Digital News

Tourism marketing campaign for the Serengeti, Tanzania – case study

June 8, 2020 by polydigitalmarketing

Tourism marketing is a segment of online marketing that more than any other segment has to be multilingual especially during covid-19. Poly Digital Marketing offers multilingual tourism marketing services to promote different tourist attractions, tours and activities, destinations and accommodations all around the world.

Tourism marketing campaign for the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania

Poly Digital Marketing is proud to announce that we’ve expanded our footprint into East Africa during the covid-19 pandemic. While other digital marketing agencies were slowing down, we opened an office in Dar Es Salam to help international companies to market themselves in Swahili in East Africa, as well as help African companies to enter international markets.

In the middle of March 2020, Covid-19 hit the tourism industry all around the world. International flights were canceled and most of the countries in the world went into lockdown quarantine. Tour operators lost their bookings, national parks closed down, and the entire tourism industry suffered a major blow.

The Poly Digital Marketing team was in Tanzania at the time, and got approached by Safari tour operator Great Migration Camps and the Tanzanian Tourism board to help with destination marketing for the Serengeti National Park. But how do you market a national park when no-one is able to visit?

Poly Digital Marketing came up with an ingenious destination marketing strategy (if we say so ourselves!) to create an inspiring, high quality wildlife video series to promote the park, and ensure it would be top of tourists’ travel lists as soon as their lockdowns were lifted.

We worked closely with the local government and tourist authorities, and made use of a crowd funding campaign to raise funds for the filming and production costs. We wanted people stuck at home to experience the beauty and the excitement of the Serengeti, so they’d be eager to come and experience the real thing!

Poly Digital, of course, also handled all the market research, SEO planning and marketing strategy, website design and development, and put together the marketing content and social media creative plans. Our favorite videographer, Brendan John Allen (a big name in the movie world) directed, shot, edited, and produced the show.

Tourism Marketing to save tourism in the Serengeti National Park and Tanzania

In just one week we managed to attract over 1,000 YouTube subscribers and raise significant sponsorship through the website www.serengetishowlive.com to offset the show’s production costs. These came in at $180,000 for 30 episodes of 40 minutes each. The production team and Tanzanian government officials are very happy with the results. Please read Serengeti Show Live testimonials here.

But it doesnt mean that your small tourism will not be able to afford our services. We offer 30-60 sec promo videos for your tourism marketing. Any business can afford it and gain immidiate return on investment.

How our multilingual tourism marketing services can help you

Are you an operator struggling to sell your standard tours in Tanzania or elsewhere? Then our dazzling multilingual video marketing content can help save your business too!

Tanzania is open for tourism and waiting for international visitors to come as soon as possible

Borders around the world will be opening soon, and you need to start investing in a winning marketing strategy now to make sure they choose your destination. Poly Digital Marketing has exceptionally talented videographers located in Canada, the USA, Tanzania, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Turkey, UAE, Indonesia, and India.

We’re ready to create stunning video content for your destination marketing campaign that will get tourists back to you as soon as possible. Contact Poly Digital Marketing today, and let’s make it happen!

Multilingual destination marketing can save your tourism business

June 7, 2020 by polydigitalmarketing

Multilingual destination marketing has become critical for businesses in the tourism industry. The impact of the coronavirus, local and nationwide lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world have dramatically shifted tourism trends, with no sign of things to reverting back to ‘normal’ for some time. Every hospitality establishment urgently needs to explore new target markets, so they can start getting bookings now when they need them most.

Where will the first international tourists come from?

With their borders still shut, travelers from both the USA and the UK will probably not be venturing overseas until the end of the European summer. Without these high-paying clients to rely on, tour operators and hospitality venues around the world will need to rethink their targeting strategies.

In the meantime, however, several Eastern European countries are opening their borders. Multilingual destination marketing is the best solution to home in on this new target market, (and many others) especially with many itching to escape isolation and travel once again. If you wait for your normal guests to renter the market, it may be too late – and you’ll be up against enormous competition.

