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Social media is no longer just about presence—it’s about performance. The Hootsuite Social Trends 2025 Report makes it clear: brands that experiment, engage, and evolve will be the ones winning in 2025. But what does that mean for South African businesses in retail and eCommerce? Let’s break it down.
1. Entertain or Be Forgotten
People are scrolling for fun, not for ads. According to Hootsuite’s report, nearly half of brands now focus their social content on entertaining, educating, or informing—rather than directly selling. And guess what? It’s working.
What this means for SA brands:
Stop treating social like a billboard. Instead, make your audience laugh, think, or engage.
Example: Woolworths SA has nailed this with their Instagram Reels featuring humorous takes on food trends and daily life.
Try this: Run a ‘Behind the Scenes’ content series or create fun, relatable memes that connect with your audience.
Stat to know: 43% of brands experimented with a new tone of voice/personality on social in 2024. Don’t be afraid to shake things up!
2. AI is Your New Content Team
We’ve moved past the AI hype phase. In 2025, AI isn’t just an option—it’s the secret weapon behind faster, smarter content creation.
How AI can help:
✅ Generating quick content ideas (no more brainstorming blocks!) ✅ Writing captions and ad copy that convert ✅ Personalising responses for better customer engagement
Example: Global brands like Hootsuite are already using AI to produce up to 180% more content—without burning out their teams. In SA, eCommerce brands can use AI to tailor product recommendations based on social sentiment data.
Try this: Test AI-driven content tools (like Hootsuite’s OwlyWriter AI) to create social posts in seconds.
3. Social Listening = More Sales
Forget just “posting and hoping.” The smartest brands are listening first and engaging second. Hootsuite’s research shows that 62% of brands use social listening to:
✅ Spot trends before competitors do ✅ Track audience sentiment and adjust messaging ✅ Find what customers actually care about
SA brands leading the way:
🛒 Takealot tracks customer sentiment on Twitter to refine product offerings. 🛍 Pick n Pay listens to customer feedback on TikTok and adapts marketing strategies.
Try this: Use a tool like Brandwatchto monitor customer conversations and identify the pain points your brand can solve.
4. Micro-Virality Over Mass-Virality
The old-school goal of “going viral” is fading. Instead, brands are targeting smaller, high-intent audiences—creating mini viral moments within their niche.
Stat to know: 27% of brands shift content to tap into micro-trends instead of chasing mainstream virality.
How to apply this:
1. Create content specifically for your audience—not just what’s trending. 2. Work with nano and micro-influencers (1K-50K followers) for authentic reach. 3. Encourage UGC (User-Generated Content) to build trust and engagement.
Example: Georgia State University found that its students were “stealing” content—so they leaned into it by making more shareable content. Result? Free organic reach.
5. Outbound Engagement is the New ‘Engagement Strategy’
Brands aren’t just waiting for engagement anymore—they’re joining conversations. The smartest teams are commenting on viral posts, engaging in influencer discussions, and making their presence known where their audience already is.
How to stand out in the comments:
✅ Be timely: Engage within 24 hours of a trending post. ✅ Keep it short & sharp: Comments between 10-99 characters perform best. ✅ Add value: Don’t spam—make your comment insightful or witty.
Example: Mastercard’s social team jumps into viral moments, adding their brand’s voice to trending conversations—driving traffic and conversions.
How YOUKNOW Can Help
We get it—keeping up with 2025 social trends is overwhelming. That’s where we come in. YOUKNOW Technologies helps brands harness AI, social listening, and engagement strategies that actually drive results.
✅ Book a demo to see how AI-driven insights can boost your social strategy. ✅ Download our free guide on social media trends and strategies for 2025.
Final Thought: Will You Adapt or Be Left Behind?
2025 is the year brands must ditch outdated playbooks and embrace agility. Whether it’s AI, social listening, or micro-virality—Keen to get a look at all the insights, get the report here.
The way businesses grow is changing. Traditional sales-heavy models are being replaced with a smarter, more scalable approach: Product-Led Growth (PLG). If your product can sell itself, why not let it?
What is PLG & Why Does It Matter?
PLG is a go-to-market strategy that uses the product itself to drive acquisition, retention, and monetisation. Instead of relying on expensive sales teams, PLG businesses allow users to experience the product first—turning engagement into long-term loyalty.
Think Slack, Zoom, and Notion—these products became industry leaders because users adopted them naturally, not because of aggressive sales tactics.
The Three Pillars of PLG
1️⃣ Acquisition: Let Users Discover Your Product Themselves
With PLG, acquisition happens organically—through word of mouth, referrals, and in-app virality.
Instead of relying on ads, your product's value does the selling.
Example: Notion allows users to invite team members for free, creating a viral loop.
💡 Tip: Implement a freemium model or free trial to get users hooked.
2️⃣ Retention: Build a Product People Can’t Live Without
PLG isn’t just about attracting users—it’s about keeping them engaged.
Success comes from users having their “aha” moment—when they see value immediately.
Example: Calendly makes scheduling meetings seamless, so users return daily.
💡 Tip: Optimise onboarding flows to help users reach value faster.
3️⃣ Monetisation: Turning Free Users into Paying Customers
The end goal of PLG is to convert free users into loyal, paying customers.
PLG companies use usage-based pricing, premium features, and in-app upgrades.
💡 Tip: Use behavioural data to identify power users and nudge them towards premium plans.
YOUKNOW Technologies, South Africa's premium Martech solutions provider, is proud to announce its designation as a HubSpot Solutions Partner. This partnership marks an exciting expansion of YOUKNOW's service offering, bringing its 11 years of proven implementation expertise to the CRM space. The collaboration enables African businesses to harness world-class customer relationship management capabilities while benefiting from localised support and implementation.
Expanding strategic CRM solutions in South Africa
In today's digital landscape, a robust CRM system has become an essential addition to any organisation's technology stack. Many South African businesses are discovering that without a centralised CRM platform, they struggle to harness their customer data effectively and create meaningful engagement strategies. The impact of implementing the right CRM solution is significant as it results in an increase in sales, improvement in customer retention and drives alignment between marketing and sales. For businesses looking to scale and optimise their operations, adding a CRM platform to their existing technology stack is no longer optional – it's a strategic imperative for sustainable growth.
"Having experienced the transformative impact of HubSpot firsthand in our own operations, we're thrilled to become an official solutions partner," says Kelvin Jonck, CEO of YOUKNOW Technologies. "This partnership was a natural evolution for us, allowing us to combine HubSpot's powerful CRM capabilities with our deep implementation expertise across various technologies. Through our YOUKNOW Solutions Division, we're not just implementing platforms – we're crafting strategies that make customer data actionable and empower businesses to scale confidently."
Tailored solutions for the South African market
The partnership delivers several strategic advantages specifically designed for local businesses:
Local billing and compliance: YOUKNOW Technologies simplifies adoption by offering a local currency billing option and ensuring regional compliance requirements are met.
Expert implementation and support: Drawing on over a decade of martech expertise, YOUKNOW provides comprehensive support from deployment through to ongoing optimisation.
Market-specific integrations: Seamless integration with popular local platforms, and tools, ensures solutions align with African consumer preferences.
In-market expertise: Real-time, localised support from a team that truly understands the unique challenges and opportunities in the African market.
Bridging global technology with local expertise
As a HubSpot Solutions Partner, YOUKNOW Technologies continues its mission of connecting African businesses with world-class technology solutions, building on its successful partnerships with leading platforms like Amplitude, Braze, and OneSignal.
"Digital transformation isn't just about implementing new software – it's about fostering the right mindset and deepening customer understanding," explains Don Packett, COO at YOUKNOW Technologies. "Our approach combines HubSpot's powerful platform with strategic guidance to create meaningful customer experiences that drive sustainable growth."
About YOUKNOW Technologies
Founded in 2014, YOUKNOW Technologies is South Africa's premier martech consulting and solutions provider. The company's YOUKNOW Solutions Division specialises in: Tech Agnostic Strategies, Managed Services, Custom Reporting, and Workshops & Training.
