By partnering with clients and agencies in the region; all parties benefit, so said Paulo Picazio, partner manager for Facebook in the region. Marketing and Ad-tech is a relatively new key component to the African marketer’s mix with little understanding of profit-driven marketing that delivers on business objectives. As Joe Cummiskey said at the event, “We (marketers) need to be having more relevant commercial discussions in business, not social ones.”

The Facebook Network, which includes Facebook, Instagram, and the Facebook Audience Network, now ensures that one in four minutes spent on the internet on mobile is spent on Facebook platforms. The reason that so many engage is relevance, with a key focus on the user’s experience. For brands to maintain relevance, tech becomes an all essential. The
CMO Survey reported a massive increase in spend on social (234% increase over this seven-year period).

The study shows that brands are seeing the value of media spend on social. A disturbing outcome of The CMO Survey, however, was undoubtedly the finding that almost half of firms (44.1%) say they haven’t been able to show the impact of their social media spending; [lack] the ability to integrate customer information across social media, other communications, and purchasing channels is weak and not increasing; and only 4.6% say social media contributes very highly to company performance.

As an organisation that is #BuildingBusinessesOnSocial, Popimedia is acutely aware of the potential for business growth through social media, and the millions of Rands and Dollars wasted daily on ill-conceived and badly executed social media campaigns is devastating for a country like South Africa, which desperately needs to nurture and grow our SME economy.

Being an FMP means we not only have access to beta testing and products, not available directly to brands and agencies, and have tech that allows brands to scale and save time but, most importantly, to drive profit driven marketing.

The qualifying criteria to become an FMP is very stringent including a requirement for the tech to deliver on its promises, to create additional value than the platform itself offers and a data-driven approach to campaigns.

So, why go with an FMP?

Facebook says, “Facebook Marketing Partners are vetted for excellence in exactly the things you need to get more from your marketing. Whether it’s managing campaigns at scale, improving measurement, reaching new audiences or more.”

Sure, it sounds like another marketing spiel. So measure it. Engage with an FMP and measure the outcomes. Because the criteria for qualifying as an FMP are stringent, and among these are:

  • Superior insights and data, allowing for a more scientific approach to campaigns; and 
  • Tech innovation – allowing for automation and scale, resulting in measurably superior results to native tools.

Studies have consistently found that clicks have no correlation to sales, conversion, and business growth so why should marketers measure metrics that have no business correlation? The investment from Facebook into Facebook Marketing Partners in South Africa is an exciting one for us because it means that marketers are going to be exposed to and reap the benefits of Ad-tech and #BuildingBusinessOnSocial.

For more information, visit www.popimedia.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, LinkedIn or on Twitter using the #BuildingBusinessesOnSocial hashtag.