Marketing a business/ destination/ product online requires a serious strategic plan that will incorporate all elements of your business. This will mean using research to truly understand your market- both current and potential future clientele. Take a look at the information and links in our Tourism Trends section.

You will have to utilize technology to create audience appropriate online content, and be sure it reaches the right people. Ultimately marketing is about coverting customer interest to sales- so that means selling online via e-commerce. Most importantly you will need to have your inventory in the right format to enable you to join the online travel distribution channels and maximize the value of your sales. By utilizing Client Relations Management (CRM) tools you can analyse the value of your current business, and identify, categorize and retain your high value clientele.

The best way to understand this process and develop your own strategy for success is to attend one of our conferences and see practical examples of international best practice and meet key suppliers.
Our training programmes will give you the specific skills, assist you to develop a strategy and explain in detail how this can be achieved. Our online forums will allow you to discuss your experiences with others and receive practical advice and tips from other stakeholders.

One of the most commonly asked questions at our training sessions is how a business can improve the ranking of their website on search engines. See our Search Engine section for advice on how this can be achieved.

Probably the best-known and widely used online marketing tools are the advertising and search optimization tools offered by Google via their Adwords and Adsense programmes. These are very easy to use, cost effective and a simple way of increasing your profile within results displayed via the Google search engine- but before investing in online advertising, you should be sure that your website, content, product inventory and e-commerce solutions are all in order for the clientele that these ads may generate.

A lot of advice, ideas and resources for online marketing can be found online. ClickZ is a longstanding site that provides news and resources for online marketers. For more specific Africa marketing information, news and contacts- try Biz Community Africa which has  huge amounts of news and information related to marketing in Africa- and you can search for specific information by region.