About HubSpot
HubSpot is a leading CRM platform providing comprehensive software and integrations for business growth. Serving over 184,000 customers globally with a 98% satisfaction rate, HubSpot offers integrated solutions for marketing, sales, content management, and customer service.
Traditional sales-led models are taking a backseat as Product-Led Growth (PLG) emerges as the dominant growth strategy. Instead of relying on aggressive sales tactics, businesses are shifting to self-serve product experiences that drive acquisition, engagement, and monetisation.
Think Slack, Zoom, and Calendly—these companies grew exponentially by letting users experience the product first.
What is PLG?
PLG is a go-to-market strategy where the product itself drives growth across: ✔ Acquisition (users sign up organically via referral loops, freemium models) ✔ Retention (users engage and activate without human intervention) ✔ Monetisation (users convert to paying customers through in-app upgrades)
Key PLG Strategies to Implement
1️⃣ Acquisition: Attracting Users Through the Product
Freemium models: Let users experience core features for free, while offering paid upgrades.
Viral product features: Collaboration tools like Notion & Slack grow via built-in sharing.
💡 Pro Tip: Use in-product incentives to encourage user referrals!
2️⃣ Retention: Keeping Users Hooked
Seamless onboarding: Guide users to an “aha moment” quickly.
Behavioural analytics: Use data to personalise the experience.
Habit-forming engagement tactics: Features like progress bars, push notifications, and gamification drive ongoing usage.
💡 Example: LinkedIn’s profile completion bar boosts engagement by giving users a goal to achieve.
3️⃣ Monetisation: Converting Free Users to Paying Customers
Reverse trials: Users experience premium features before reverting to free.
Usage-based pricing: Charge based on product interaction rather than fixed plans.
Feature gating: Offer free core features but require payment for advanced capabilities.
💡 Example:Zoom’s free 40-minute calls create a strong need to upgrade for longer meetings.
How to Implement PLG in Your Business
Step 1: Identify Your Activation Metric—What key action signals user engagement? Step 2: Build a Self-Serve Onboarding Flow—Reduce friction for new users. Step 3: Track the Right Metrics—Use analytics tools like Amplitude to measure success.
The influencer landscape in South Africa has evolved rapidly over the past few years. With approximately 75,000 influencers across various categories, from fashion to food, brands are spoiled for choice when it comes to collaboration. However, there’s a glaring issue - many brands are still using influencers wrong, leading to a lack of sincerity in their messaging, missed opportunities for authentic engagement; and ultimately, not maximising their ROI.
This insincerity, especially in heavily branded content, creates a disconnect between influencers and their audiences. While an influencer might have been the perfect fit for a brand at first, the moment that collaboration feels forced or over-controlled by the brand, the relationship becomes strained. South African influencers across categories, including the largest - fashion, beauty and lifestyle - have highlighted that the more freedom they have, the more natural and impactful the content becomes.
Brands Should Let Go of Control of their Influencer Campaigns
One of the most significant problems is that brands are often too reluctant to let go of creative control. In South Africa, the tendency to impose strict brand guidelines often results in influencers producing content that feels more like an advert than a genuine recommendation. This approach ignores one of the most important factors for success in influencer marketing - authenticity. In fact, the surveyed influencers themselves have stated that creative freedom is the most important element of a successful campaign.
Brands need to be brave and allow influencers to create content that aligns with their personal style, even if it deviates from the brand's predetermined message. This isn't a call for influencers to disregard brand identity altogether, but rather a shift towards a more collaborative, less rigid approach. The reality is that influencers understand their audience best. After all, it's their relatability and creativity that built their follower base in the first place.
Stop Chasing Big Influencer Names—Think Small, Think Impactful
Another critical misstep brands make is overvaluing reach and impressions. The idea of working with big influencers and celebrities might make sense on paper, but in practice, this approach doesn’t always yield the best results. Often, smaller, niche influencers have a much more engaged audience. Nano-influencers (those with 5,000-10,000 followers) have the highest engagement rate in South Africa at 4.55%. These smaller influencers provide a unique opportunity for brands to target specific, highly engaged communities.
It's time to stop thinking about numbers and start thinking about impact. A smaller, more niche audience can offer much deeper and richer engagement, which is ultimately more valuable than superficial reach. The goal should be to find influencers who can create genuine, organic content that resonates deeply with their followers.
Niche Influencers Are the Future
If brands really want to make a difference in how they approach influencer marketing, they need to start identifying niche influencers who are aligned with their values and goals. But here’s the kicker—brands should not force these influencers to conform to their ideals. Instead, they should collaborate in a way that amplifies the influencer’s voice while subtly integrating the brand’s message.
The Sweet Spot: Nano Influencers and Creative Freedom
The 2024 Influencer Playbook clearly highlights that nano influencers not only come at the lowest cost but also deliver the highest engagement. Marrying these influencers with the perfect brand fit and allowing them the creative freedom to do what they do best is the recipe for success.
Many brands are stuck in the old-school mentality of trying to control the message. But here's the truth: the more a brand interferes with the influencer's creativity, the less authentic the content becomes, and the more likely it is to underperform. Brands that are brave enough to let go of control and trust the influencer to communicate in a way that resonates with their audience will see far better results.
Conclusion: A Call for Brave Brands
Influencer marketing in South Africa is filled with potential, but only for brands willing to take a brave, new approach. By allowing influencers to have creative freedom, focusing on niche over reach, and embracing nano influencers who offer higher engagement rates, brands can break through the noise and make a genuine impact. It’s time to stop playing it safe and start letting creators do what they do best - create.
Wanna Find Out More About Influencers In SA?
Discover the secrets to influencer success with the 2024 Influencer Report brought to you by The Racket Club and YOUKNOW Technologies. Packed with insights on creative freedom, nano influencers, and impactful campaigns, this guide will help you maximise engagement and ROI.
Keen to chat about tracking and measuring your influencer campaigns? Chat to Shaun about Brandwatch and he’ll show you how easy it makes it in 15 minutes. 👉 Book a Demo Now
As businesses increasingly move from marketing-led to product-led growth (PLG), understanding how to leverage your product as the primary driver of customer acquisition, retention, and monetisation is key. This shift can be complex, but with the right tactics and insights, businesses can successfully implement PLG and unlock sustainable growth.
Amplitude’s Product-Led Growth Guide Volume 2: How to Get Started with PLG provides the essential knowledge and strategies needed to adopt a product-first approach. This guide breaks down the necessary steps, tools, and methods for businesses to successfully drive growth through their products.
What Is Product-Led Growth (PLG)?
PLG is a business strategy where the product itself plays a central role in driving the entire customer journey. From getting users to sign up, to activating them and ensuring long-term retention, the product is the main vehicle for business growth. This approach eliminates reliance on traditional sales and marketing teams for the customer journey and empowers users to experience the product's value on their own.
Amplitude’s guide explains this concept and offers detailed strategies for successfully embedding PLG into a business model. Download the guide here to understand how PLG can work for your organisation.
Key Product-Led Growth Tactics
1. Product-Led Acquisition Tactics
The first stage of PLG is acquisition, where the product itself helps bring in new users. Virality loops, user referrals, and product shareability are all tactics that drive new sign-ups. The guide provides real-world examples, such as Zoom and Calendly, that have used these tactics to fuel their growth.
2. Product-Led Activation and Engagement
Once users are onboarded, activation and engagement are critical to keep them coming back. The guide details how personalised onboarding flows, gamification, and social proof can make the product sticky and ensure long-term use.
3. Product-Led Monetisation
Monetising a product-led strategy often starts with offering free trials or freemium models, which let users experience the product before committing. The guide explains how businesses can turn free users into paying customers using product usage data and seamless self-service experiences.
Why Experimentation Is Crucial for PLG
PLG isn’t static—it requires continuous testing and learning. Experimentation is key to understanding which features and tactics resonate with users. Amplitude’s guide emphasises how to use data-driven experimentation to optimise product experiences, from onboarding to feature usage, ensuring your product meets users' needs.
How to Measure the Success of Your PLG Strategy
A major part of PLG is measuring its effectiveness through metrics. Whether it’s acquisition rates, user activation, retention, or monetisation, the guide outlines the most important PLG metrics to track, offering actionable advice on how to use these metrics to refine and improve your strategy.
