Downtown Africa
Think with Google has officially launched its sub-Saharan Africa website — thinkwithgoogle.com/ssa. The aim of the site is to help marketers on the continent get the locally relevant insights they need.
“Think with Google sub-Saharan Africa walks alongside marketers and business leaders as they deal with the challenges of a rapidly changing marketplace. It provides data, a deeper understanding and perspectives specifically crafted for marketers and business people in the region,” says Asha Patel, head of Google SMB marketing for sub-Saharan Africa.
The website features insights and case studies from African organisations and marketers working with Google. According to Google Africa, this case study on how the continent’s largest entertainment brand — MultiChoice — drove watch time on its YouTube channel up 238% by offering content free. Or another on how Kenya’s KCB Bank drove a change in consumer behaviour — from online betting to saving money — using an ad campaign.
Google also highlights a piece on Nigerian e-commerce giant Jumia adopting machine learning to optimise its bidding process for Google Ads, which led to a 48% increase in conversion rate, 2.4% fall in cost per acquisition, and 52% growth in conversions.
“Whether it’s making smartphone advertising work or driving viewership, changing behaviour, like KCB Bank did, understanding how much presales behaviour happens online, or simply trying to make things work better as Jumia did, the online space in sub-Saharan Africa is incredibly diverse and dynamic. And making sense of it and the opportunity it presents is a challenge,” says the team at Google Africa.
“Think with Google aims to help marketers stay abreast of this rapidly changing environment, and provides the data and insights they need to drive better decision-making,” Patel says. The website also intends to inspire marketers to think in different ways about the brands they represent, the ways in which they communicate with their consumers and to help them come to grips with the latest digital marketing tools that are available.
The platform originally launched in 2013 as ‘Think Insights’ in a bid to give marketers insights into consumer and cultural trends based on Google’s data. Today, Think with Google is a resource hub for marketers across the globe, and houses a number of international sites with information targeted specifically for marketers in those areas, including Asia Pacific, Benelux, the Middle East, North Africa, and now, sub-Saharan Africa.