Multilingual destination marketing to tap into new audiences

The global tourism industry is losing millions in revenue – and jobs – on a daily basis. In Africa, Tanzania’s famous Serengeti National Park used to welcome 6,000 visitors a day. Based on park entrance fees of $60 alone, that’s $360,000 daily. This is before you even consider the lost revenue of safari lodges, tour guides and tour operators, who miss out on roughly $500 per absent tourist.

No matter where you’re located, every day without tourists is crucial. If you cannot reach your normal English-speaking tourists because of lockdowns, then you need to start targeting those who will be able to travel first, and are ready to start booking now. Take a look at these projected reopening dates for airports around the world. Several of countries will be accepting international flights again as soon as June 10^th – so the time to start promoting your offering to these travelers is now. Great example of destination marketing campaign is Serengeti Show Live project launched by Poly Digital Marketing and a few other parties for Tanzanian Board of Tourism.

Remember also that while people may be reluctant to start traveling again straight away, you can still capture their imaginations and guarantee your hotel, guesthouse, resort, spa, or lodge a top spot on their travel bucket lists!

Selling the dream through multilingual destination marketing

Here’s what businesses in the hospitality industry should be doing right now:

Scaling up your international marketing efforts to encourage overseas tourists to visit post-lockdown
Promoting local tourism in your region, so you can start attracting local guests before international borders open (especially if overseas guests will be subject to quarantine periods)
Expanding your marketing reach to new target audiences and in new languages

Most of all though, you want your destination to grab attention, stand out from the rest, and stay with your audience long after they’ve been exposed to your brand. To do this, you need to create tourism marketing campaign with stunning visual content, with messaging in the language your target audience speaks.

Destination marketing video for Serengeti Show Live by Poly Digital Marketing interational videographers in Africa, Brendan John Allen.

Tourism mPromo video for Serengeti Show Live by Poly Digital Marketing videographer Brendan Allen

You’re not selling just a destination, or a stay in a hotel, or even a unique experience – you’re selling a fantasy and a dream! That’s why you need a strong message and striking visuals that go deep into your potential guests’ subconscious minds, and stay with them long after they’ve seen it.

The best tools and channels for multilingual destination marketing

Multilingual destination marketing is all about making your potential guests feel at home before they’ve even arrived. It’s about telling a story, and giving your audience a taste of what they can expect if they choose to stay with you. That’s why multilingual video marketing is particularly helpful, and gets such great results for tourism companies.

Video marketing by the numbers:

Video ads are the #1 way consumers find out about a new brand before converting into customers
85% of internet users use the web to watch video
88% of marketing agencies are satisfied with their video marketing ROI
73% of consumers are influenced by a brand’s social media presence, and video is their favorite way to interact with companies on social media

Furthermore, highly tactical use of PPC ads on YouTube and social media platforms means you can ensure your offering is seen by the viewers most likely to turn into customers.

At Poly Digital, we combine our multilingual approach with in-depth research and target audience insights to create unforgettable campaigns that really connect with viewers. By positioning your brand on the channels tourists like to find travel news and inspiration on, and speaking to them in their own native language, incredible results are possible!

The importance of Swahili marketing in Tanzania

May 18, 2020 by polydigitalmarketing

Swahili marketing is something that most international companies rarely consider when entering the African market. What really matters when marketing a product or service is not just what the advert says, but also how well your audience understands what it means.

For the best possible results, a marketing campaign needs to be delivered in a language that resonates with your target audience, and easily conveys the full meaning of your message.

Swahili is the most spoken and popular language in Tanzania

All marketing efforts should be in a language that all (or at least a very large percentage) of your audience will understand. Swahili is the official language spoken in Tanzania, as well as the most popular language for everyday communication. If international companies want to succeed in East Africa, then Swahili is the language they need to be marketing in.

Absa Bank uses Swahili marketing to enter the Tanzanian market

A good example of a company advertising in Tanzania is the Absa Bank Tanzania Limited (ABT), formerly known as the Barclay Bank Tanzania Limited. This is a commercial bank in the country and a subsidiary of South Africa-based Absa Group Limited that is licensed by the Bank of Tanzania. In Tanzania, the re-brand concluded on 11 February 2020, when both the bank’s legal and business names became Absa Bank Tanzania Limited.