Get Started with PLG Today
Amplitude’s Product-Led Growth Guide Volume 2 is a comprehensive resource for businesses looking to embrace a product-first approach to growth. It covers everything from organisational structure to technology and metrics, providing a clear roadmap to building and scaling a successful PLG strategy.
Start your journey toward Product-Led Growth today by downloading Amplitude’s guide. Download the full guide for all the insights you need to succeed, or book a demo to see how Amplitude’s platform can help you put these strategies into action with real-time analytics and insights.
Product-Led Growth (PLG) is the buzzword that’s taken the marketing and product management world by storm. But what does it really mean, and how can it transform your business strategy? If you're a product manager or marketer looking for a fresh way to drive acquisition, retention, and monetisation, PLG is your ticket to sustainable growth.
What Is Product-Led Growth (PLG)
At its core, Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a strategy where the product itself drives the entire customer journey. From acquisition to retention and monetisation, PLG places the product in the spotlight, empowering users to discover, engage, and pay for your product without relying on heavy marketing or sales interventions.
In simple terms, PLG is a model that shifts your focus from traditional marketing and sales tactics to allowing your product to naturally attract and retain customers. When done right, it’s a powerful way to generate leads, keep customers engaged, and drive long-term profitability.
A product-led customer journey is the series of touchpoints where the product drives the customer from awareness to active usage and eventually to becoming a paying customer. Here’s a breakdown of the key stages:
Acquisition: The journey begins when potential customers discover your product. With PLG, viral features and user-generated content lead the way, so customers find you naturally—no hard sell required.
Activation: A smooth onboarding process is essential for activation. In a product-led model, customers should experience their "aha" moment quickly, with minimal friction.
Engagement & Retention: Once users are activated, PLG tactics encourage ongoing engagement, making your product "sticky" and ensuring they come back time and again.
Monetisation: The final step is converting users into paying customers. With PLG, users can self-serve and make purchases or upgrades without needing a sales rep to intervene.
Is your customer journey aligned with PLG? Book a demo today to find out how our solutions can help you optimise each stage.
The Right Environment for Product-Led Growth
PLG isn’t just about implementing the right product features—it’s also about fostering the right environment. Here’s what you need:
1. Data-Driven Culture
To succeed with PLG, you need a culture built on data insights. Without the right metrics and analytics, it’s nearly impossible to understand how customers engage with your product and where improvements can be made. Behavioural data reveals what’s working (and what isn’t) throughout the customer journey. The more you know, the better you can optimise.
2. The Right Technology Stack
To make PLG a reality, you need the right tools in place. From user onboarding solutions like Userflow to CRM platforms like HubSpot and analytics tools like Amplitude, having a modern tech stack allows you to monitor customer behaviour and improve user experiences across the board.
Building the Right Team for Product-Led Growth
Implementing a product-led strategy requires a team that’s equipped with diverse skills. You’ll need product managers, marketers, and data analysts who can:
Understand customer behavior.
Run experiments to optimise product usage.
Continuously refine the customer experience based on data and feedback.
Product managers, in particular, need to wear many hats, from analysing user data to iterating on product features that drive growth.
When Is Product-Led Growth the Right Strategy?
PLG isn’t a catch-all solution, and it’s not for every business. If you’re not sure whether it’s the right fit for you, consider the following:
Are your users able to activate and engage with your product independently?
Does your product deliver immediate value to users without the need for extensive support?
Are you ready to shift your sales strategy and focus on user-driven growth rather than traditional sales funnels?
If you answered yes to these questions, it might be time to explore how PLG can transform your business. Download the full guide to see if PLG is the right fit for your team.
How to Get Started with Product-Led Growth
Getting started with product-led growth requires a shift in mindset. It’s not just about adopting new tools; it’s about changing how you measure success and empowering your team to make data-driven decisions.
Key steps for adopting PLG:
Analyze user behaviour to identify friction points and "aha" moments.
Use analytics to understand which features drive engagement and monetisation.
Empower your team to experiment, test, and iterate for continuous improvement.
PLG can be a game-changer for your business, but it’s essential to know where to start and how to track progress. Book a demo with us to see how we can help you build a product-led strategy that works.
Ready to Take the Leap into Product-Led Growth?
If you’re tired of the old ways and ready for a growth strategy that puts the product first, Product-Led Growth might be the perfect solution for your business. It’s time to transform how you acquire, engage, and monetise customers.
Black Friday is fast approaching, and the stakes are higher than ever for app marketers globally and in South Africa. To stand out in crowded inboxes, your email strategy needs to be on point—engaging, personal, and action-driven. With the right tactics, your emails can boost app engagement, drive conversions, and give your revenue a strong lift during this high-traffic shopping period.
Looking for more Black Friday marketing insights?Chat with our team to see what tech can boost your Black Friday strategies. In the meantime check these out these five essential strategies to help you build Black Friday email campaigns that convert like never before.
Push Notifications That Drive Black Friday Sales
Automate Your Black Friday Campaigns with OneSignal Journeys
1. Start Early: Build Anticipation with a Countdown Series
Goal: Generate excitement and keep your app top-of-mind before Black Friday.
Why wait until the day itself? Launch your campaign early with a countdown series, beginning 1-2 weeks before Black Friday. Keep these emails brief and visually appealing, giving enough information to spark curiosity without revealing too much.
How to Execute:
Teaser Email: Use phrases like “Exclusive Black Friday deals are coming!” and include a countdown timer to build urgency.
Push Notification: Complement your email with a push notification saying, “The countdown has begun! Check your email for a sneak peek.”
Pro Tip: Combining email and push notifications increases visibility and engagement.
2. Segment Your Audience and Personalise Offers
Goal: Boost engagement by tailoring your offers to different user segments.
Not all users are alike—segment your audience based on user behaviour, spending history, and preferences. By doing this, you can craft personalised emails that resonate with each group.
Segmentation Ideas:
New Users: Offer a first-time discount or personalised product recommendations.
VIP Users: Reward loyal customers with exclusive early access deals or extra discounts.
Cart Abandoners: Send reminders featuring the products left in their cart, highlighting deeper Black Friday discounts.
Example Campaign: Re-Engage Inactive Users
Email 1: “We Miss You!” A friendly nudge with a message like, “It’s been a while! Come back for exclusive Black Friday deals.”
Email 2: Tailored Offer: Provide a special discount based on the user’s browsing history or past purchases.
Email 3: Last-Chance Reminder: Include a countdown timer to create urgency and reinforce the limited-time offer.
Pro Tip: Use location-based personalisation (e.g., “Exclusive deals for our Cape Town customers!”) to make your message more relevant.
3. Optimise for Mobile: Design and Copy That Convert
Goal: Ensure your emails look great and are easy to navigate on mobile devices.
Most Black Friday shoppers will be browsing on their phones. A mobile-first approach is essential for capturing their attention and guiding them to take action.
Design Tips:
Keep It Simple: Use a minimalist design with plenty of white space and large fonts.
Highlight the CTA: Make your call-to-action button prominent and use phrases like “Shop Now” or “Unlock My Deal.”
Prioritise Key Information: Place the offer and CTA at the top of the email for maximum visibility.
Copywriting Tips:
Be Direct: Clearly state your offer—avoid lengthy or vague language.
Use Power Words: Phrases like “exclusive,” “limited time,” and “VIP access” create urgency.
Catchy Subject Lines: Opt for short, punchy subject lines like “Flash Sale: Up to 50% Off!” or “Unlock Your Black Friday Savings.”
Pro Tip: Incorporate interactive elements like countdown timers for an extra layer of urgency.
4. Perfect Your Timing and Frequency
Goal: Keep your emails top-of-mind without overwhelming your audience.
The timing of your emails can make all the difference. You want to stay present in your users’ inboxes, but sending too many emails can lead to fatigue. Here’s a suggested cadence:
Suggested Email Schedule:
1-2 Weeks Before Black Friday: Start with a “Countdown Series” to build excitement.
3-5 Days Before: Send a “Preview Email” teasing the upcoming deals.
