Table Mountain, Cape Town - copyright Peppermint Source
In the week or two since Peppermint Source launched, we’ve been thrilled to have been approached by two London-based companies to discuss how they can outsource their regular marketing communications to us here in South Africa.
With advances in internet and other communication technologies, it no longer matters where you are in the world. But does South Africa in particular appeal to UK and US clients as an outsourcing option? Here’s what we think:
- The exchange rate. Today, US$1 will buy you 7.59 South African Rands (ZAR) and a British pound is worth ZAR12.02. Simply, your money will go further. Check the latest exchange rates here.
- English. Many South Africans speak English as their first language, and many more speak it fluently as a second or third language (or even 11th… did you know we have 11 official language here?!). We use British English here, but are totally comfortable writing for North American audiences too.
- Cultural similarities. OK, so we call a barbecue a ‘braai’ and are very proud of being part of Africa and all its traditions, but in business, our culture is very similar to that of the UK or North America.
- Longitude. There’s only a one- or two-hour difference between the UK and South Africa, depending on the time of year. There’s a good eight-hour window where you and your outsourced team will be at work at the same time. And for our North American friends, you can brief us in the afternoon and know that the work will be in your inbox by the time you get to work the next morning
- World knowledge. Tons of South Africans (particularly in our pool over at Freelancentral) have worked abroad at some stage. Many in the UK; some in the US, Canada, and more… So while we may be locate down at the bottom of Africa, we’re quite world-wise and understand your country’s culture and marketing landscape.
- Online savvy. While a huge portion of our population still does not have access to the internet, a small but fast-growing segment does, and is doing some amazing things online. Cape Town in particular is focusing on this – check out the Silicon Cape initiative.
- Others are doing it already. We have a growing call centre industry and many IT or online companies outsource their development to South Africa. Marketing’s next
- It’s gorgeous here. South Africa’s such a beautiful country, so if you do decide that a face-to-face meeting is required, we don’t think you’ll need much persuading to hop on that plane…
Are you from a UK, US or other English-speaking country, interested in outsourcing your company’s marketing to South Africa? We can help you with strategy, marketing plans, regular communications like newsletters, blog posts, social media account maintenance, websites, brochures and much, much more.
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[...] But yes, we’re off to London next week to meet and run Marketing Healthchecks with a couple of British clients who have realised that outsource their marketing to us is a great idea [...]