their online presence. A study by World Wide Worx in 2012 found that SMEs with a website are almost three times more likely to be profitable than those without. In addition, approximately 20% of all small businesses revealed that they would not be able to survive without an online presence. With SMEs accounting for about 7.8-million jobs in the country, this means as many as 1.56-million jobs would be in jeopardy if not for the Internet.

Trevor Garbett from That’s Graphic I.T. Solutions, has been a member of Google Engage since October 2011. Garbett says, “This has been a really wonderful experience for me ... I have developed a very good relationship with my existing clients, opened the minds of new clients to the wonderful world of online advertising and helped create possibilities for online revenue for an upcoming game development company.”

The Google Engage Academy will take place on Thursday, 7 March at Montecasino in Fourways, Johannesburg. To attend register online by Wednesday, 20 February. For more on Google Engage for Agencies, click here.