Black Friday Morning: Kick off the day with your main promotional email.
Afternoon Reminder: Send a short follow-up email to catch those who haven’t acted.
Evening Wrap-Up: Finish with a “last chance” email for final purchases.
Pro Tip: A/B test your send times to determine when your audience is most responsive. This will help you optimise engagement.
5. Track, Analyse, and Adjust in Real Time
Goal: Use data insights to refine your email strategy continuously.
Black Friday is dynamic, and adjusting your approach quickly is key to maximising results. Monitor performance metrics and use them to guide your strategy.
Metrics to Watch:
Open Rates: Test different subject lines to see what resonates best.
Click-Through Rates: Analyse which CTAs generate the most clicks.
Conversion Rates: Track how many users are completing purchases and adjust your offers accordingly.
Pro Tip: If engagement dips, try switching up your offers or sending a flash sale email to re-engage users quickly.
Takeaways: Black Friday Email Campaign Essentials
Start early with a countdown series to build anticipation.
Segment your audience for personalised offers that resonate.
Design for mobile and use clear, engaging copy.
Time your emails strategically to maximise visibility without causing fatigue.
Track and adjust in real-time to optimise performance.
By following these strategies, you’ll create a seamless, engaging Black Friday experience that stands out and drives results.
Ready to elevate your email game this Black Friday? Book a demo with YOUKNOW Technologies to see how OneSignal can help you boost engagement, increase conversions, and drive app revenue.
I have been falling in love with the practice of Product Led Growth.
It’s an alternative set of practices that rivals the more traditional growth models, such as Marketing Led Growth and Sales Led Growth. And it’s taking the marketing, product and data sectors by storm.
Seeing Michael Jon Wissekerke and the TymeBank advertising for roles in the space reiterated to me how relevant and important it is to breaking through the clutter and doing things better than before.
Product Led Growth is something that we - at YOUKNOW - have been looking into ever since our natural progression of technology exploration led us to user analytics that shed light on the data customers share with us through their actions.
Ideally, if you’re tracking and analysing everything that a customer does when they’re interacting with you, then theoretically you can influence those customers much faster than building a marketing campaign, or by getting a sales team to interact with them over a long period of time.
So, as the first in a series of pieces on the topic, let’s unpack what Product Led Growth looks like compared to Marketing Led and Sales Led Growth.
Marketing Led Growth
Having started my career in the corporate space, I learned quite a bit about the need for - and pitfalls of - Marketing Led Growth. MLG operates on the principle that brand visibility and lead generation are the most important levers for growth. By leveraging digital marketing strategies - SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and more - MLG aims to attract a wide audience, convert them into leads, and ultimately into customers.
MLG is mostly effective when the goal is to reach a broad market or to create a strong brand presence. Consumer-facing brands like Nike and Coca-Cola have used MLG to become household names. The model also works well for businesses where the product can be easily understood without the need for a sales team to explain its complexities. In these cases, marketing’s role is to educate, inspire, and drive action, often through large-scale campaigns.
This is what we leveraged at Cell C when I was there and it’s what I see many of clients practicing. And that’s fine. But as long as it’s done with purpose, and not because it’s what’s always been done. The upsides are huge, but the downsides need to be acknowledged as well.
These could be:
It’s expensive to compete
It needs constant increasing investment to maintain visibility
It relies heavily on the effectiveness of creativity, tactics and tools - which can easily become saturated over time and lose that potency. Not every campaign can be a homerun.
Rising above the noise of today is so tough, which makes everyone shout louder, or forces brands to continually search for quieter spaces to spread their message.
Sales Led Growth
From corporate, I then moved into the technology solutions space, starting YOUKNOW as a way to make awesome global tech easy to use for African companies. This is mostly a sales job. So trust me, I get the need for the whole SLG angle as well.
In SLG, the focus is on direct sales efforts, with sales teams reaching out to potential customers, negotiating deals, and driving growth through personal relationships.
While this model can still be highly effective, particularly for large enterprise deals or complex products that require hands-on demonstrations and consultations, it has its limitations.
SLG is often costly and time-consuming.
Sales cycles can be long,
and scaling requires adding more salespeople, which isn’t always the efficient way to grow.
Companies like Oracle or IBM have thrived using SLG because their offerings often require customization and deep integration, areas where human intervention is critical.
If your business employs either of these models, there is probably a good reason for it. However, it’s extremely valuable to constantly be asking whether a 3rd way might be more effective as people, channels, trends and forms of engagement change.
This is where Product Led Growth comes in...
Product Led Growth
PLG hinges on a simple yet transformative idea: your product should sell itself. Rather than relying on a team of sales professionals or hefty marketing budgets, companies using PLG focus on building a product that customers can easily adopt, derive value from, and ultimately become advocates for. In this model, the product is the focal point of the user experience and the primary lever for growth.
Let’s look at Slack as an example: no aggressive sales team or fancy marketing campaigns. Slack grew exponentially by offering a product that users loved, shared with their teams, and stuck with. This growth was organic and self-perpetuating because the product was intuitive and brought immediate value.
It’s this self-perpetuating part that I love the most.
The Product Growth Cycle, from Amplitude
The Product Led Growth Flywheel is a principle which dictates that if you do all the right things, as per the PLG principles, your business should grow itself like a snowball growing into an avalanche as it follows gravity down the hill.
Compared to MLG & SLG there are some obvious advantages that PLG brings to the table
Cost Efficiency: PLG can scale without the need to hire a large sales team or spend exorbitantly on marketing campaigns. Instead, resources are invested in improving your product and experience with the customer.
Faster Growth Cycles: Using some of the PLG toolbox options such as self-service, freemium models, and viral loops, PLG companies often experience faster growth cycles. Users onboard themselves, reducing the time from awareness to adoption.
Experience as the North Star: In PLG, the product is the ultimate determinant of success. It forces companies to prioritise customer experience and continuous improvement, leading to a more customer-centric organization
Why is Product Led Growth Taking Charge?
If you’re paying attention to some of the success stories out there, you’ll start to notice the PLG strategy in many of the big case studies.
The modern buyer's journey has changed. With information readily available, buyers often prefer to try products themselves before engaging with a salesperson. And they’re more likely to be swayed by the reviews than by your marketing campaign.
Product Led Growth takes advantage of this shift by removing friction in the value exchange process and focusing on delivering constant moments of value through the product itself.
Quick foreshadowing to a future piece: when we talk about product we’re mostly talking about the digital, or real-world, experience that your customer has with you. It’s not the chequing account product that a bank comes up with, or the can of Red Bull. It’s the online banking experience and the World of Red Bull. For more obvious examples, think takealot.com , where the online presence is the manifestation of the product they’re offering a customer.
Product Led Growth highlights the contract between you and your customer. For sustainable growth, I firmly believe in that contract. I’ll talk about it in a future piece (more foreshadowing), but basically it’s relating to the fact that you’re promising to deliver a certain amount of value to your customer and in return they are agreeing to stick with you to receive that value, possibly even sharing more than just their time and money with you - if that’s part of the contract.
By building an experience that personifies this contract, you then have the levers to push and pull to deliver on that in ways that might be specifically tailored to individuals.
It’s all about uncovering what’s valuable to me as a consumer and then giving that to me - easily - as often as possible. If I get what I want without friction, and possibly with some additional joy, then “Take my money, take my attention. I am your loyal consumer for as long as you can keep the bonfire burning”.
When you’ve unlocked these moments of value and have found the most efficient way to expose your customers to that dopamine hit again and again and again, then you unlock the Product Led Growth flywheel, mentioned above. And once that flywheel gets rolling, the growth returns just keep expanding.
And this is why Product Led Growth is becoming so much more attractive. It’s ticking those boxes we’ve all been promising for so long:
Customer Centricity
Marketing Budget Efficiency
Exponential Growth
Takeaways from Product Led Growth
There is no way that every company can adopt a Product Led Growth strategy in isolation. Some will not be able to adopt it at all, in it’s purest form.
However, I believe that there are principles in the discipline that can and should be adopted by everyone. Even for those professionals who prioritise one of the other models, it’s like a set of tools that they can reach into and leverage in the right situations.
