THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING SOCIAL NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY FOR MARKETING IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

Abstract
The purpose of this article is to investigate and understand the effectiveness of using social media technology for marketing activities in South Africa. The study seeks to investigate the feasibility and reach of using social media tools such as Twitter/ Face book and Black Berry Messenger (BBM) to market products and services in South Africa. While many South Africans have access to mobile technology in the form of smart phones not many households have actual internet access in the form of a broad brand subscription. This therefore, poses the question - is it feasible to use e- marketing tools in the South African landscape and what should the internet platform be? Having delineated the thrust of the paper, it should be noted that the paper does not pretend to capture all the variables of using social networking technology for purposes of marketing. However, it does speak to certain facets of the effectiveness of using social networking technology.