Coca-Cola chooses to market in Swahili

Coca-Cola is another company that has established itself globally. Invented in the late 19th century, the company’s groundbreaking marketing tactics have led Coca-Cola to dominate the international soft-drink market.

When arriving in Tanzania, the company had to change its language of advertising from English to Swahili in order to deliver its message without creating a language barrier. Coca-Cola is well known for its slogan ‘taste the feeling’, which the brand adapted to the Swahili ‘onja msisimuko’.

Pepsi provides another prime example of Swahili marketing in Tanzania

Pepsi is adored by more than 200 million people worldwide, and is one of the biggest selling soft drink brands in Tanzania. In a genius move, Pepsi reached out to WCB president, Diamond Platnumz, to become their Brand Ambassador in East Africa.

The massively popular Bongo Flava artist was charged with promoting the brand in the region in the hopes of boosting sales. The Pepsi team also used the opportunity to introduce a 500ml bottle of their drink to the market under the tag “Mkubwa Wao”.

This turned out to be an excellent idea by the company, as Diamond’s many social media followers switched to the Pepsi brand under the influence of the Tanzanian household name.

Do you want to succeed with your brand in Tanzania? Contact us for digital marketing in Swahili today.

Poly Digital Marketing expands its footprint into East Africa

April 3, 2020 by polydigitalmarketing

East Africa is a region of endless opportunities for international companies. Six African countries, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, decided to form a regional intergovernmental organization The East African Community (EAC) with its headquarters in Tanzania to promote economic growth and development in the region.

The East African Community priorities for 2017 – 2021 include development of infrastructure and transport, enhancement of regional industrial development, improvement of agricultural productivity and technological development.

The population of the EAC is 177 million people, with more than 100 million people who speak Swahili. Poly Digital Marketing as a multilingual digital marketing agency has seen East Africa as a necessary region for expansion. All international companies who will expand their businesses into East Africa will require marketing in Swahili. And we are here to help with our experienced digital marketing local Swahili team.

Meet the head of Swahili digital marketing team – our East Africa territory manager Innocent Kapilima Kayombo

Innocent has a Bachelor Degree in Information Technology and more than 10 years of experience in business development, negotiations, digital marketing and web development. Innocent is not only a highly educated and experienced marketer, but also a leader by nature.

Poly Digital Marketing wants to welcome Innocent to our international team. We are all very excited for Innocent to take a lead on all marketing projects in East Africa.

Taking international companies to East Africa Community (EAC)

Poly Digital Marketing is the only multilingual digital marketing agency in East Africa with local digital marketing Swahili team. The head of East Africa Innocent Kapilima was born and raised in Dar es Salaam so he has a great understanding of the local culture and market. Innocent will take a leadership of territory managers in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda, as well as management of digital marketing and customer service team in Tanzania.

Our Swahili digital marketing team in Dar es Salam includes: marketing researchers, marketing strategists, PR-specialists, content writers, translators, SEO specialists, PPC specialists, digital analysts, e-mail marketers, social media specialists, web developers, videographers, promoters and business negotiators.

We are ready to help international companies at every single stage of expanding their brands to a Swahili speaking audience in East Africa. We will provide detailed marketing research, effective marketing and PR strategy to maximize your ROI.

Our Swahili digital marketing team is in Dar es Salaam

Our office is located in Dar es Salaam, near the international airport. We are happy to meet face to face all our international clients who are ready to expand into East Africa. Our team will help you on every level to make your business a success in East Africa: from digital marketing strategy implementation to the assistance on the floor at the international Expos and Trade shows in Dar es Salaam.

Poly Digital Marketing helps businesses in East Africa to grow globally

Poly Digital Marketing is a multilingual digital marketing agency with offices in East Africa, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, China, Malaysia, Germany, UK, Portugal, France, Italy, Spain, and Netherlands.

Our goal is to bring to East Africa more international tourists, more investors and more technologies to help the local economy grow.

We are here to help EAC reach all their goals by providing multilingual digital marketing services for B2B and B2C.

Contact our East African territory manager today for any multilingual and international marketing projects. We work for your company to grow!