So I’m hoping that the next few articles, and videos, on the subject will help not only help those exploring the Product Led Growth model, but also for all marketers who aspire to throw in some innovative approaches to their hybrid strategies.
If you're struggling to get your strategy off the ground, you're also welcome to slide into my DMs and I'd be happy to chat to you about it.
South Africa's competitive landscape demands constant innovation to keep customers engaged and loyal. Customer churn, the loss of paying customers, can be a major drain on your business. Here's where a powerful Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform like Braze comes in. By leveraging Braze's features specifically tailored to South African customer behaviour, you can develop a winning retention strategy that keeps your customers coming back for more.
Understanding churn in the South African market
South African customers are tech-savvy and expect a seamless, personalised experience across all touchpoints. This means traditional, one-size-fits-all marketing tactics simply won't cut it. Understanding the "why" behind churn is crucial.
Price sensitivity
South African consumers are value-conscious. Price hikes or a lack of competitive pricing plans can lead to customers seeking out better deals elsewhere.
Poor customer service
Long wait times, inefficient resolution processes, and a lack of empathy can leave customers feeling frustrated and undervalued.
Lack of personalisation
Generic marketing messages and a failure to tailor offerings to individual needs can lead to disengagement.
Data security concerns
South Africans are increasingly aware of data privacy issues. A lack of transparency or a data breach can damage trust and send customers running.
Braze is your churn-fighting secret
Braze offers a unique set of tools to combat churn in the market. Chat with our experts to learn how their platform can help you reduce churn.
Omnichannel engagement
Engage customers on their preferred channels – be it SMS, push notifications, email, or in-app messaging. Braze lets you create personalised campaigns tailored to each channel, ensuring your message reaches them at the right time and place.
Real-time customer segmentation
Go beyond demographics. Segment your customer base based on behaviour, purchase history, and in-app activity. This allows you to deliver hyper-personalised experiences and targeted offers that truly resonate with your South African audience.
Data-driven insights
Braze provides powerful analytics that help you understand customer behaviour and identify churn risk factors. Use these insights to proactively address potential issues before they lead to churn.
Seamless customer journeys
Map out the ideal customer journey for your South African customers. Leverage Braze's automation features to trigger personalised messages and recommendations at key touchpoints, keeping customers engaged throughout their lifecycle.
Loyalty programs
Incentivise loyalty and reward repeat business with Braze's built-in loyalty program features. Develop tiered programs with points and rewards that resonate with South African customer expectations.
Churn-busting strategies
Here are some specific strategies you can implement with Braze to tackle churn in the South African market:
Combat Price Sensitivity: Use Braze to trigger targeted offers and discounts for customers at risk of churn. Offer value-added services or bundles that cater to South African customers' price-conscious nature.
Win Back Lapsing Customers: Identify customers who haven't engaged in a while. Send personalised win-back campaigns with enticing offers or re-engagement messages that remind them of the value you provide.
Leverage SMS for High Engagement: South Africans have a high mobile penetration rate. Utilise SMS marketing for important updates, flash sales, and time-sensitive offers.
Personalise Customer Onboarding: First impressions matter! Use Braze to create personalised onboarding journeys that guide new customers through your app or service in a user-friendly way. Offer in-app tips and helpful resources to reduce friction and encourage continued engagement.
Prioritise Customer Feedback: Integrate Braze with your customer support platform. Streamline communication and address customer concerns quickly and efficiently. Use in-app surveys and feedback forms to gather valuable insights from your South African customer base and continuously improve your offerings.
The Braze advantage: more than just a platform
Braze goes beyond being just a platform. Their team of experts can provide valuable guidance and support on implementing churn-busting strategies tailored to your specific South African business needs. Additionally, Braze integrates seamlessly with other popular marketing and analytics tools used in South Africa, allowing you to create a powerful, unified customer experience ecosystem.Schedule a personalised demo with Braze to explore how their innovative platform can empower you to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
By putting Braze's capabilities to work, South African businesses can develop a data-driven, customer-centric approach to retention. Reduce churn, boost engagement, and build long-lasting relationships with your South African customer base.
South African consumers are bombarded with marketing messages from all directions. To cut through the noise and reach your target audience, you need to adopt a cross-channel marketing approach.
Cross-channel marketing involves using a variety of communication channels to reach your customers, such as email, SMS, social media, push notifications, and even traditional channels like print and television. By using a cross-channel approach, you can ensure that your message is reaching your target audience wherever they are and on the platforms they frequent the most.
Why cross-channel marketing matters for South African businesses
There are several reasons why cross-channel marketing is essential for South African businesses:
Reach a wider audience
With so many South Africans using a variety of communication channels, businesses can ensure they're reaching their target market wherever they are.
Increase customer engagement
By using a variety of channels, businesses can keep their customers engaged and interested in their products or services.
Personalise the customer experience
Cross-channel marketing allows businesses to tailor their messages to each individual customer, which can lead to higher conversion rates and customer satisfaction.
Drive sales and revenue
By providing a more consistent and personalised customer experience, cross-channel marketing can help South African businesses drive sales and revenue.
Schedule a demo today to discover how Braze can help you create seamless customer experiences and drive business growth.
Mix and match: creating engaging cross-channel campaigns in South Africa
The key to successful cross-channel marketing is finding the right mix of channels for your business and target audience. Here are some factors to consider when choosing channels:
Customer demographics: What are the age groups, genders, and locations of your target audience in South Africa?
Customer behaviour: How do your customers typically interact with businesses? What channels do they prefer? For instance, younger demographics might be more reachable on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, whereas business professionals might be more responsive to emails and LinkedIn outreach.
Campaign goals: What are you hoping to achieve with your marketing campaign? Are you looking to generate brand awareness, drive sales, or increase customer engagement?
Once you've chosen your channels, you need to create campaigns that are tailored to each channel. Here are some tips for creating engaging cross-channel campaigns in South Africa:
Keep your messaging consistent: Your messaging should be consistent across all channels, but it should also be tailored to the specific channel. For example, your social media posts will likely be more informal than your email newsletters.
Use visuals: South Africans are visually engaged, so be sure to use high-quality images and videos in your campaigns.
Personalise your messages: Whenever possible, personalise your messages to your customers. This will make them feel more valued and increase the likelihood that they will respond to your campaigns.
Make it easy for customers to take action: Your campaigns should always include a clear call to action, such as a link to your website or a discount code.
Leveraging cross-channel experiences to enhance retention in South Africa's mobile network industry
E. Molapo's (2014) study on customer retention in South Africa's competitive mobile network industry offers valuable insights for enhancing customer engagement, monetisation, and retention through cross-channel experiences. The research highlights the importance of addressing customer churn, a key challenge in this market.
The recommendations, which include product innovation, improved customer care, and geographic expansion, all have the potential to be amplified through strategic cross-channel communication. For instance, innovative products could be launched with social media campaigns and targeted email marketing.
Improved customer care experiences can be delivered through in-app chat functionalities alongside traditional call centres. Similarly, geographic expansion efforts could be supported by targeted advertising across various channels, reaching potential customers in new regions.
By leveraging cross-channel experiences, mobile networks can effectively implement Molapo's recommendations, fostering deeper customer relationships, driving higher engagement, and ultimately boosting both retention and monetisation.
Final thoughts
South African businesses can create effective cross-channel marketing campaigns that will help them reach their target audience, increase customer engagement, and drive sales. Chat with our experts to learn how Braze can assist you. Cross-channel marketing is an ongoing process, so it's important to be constantly testing and refining your campaigns. By staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies, South African businesses can ensure that they're getting the most out of their cross-channel marketing efforts.
How to Group Data Into Buckets Using DOMO Beast Mode
We will explain and show to you how to use Beast Mode calculations to group data into buckets. The example uses running data from a Strava account, which includes various distances run over several years. The goal is to bucket these distances to make analysis easier.
Data grouping is an essential technique in data analysis. It helps transform raw data into meaningful categories for easier analysis and visualisation. By grouping data, you can uncover patterns, trends, and insights that are otherwise hidden in the vast amounts of information.
This tutorial will explore how to use DOMO, a powerful business intelligence platform, to group data effectively. Specifically, we will dive into Beast Mode calculations—a unique feature in DOMO that allows users to create custom calculations and transformations on their data.
We'll demonstrate this process using running data from a Strava account, which includes various distances that have run over several years. Our goal is to bucket these distances into manageable segments, making it easier to analyse and visualise the data. By the end of this tutorial, you'll be able to understand how to leverage Beast Mode calculations to transform and group your data in DOMO. After this tutorial, you will have a new way to find more profound insights which will help drive better-informed business decisions.
Importing Data and Creating a Calculated Field
The first step is to import the Strava running data into the DOMO platform. This data consists of various running distances over several years. To segment this data into our ‘buckets’ we need to create a new calculated field called "Kilometres Buckets”. How to do that, we use a CASE statement. This calculated field will help categorise the data into manageable segments for better analysis.
Using a CASE Statement to Group Data
The CASE statement is a powerful feature in DOMO’s Beast Mode calculations. It is used to group the kilometres into increments of 5 kilometres. The syntax is as follows:
Example in Tutorial:
Validating and Visualising the Data
After creating the calculated field, the next step is to validate and visualise the graph. The data is then dragged into the series to show the bucketed distances. The data can be graphically displayed after validating the categorised CASE statements to facilitate insightful analysis. A bar chart can illustrate the frequency of runs within each distance category, providing a visually striking representation of the distribution of running distances over the years.
Example in Tutorial:
Filtering Data for Deeper Analysis
In addition to bucketing data, filtering can be used to focus on specific distance ranges. For example, filtering the data to show only distances between 0 and 30 kilometres and changing the graph to show data per month provides a more detailed analysis, which allows for shorter runs. Changing the chart to show data each month can further enhance the analysis, revealing the seasonal and monthly trends in running distances.
Using Beast Mode calculations to group data into buckets is a prominent technique for data analysis. This technique can be implemented quickly and easily, making it a valuable tool for data visualisation and analysis with DOMO. If you didn’t know, now YOU KNOW.
Have you enjoyed the read? Then book a demo with DOMO.
SA's Social Pulse Report Webinar! Join us in our upcoming webinar, where our team will share the top trends to fuel your marketing strategy—featuring speakers Shaun Pearson our Brandwatch Product Lead, and David Vahle - our Senior Reporting Expert.
Our fellow South Africans and digital participants, we are pleased to introduce "The Social SONA: State of the Nation Address," a webinar of significance and insight. Guided by our YOUKNOW comrades Shaun Pearson and David Vahle, experts in the realm of Brandwatch, this event will dive into conversations across our social nation. Join us as we explore the impact of Barbie on marketing discourse and the emergence of threadfluencers, chat through the influential role of X, and provide strategies to align your brand with the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
Simply fill in your details to book your seat and get your questions ready ahead of the interactive webinar. This is an opportunity to enhance your understanding of the social landscape in South Africa and ask our experts any questions you have about our global tech partner, Brandwatch.
We connect the right tech to businesses to build better connections with their customers. Our global tech stack is the top in the field of helping your business understand and connect with your customers. From social listening & customer experience technology to building your modern growth stack, our local support and expertise allow local enterprises to leverage leading global technologies for better customer engagement, insights, retention and growth.
🇿🇦 Unbox South African Black Friday Insights this October! 📈🛒
Calling all retailers or marketers looking to dominate in this year's Black Friday scene. Look no further! Join us for an exclusive webinar where we delve deep into the hottest trends, strategies, and insights you need to succeed this Black Friday. Stay tuned for more details next week!
We connect the right tech to businesses to build better connections with their customers. Our global tech stack is the top in the field of helping your business understand and connect with your customers. From social listening & customer experience technology to building your modern growth stack, our local support and expertise allow local enterprises to leverage leading global technologies for better customer engagement, insights, retention and growth.
📊🚀 Elevate your Instagram game with our 2024 Benchmark Report on Stories! 🌟 Here's what you'll discover:
📈 Increased Story frequency: Brands are ramping up their storytelling efforts.
🎯 Growing reach rates: Connect with more of your audience than ever before.
💡 Steady retention rates: Keep your viewers engaged from start to finish.
📸 Posts vs. Stories: Understand the dynamics for better engagement strategies.
🗓️ Perfect posting frequency: Find the sweet spot for your brand's Stories.
🖼️ Frame frequency insights: Shorter Stories are dominating the platform.
💬 Boost interaction: Learn how to prompt more replies and engagement.
🔍 Analyze exit rates: Understand when and why viewers drop off.
📱 Uncover engagement trends: Discover what types of content resonate most.
Unlock the full potential of your Instagram presence with Rival IQ's comprehensive insights! 🌟 Download now for actionable strategies to level up your social media game. 📲💬 #InstagramStories #SocialMediaMarketing
Hey there, savvy marketer! Want to stay ahead in the Martech game? YOUKNOW has got you covered. Our newsletter is your golden ticket to the latest tech insights, industry buzz, and exclusive events. Here’s why you’ll love it:
Product Updates: Get first dibs on our innovative solutions.
Industry Intel: Stay in the loop with the hottest news.
Exclusive Events: Network with the best and snag some cool swag.
Witty Reads: Say goodbye to boring emails and hello to a fab inbox.
Pop in your email below, it subscribe, and join the YOUKNOW crew. Because YOUKNOW where the best martech news is at!
Subscribe now and stay ahead with YOUKNOW Technologies
Amplitude North Star Playbook: Your Guide to Digital Product Analytics
Our friends at Amplitude put together The North Star Playbook to equip product managers, designers, and developers with a practical framework to stay focused and aligned on metrics that matter. Built for teams aiming to create better digital experiences, this playbook provides tools to define and activate your North Star goal, ensuring everyone moves in sync toward shared success. As the leader in product analytics, Amplitude knows a thing or two about uniting marketing and product teams around focus metrics across the full customer journey. Get expert insights, real-life examples and actionable exercises designed to help your team move beyond common pitfalls and distractions.
What's included:
The purpose, value, and elements of the North Star Framework.
How to define and name a North Star Metric and inputs.
Tips on how and when to change your North Star Metric.
Best practices for making the North Star Framework “stick” to your culture and processes.
Advice on troubleshooting & avoiding pitfalls
Say goodbye to churning out features and hello to clarity and coherence across the organisation.
Why YOUKNOW Technologies Partnered with Amplitude:
YOUKNOW Technologies is bringing Amplitude’s leading digital analytics solutions to South Africa, empowering businesses with deep insights into customer behaviour to optimise product experiences. Amplitude’s platform, trusted by nearly 3,000 global brands like Shopify, Uber, and Walmart, combines qualitative and quantitative data for a comprehensive view of user behaviour. Through this partnership, South African companies gain local support and solutions tailored to build skilled, cross-functional teams in self-service analytics, bridging the gap between global tech and local needs.
Prefer to have someone chat with you through the Amplitude North Star Playbook? Click here to book a session.
Join the Go Everywhere Club’s #JoinJogtober Challenge! 🌍💻🏃♀️🏃♂️
This October, we are hosting a Jogtober on our Go Everywhere Club - A Strava Group full of our fellow data lovers, industry pals and people who like to crunch numbers by day and smash PBs by the afternoon.
So how do you win?
It's all about logging the most activities on our Strava Group! Whether you’re a casual cyclist, pro runner, or padel fanatic, your activity counts — By the 31st of October, the person with the most activity wins an R2000 voucher! 🏆
Cool, how do I enter?
Fill out your details to get the Strava Club link
Join our Club
Log your activities
Stay active and aim for the top spot on the leaderboard
Introducing your 2023 Black Friday Snapshot. The perfect insights booster for your 2023 wrap-up, turning your data into actionable insights for your 2024 strategies. We dive into the top 6 takeaways of Black Friday 2023 as a data-driven guide to Black Friday 2024.
What's Inside:
🛍️ Is Black Friday still a big topic of conversation for consumers?
📣 Who were the biggest voices this Black Friday
🛒 What is Black Friday's new pivot?
👀 Which brands had the biggest visibility?