Coronavirus lockdown: Unprecedented opportunity for businesses to embrace digital possibilities

March 22, 2020 by polydigitalmarketing

As coronavirus 2019, or Covid-19, continues its steady and unrelenting spread across the globe, business large and small are starting to feel the impacts. With employees now forced to work from home or not at all, companies that have already embraced digital technologies find themselves at a major advantage.

And as worrying as these times are, they are also a huge opportunity for businesses to speed up the rate of change, ramp up their online offerings, and emerge from the corona virus lockdown stronger and more resilient than ever before.

Breaking old habits

The digital revolution might have been underway for some time now, but old habits die hard – especially in the business world. Companies keen to digitize and move more of their services online have frequently been held back by “old school” clients who prefer doing business face to face.

Now, thanks to the corona virus pandemic, there is an enormous surge in demand for all manner of services to be available remotely. While these are most certainly not the kind of circumstances anyone would want to see forcing industry’s hand, there’s no doubt that covid-19 is a massive catalyst for change.

And for companies ready to adapt to these trying times, there is enormous opportunity for growth. Let’s take a look at just some of the industries who can benefit from the habit-changing power of corona virus in the long term.

Insurance brokers, financial advisers, HR and recruitment companies:

The technology for these kinds of companies to conduct the vast majority (if not all) of their business remotely and online has been there for years. With teleconferencing platforms like Skype, Zoom, GoToMeeting and even Google Hangouts improving all the time, there are ever fewer reasons to stick with ‘business as usual’, in-person consultations, meetings and interviews.

Digitizing has innumerable benefits for these types of industries. With more staff able to work remotely, overheads like premises rental, utilities and all the associated costs of running an office space can be slashed. Those reduced costs can be passed down to customers, making your service more competitive. Unexpected benefits such as improved employee engagement and morale, and reduced staff turnover frequently follow on the heels of digitization.

And now, the covid-19 pandemic is supplying yet another reason for companies and their clients to get on board. As social distancing and self-isolation increase the public’s familiarity with online alternatives to walk-in services, more and more of your clients will become comfortable using these channels – and seeing the benefits for themselves.

For customers, the advantages of utilizing digital platforms include convenience, saved time and reduced traveling costs, among many others. On an industry level, the potential is there for more affordable services across the board, increased innovation, and widespread economic growth.

The only thing to mention, you have to be creative to find the way to move your business online. May be you need to change your offerings. Are you stuck? Contact Poly Digital Marketing multilingual marketing consulting department and we will help you to find a solution!

Education during the coronavirus pandemic:

With schools and universities across the globe closing their doors to try and curb the spread of the corona virus, educators are having to innovate quickly. Thankfully, the same technologies that allow corporates to conduct business across oceans can also be deployed to move lectures, lessons and seminars online.

This gives educational institutes a massive opportunity to expand their offering. Lectures that are being recorded and shared online can also be offered to students located in other territories. Lessons could even be transcribed and translated into multiple languages, and made available to a much broader pool of potential students – such as adult learners wanting to ‘go back to school’, or to aid countries where standards are not as good, or teachers and resources are lacking.

And once an online resource exists, there’s no real limit to how many students could be reached. This brings the dream of truly affordable education for all one giant step closer to reality. In addition, online educational resources don’t need to be limited to school or college terms, but can be made available any time of the year.

Combined with automated online exams and the ability for learners to study at their own pace from anywhere in the world, an educational revolution is possible. Universities, schools and private online course providers can take the money saved through cutting their expenses, and invest them in new courses and better marketing.

Does this sound like the kind of solution you’re looking for? We can help! Ask Poly Digital Marketing how we can take your educational institution global, coming out from the coronavirus crisis stronger and more resilient. If you are small school or kindergarden you can shift your business into online consulting to help parants during the lockdown with different educational programs for their kids. Contact us today to help your business grow!

Art Galleries and Exhibitions during the coronavirus pandemic:

The businesses which are suffering most during the Coronavirus pandemic are those that rely on walk-in customers for the majority of their income. And while restaurants may be able to shift their service towards deliveries to an extent, museums, galleries, exhibitions and artists themselves may feel powerless to adapt.

Even here, however, there are great possibilities if you know where to look! With millions of people around the world opting to work from home or self-isolate during the pandemic, virtual tours and online auctions can provide a welcome source of entertainment and distraction.