📈 How to drive engagement
This snapshot just scratches the surface of what our experts can do. Want to learn more about Brandwatch or explore custom reporting? Chat to our experts and let’s connect the dots for you.
Introducing Mixpanel's 2024 Benchmarks Report - Journey Through the Metrics 🔭
The Mixpanel team created this latest edition of the Mixpanel Benchmarks Report to be your navigation system in a universe of metrics. In it, they analyse two years of rollercoastering digital product metrics. By showing performance trends across key industries, these benchmarks will not only help you understand where your business stands in the competitive landscape but also provide a roadmap for improvement.
What's Inside:
🪐 A comparison of how products perform in four strategic areas:acquisition, engagement, retention, and marketing performance
🪐 A breakdown of product benchmarks, combined with industry-specific insights for Financial Services, Media & Entertainment, Ecommerce, Technology, Healthcare, and Gaming
🪐 An analysis of product performance across platforms, highlighting how mobile drives growth
🪐 Perspectives from industry leaders on market challenges, trends, and winning strategies
Want to learn more about product analytics or explore the world of Mixpanel? Chat to our experts and let’s connect the dots for you.
Are you eager to join a community of product managers, growth marketers, and industry pros in your city? Well, you're in luck! Data Draughts is growing bigegr and better than ever as our community continues to fill up with cool cats that love to chat data and product analytics. Sign up to get on the guest list and cheers with data peers. Picture rooftop views, cold brews, and great banter—what more could you want?
Fill out our sign-up form to stay updated on all our future Data Draught events
We will post upcoming events here.
What’s Data Draughts? Think of it as the happy hour where connections pour as smoothly as your favourite brew. Our next session is all about bringing together like-minded professionals to mingle, share, and spark brilliant ideas—all in a relaxed setting.
Why Join Us? 🍻 Sip on Insight: Engage in lively discussions with fellow pros who are just as passionate about data and growth as you are. 🍺 Raise a Glass to Real Talk: Share your stories, swap challenges, and celebrate wins—no fluff, just the good stuff. 🍷 Toast to New Connections: Build meaningful relationships in a welcoming atmosphere where ideas flow as freely as the drinks.
Who Should Attend? If you’re a product manager, growth marketer, or anyone obsessed with data-driven success, this event is for you! And don’t come alone—the more, the merrier! Share the link with your friends and colleagues so they can join the fun too.
Who is YOUKNOW? We’re YOUKNOW Technologies, your local martech experts. We’re all about bringing the best tools and insights to our clients, and Amplitude is one of the gems in our lineup. We’re passionate about helping businesses in South Africa harness the power of data to drive growth.
Introducing Rival IQ's latest annual Social Media Industry Benchmark Report, now turbocharged. They've surveyed thousands of top brands and companies to uncover the secrets of social success. This comprehensive report covers essential metrics from 2023 across 14 key industries:
🍻 Alcohol
👗 Fashion
💵 Financial Services
🍔 Food & Beverage
💄 Health & Beauty
👩🏾🎓 Higher Education
🛋️ Home Decor
🤳 Influencers
📱 Media
🎧 Tech & Software
💕 Nonprofits
✈️ Travel
🛍️ Retail
⚽️ Sports Teams
It's all you need to gauge your social media performance against competitors on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Gain valuable insights into evolving engagement trends and optimize your strategy for 2024.
Boost Your 2025 Marketing Strategies with the 2024 South African Stats Report
Do you truly understand your South African audience? In our latest 2024 South African Stats Report (powered by GWI’s Core data), we go beyond surface-level insights to reveal the unique habits, behaviours, and trends shaping South African consumers today. This Consumer Behaviour Report uncovers the motivations behind their purchasing decisions, from essential buying triggers to broader trends that will shape the future.
With this in-depth South African Report, you’ll be equipped to tailor your marketing strategies and engage with your audience effectively.
Inside the 2024 South African Stats Report, You’ll Discover:
The key drivers behind South African purchasing decisions
Emerging consumer behaviour trends specific to the South African market
Insights into the lifestylepreferences of local consumers
Tech user behaviour for your potential audience to enhance your marketing approach in South Africa
South African social media and media consuming habits
Why GWI for the 2024 South African Stats Report?
This isn’t guesswork. We’ve harnessed GWI’s globally trusted data to provide you with accurate, real-time insights relevant to South Africa. This up to date Consumer Behaviour Report offers a data-driven view into our local market, helping you make informed decisions.
Why Download This South African Report?
If you're looking to refine your marketing strategy, launch smarter products, or impress stakeholders, this free 2024 South African Stats Report is your essential guide to consumer success in South Africa.
Fill in our form to get your hands on our 2024 South African Stats Snapshot.
The heartbeat of a nation lies in its conversations, and the threads of dialogue are what weave our social fabric. Introducing "The South Africa Social SONA" snapshot, unlock conversations that shape our nation:
💁♀️ Barbie
Who’s mentioning Barbie?
How did people react?
Barbenheimer, who won?
🧵Threads
Are people talking about Threads?
How long did it take to reach 10 Million?
What is the fate of Threads?
🐦 X (Twitter)
The timeline of Twitter (x)
Is X going anywhere?
🏉 Rugby World Cup
Who is mentioning the RWC?
Who is leveraging the RWC?
The South Africa Social SONA Snapshot offers you an in-depth exploration of these captivating topics that have left their mark on our nation's social discourse. Join us on this journey as we unravel the threads that connect us all, examine the pulse of our social media landscape, and peek into the future of our digital interactions.
Download your copy now and gain exclusive insights into South Africa's vibrant social tapestry. Be a part of the conversation that shapes our nation!
Who is YOUKNOW Technologies?
We connect the right tech to businesses to build better connections with their customers. Our global tech stack is the top in the field of helping your business understand and connect with your customers. From social listening & customer experience technology to building your modern growth stack, our local support and expertise allow local enterprises to leverage leading global technologies for better customer engagement, insights, retention and growth.
Unlock Growth with Amplitude’s Guide to Product-Led Growth (PLG) 🚀
Ready to make your product your biggest growth driver? Amplitude’sProduct-Led Growth (PLG) guide is here to show you how to scale smarter, not harder.
Why PLG?
Product-led growth flips the script by letting your product lead the way:
1️⃣ Attract users with features that sell themselves. 2️⃣ Hook them with quick "aha" moments. 3️⃣ Keep them engaged with value-driven experiences. 4️⃣ Convert happy users into paying customers.
It’s efficient, scalable, and designed for growth-minded teams.
What You’ll Learn
Discover how to:
✅ Create “aha” moments that delight users. ✅ Use data to boost retention and revenue. ✅ Build a seamless, user-first growth strategy.
Who Is This For?
This guide is perfect for CXOs, Data Heads, Heads of Product, and Marketing Mavens who want to:
CXOs: Align data and ROI to drive top-line growth.
Data Heads: Centralize insights and deliver actionable results.
Heads of Product: Build data-driven experiences that retain users.
Marketing Mavens: Unlock customer insights and personalise campaigns.
What is Amplitude?
Amplitude is the leading Product Analytics Platform, empowering teams to turn data into action. From engagement to monetisation, it helps businesses build experiences users love.
At YOUKNOW Technologies, we’re proud resellers of Amplitude. We specialise in onboarding, implementation, and crafting tailored solutions for reporting and strategy, ensuring you get the most out of Amplitude to achieve your growth goals.
Get Started Today
Download Amplitude’s PLG Guide and start transforming your product strategy.
➡️ Want more?Book a demo with YOUKNOW Technologies and see how Amplitude powers PLG success.
Take Your Product-Led Growth (PLG) Strategy to the Next Level 🚀
Ready to go beyond the basics? Volume 2 of our partner Amplitude’s guide is your roadmap for turning PLG theory into action. If you’re looking to implement PLG in your organisation and start seeing measurable results, this guide is packed with practical insights and proven strategies.
Why Does PLG Matter?
PLG is about efficiency and scalability. By leveraging data, the right tech stack, and a growth-minded team, you can create seamless user journeys that drive acquisition, engagement, retention, and monetisation—all powered by your product.
What’s Inside Volume 2?
📈 Proven Methods for Growth Discover the strategies that drive acquisition, retention, and monetisation—the building blocks of a successful PLG motion.
📖 Tactics from Amplitude’s Playbook Learn the strategies and metrics Amplitude uses internally to fuel its own PLG success.
✨ Real Success Stories See how businesses of all sizes and industries have adopted PLG to scale sustainably and drive real results.
Whether you’re just starting out or fine-tuning your approach, this guide provides everything you need to craft engaging user experiences and build a scalable, growth-driven business.
What is Amplitude?
Amplitude is the leading Product Analytics Platform, helping teams turn data into action. From engagement to monetisation, it enables businesses to create user experiences that drive growth.
At YOUKNOW Technologies, we’re proud resellers of Amplitude. We specialise in onboarding, implementation, and crafting tailored solutions for reporting and strategy, so you can unlock the full potential of your PLG journey.
Start Your PLG Journey Today!
Download Product-Led Growth Guide Volume 2 now and gain actionable tips to accelerate growth, improve customer experiences, and drive your business forward.
➡️ Need help getting started? Book a run-through with YOUKNOW Technologies to see how we can guide you in implementing PLG strategies using Amplitude.
At YOUKNOW, we’re your local martech experts, here to help you unlock growth strategies and build something extraordinary. 💡
Students are more digitally connected than ever. As a marketer, social media manager or community manager in the education sector, you need to ensure that your institution’s social strategy is keeping up with their expectations. The 2025 Social Media Trends Report delivers the latest insights on how to attract, engage, and retain students through social media.
Why you need this report as a Marketer in Education:
🎓 Learn how to attract and engage with students properly on the platforms they love 📊 Gain actionable insights & stats for the education industry that will boost your strategy
🔎 Find a strategy that works for you and your students
👉 Fill in the form to download your free info sheet now. Or book a demo with Hootsuite to learn more about how it can help you improve your socials.
🦉🦉Who is Hootsuite?
Hootsuite is the ultimate tool for education marketers looking to boost student engagement and recruitment. Whether you’re managing a university, college, or online learning institution, Hootsuite helps you connect with prospective students where they already are, on social media. Use AI-powered insights to track enrolment trends, optimise content for engagement, and strengthen your institution’s online presence. From social media benchmarking to community-building strategies, Hootsuite provides the tools needed to increase visibility and enhance digital learning experiences.
At YOUKNOW, we’ve partnered with Hootsuite because it’s the ultimate tool for managing social media at scale. From content scheduling and analytics to social listening and engagement, Hootsuite helps businesses across industries streamline their social strategies and drive real results. As your local Martech experts, we make sure South African brands get the most out of Hootsuite, turning insights into action and engagement into growth.
Being a social media manager, community manager or marketer in the financial services space comes with unique challenges like compliance, complexity, and (let’s be honest) some pretty dry subject matter. The 2025 Social Media Trends Report breaks down how leading financial brands are making an impact on social media. This report from Hootsuite is packed with insights tailored for FinServ marketers, social media manager, community managers who want to improve engagement across their channels.
Why FinServ Social Media Managers Need This Report:
💬 Discover 2025 Trends that's working for other FinServ institutions on socials 📈 Determine which platform FinServ marketers and social media managers need to get the best ROI 🔍 Understand what’s causing FinServ marketers to change their social strategies in 2025
🦉Who is Hootsuite?
For financial services brands, engagement can be a challenge if you don’t know how to connect with your audience. With social listening tools, data-driven insights, and powerful automation, Hootsuite enables FinServ companies to build trust, increase customer loyalty, and drive engagement, from banks to financial institutions you can track real-time sentiment with Talkwalker and benchmark your social media performance. Whether you’re in investment banking, insurance, or payments, Hootsuite empowers you to create a social strategy that works for you.
At YOUKNOW, we’ve partnered with Hootsuite because it’s the ultimate tool for managing social media at scale. From content scheduling and analytics to social listening and engagement, Hootsuite helps businesses across industries streamline their social strategies and drive real results. As your local Martech experts, we make sure South African brands get the most out of Hootsuite, turning insights into action and engagement into growth.
The 2025 Social Media Trends Report from Hootsuite is packed with insights tailored for healthcare marketers, social media managers and community managers who want to cut through the noise and create meaningful connections. AI-powered analytics, social listening, and data-driven strategies are your key to building trust, educating audiences, and driving real engagement.
Why Healthcare Social Media Managers Need This Report:
✅ Discover how healthcare brands are switching up content to connect with their audiences on social media ✅ See what’s working in the healthcare industry specifically when it comes to social media trends ✅ Unlock proven strategies for building trust through content for healthcare social media managers
👉 Fill in the form to download your free info sheet now. Or book a demo with Hootsuite to learn more about how it can help you improve your socials.
🦉Who is Hootsuite?
Hootsuite is the go-to social media management platform for healthcare providers looking to enhance patient engagement and build trust. With AI-powered analytics, advanced social listening tools, and automated scheduling, Hootsuite helps hospitals, clinics, and healthcare marketers create educational content that truly resonates. Boost brand credibility, and increase awareness across social media channels. Whether you’re focused on digital patient outreach, telehealth engagement, or reputation management, Hootsuite simplifies healthcare social media management.
At YOUKNOW, we’ve partnered with Hootsuite because it’s the ultimate tool for managing social media at scale. From content scheduling and analytics to social listening and engagement, Hootsuite helps businesses across industries streamline their social strategies and drive real results. As your local Martech experts, we make sure South African brands get the most out of Hootsuite, turning insights into action and engagement into growth.
Ready to crush 2025? The 2025 Social Trends Report, brought to you by Hootsuite and hosted by us at YOUKNOW Technologies, is here to give you the inside scoop on what’s shaping the social media world next year. Packed with insights and strategies, this is your shortcut to staying ahead of the curve.
What's in it for you?
Hot trends redefining social in 2025
Benchmarks to see if you’re winning (or need to level up)
Proven playbooks to turn engagement into real results
This isn’t your average report—it’s your toolkit for smarter decisions, stronger connections, and actual ROI. Marketers, business leaders, and social media pros, we’re looking at you.
Why Hootsuite?
Hootsuite is the ultimate social sidekick. Whether you’re scheduling, analysing, or just trying to keep up, it’s the platform that makes managing your social channels seamless. Think of better workflows, smarter strategies, and results you can brag about.
YOUKNOW Technologies is your go-to for making Hootsuite work harder for you. We’re local Martech experts, and we know what South African businesses need to shine.
Get the Goods
👉 Fill out the form to download the report now and book a Hootsuite demo while you’re at it.
Let’s make 2025 the year your social strategy gets a glow-up.
Government agencies are shifting gears, focusing on relevant and engaging posts to build trust, and credibility through social media. That’s why as a marketer, social media manager or community manager, you might need some guidance. The 2025 Social Media Government Trends Report highlights best practices, the use of AI, content experimentation and strategies that make public service communication more effective than ever.
Why Social Media Marketers in Government Need This Report:
🏛️ Understand how to engage better on socials as a marketer in government sectors. 📢 See how AI is being used by social marketers in government across the globe. 📊 Learn why social teams have been ditching brand consistency for more creative content.
👉 Fill in the form to download your free info sheet now. Or book a demo with Hootsuite to learn more about how it can help you improve your socials.
Who is Hootsuite?
Hootsuite is your go-to tool to modernise your social media strategies and improve public engagement. With real-time social listening, AI-driven analytics, and multi-platform publishing, Hootsuite can help you make sure that government communications are transparent, timely, and impactful. Use it to monitor public sentiment, manage crisis communication, and foster community engagement. Whether you’re in local government, public services, or policymaking, Hootsuite helps you deliver the right message to the right audience efficiently and effectively.
At YOUKNOW, we’ve partnered with Hootsuite because it’s the ultimate tool for managing social media at scale. From content scheduling and analytics to social listening and engagement, Hootsuite helps businesses across industries streamline their social strategies and drive real results. As your local Martech experts, we make sure South African brands get the most out of Hootsuite, turning insights into action and engagement into growth.
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