If you act swiftly to grasp this opportunity, you can take advantage of this sudden gap in the market, and perhaps even emerge a world-famous artist! Want to know how? Get in touch with Poly Digital, and we’ll guide you on every aspect of taking your offering digital – from building immersive virtual experiences to international marketing.

Retail during the coronavirus pandemic:

If your retail store has been lagging behind with online ordering and home delivery, then now is the time to act. With customers stuck at home during the corona virus quarantine, more people are shopping, browsing, and exploring new brands online than ever before.

Even if you return to normal operations once the Coronavirus threat has passed, implementing new technologies – like virtual shop assistants and AI programs to guide and advise online shoppers – will stand your retail business in good stead for years to come. You can also use this time to focus on international marketing, tapping into new territories and potentially lucrative target markets. For the small businesses as clothing shops, little 24/7 stores Poly Digital Marketing can develop online shop at the very affordable rate.

Tourism and hospitality:

From the largest airlines to the smallest bed and breakfast, every single company in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry is being hit hard by the corona virus pandemic. There’s no doubt that the sector faces incredible challenges, and that many providers, sadly, likely won’t come out the other side.

Of course, descending into panic is never the answer! If they are able to, this time presents an opportunity for businesses in the hospitality sector to address all those ‘to-do list’ items they never seem to get round to when they have guests to take care of. It’s time for a little digital housekeeping!

For example, now is a good time for…

Strategic planning
Research
Business development planning
Website development
Content writing and SEO optimization
Marketing planning
Search Engine Optimization
Multilingual translation to reach new international markets
Putting together virtual tours, interactive content, and promotional videos
Multilingual destination marketing

Even if you’re a very small business, polishing up your website, adding new blog posts or uploading fresh images can be done during this time at no cost. It’s important to remember that while we might not be able to see it now, there will be an end to the covid-19 pandemic – and there will still be a travel market there waiting!

Turning challenge into opportunity:

Despite the odds, Poly Digital Marketing can help you go digital and grow your business during the Covid-19 crisis. Reach out to us today, and find out how we can help your business buck the trend, and turn this crisis into a chance to grow your revenue, customer base and profits!

Why it’s never a good idea to send mailers to purchased databases

March 15, 2020 by polydigitalmarketing

It’s a pretty well-known fact that email marketing offers one of the best returns on investment marketers can get. Before you create a campaign, however, you need a database of email addresses. Gathering those from scratch is a time-consuming and lengthy process, which is why so many people are tempted to simply purchase an existing email list instead.

We find this is especially true in the case of multilingual email marketing campaigns, where international brands are trying to get results fast in an unfamiliar territory or language. As we’re about to see though, sending mailers to a database you’ve purchased is a really, really bad idea. Not only is it morally iffy, in many cases, it’s downright illegal.

No-one likes unsolicited emails

Do you enjoy getting spam emails? Didn’t think so. If you purchase an existing list of addresses for your multilingual email marketing campaign, bear this in mind:

Many of those email addresses have, in all likelihood, been completely abandoned
Most of the emails that do get through will go straight to the junk, trash or spam folder, and get deleted without ever being seen by a human being
Those that don’t get marked as spam will probably never be opened
For every person who does open your email, they’re either going to delete it straight away, hit the unsubscribe button, or worse – report the email as unsolicited spam in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act

Apart from anything else, when you send an unsolicited email to a random person, you’re shooting in the dark. You have no idea what that person’s interests are, where they’re located, what language they speak, or how old they are. Expecting any kind of positive result at all is illogical. And it only takes a few angry tweets, online complaints or negative reviews from people who’ve had enough to do real damage to your brand’s reputation.

How to do multilingual email marketing the right way

One of the reasons email marketing (to a genuine opt-in list you’ve gathered yourself) works so well is because it’s targeted at people who are actually interested in what you have to say. If someone has engaged with your content enough to offer their email address, they’re already highly likely to convert.

It might take more time and effort, but impressive results are virtually guaranteed. If you’re ready to grow your brand internationally and expand into new regions, then our multilingual email marketing team is ready to help you succeed!