AdAd.co.za is committed to providing quality mobile web services and for the most part providing them for free.

For premium customers we only charge against AdAd credits and you have to purchase these through a prescribed method. We then only charge for described services and we tell you clearly what service will cost. All transactions are then visible in your zone and you can query any transaction at any time.

Unfortunately the South African Mobile Web Landscape also has people who do not have particularly honest methods – they will get you to click some link (often for an IQ test or ringtones/games) and then will start charging you fees every day/week or month – sometimes as much as R50 a week.

Bizarrely the mobile operators often let these dubious players get away with such scams so it is best to play safe when on the mobile web. Here are a few tips to help make you mobile web experience a good (and scam free) one.

1. Do not click on ringtone/wallpaper/game ads and offers unless you have read everything and are aware of the costs. If no costs/details about costs are described then do not click – just press the back button. AdAd.co.za is now blocking ringtone based ads for your security but you should still be careful. Also if that’s your thing you should have a look at sites like zedge & getjar.

2. Anything that says IQ test – avoid!

3. Report any dodgy ads to us (admin@adad.co.za) and we will try to block them from our site. We will also start naming and shaming (As the operators and WASPA should be doing).

4. If you do start getting SMSs that you think they have unfairly signed you up for then – please file a complaint with Waspa.org.za here – http://www.waspa.org.za/code/complaint.shtml, they have the power to fine a load of these “service providers”. Also immediately send the stop short code – if one provided (if they don’t send one they are in breach of conditions)

Okay that’s it, don’t be afraid – the mobile web is a fun place to be with lots of great free resources but remember to be safe, report and complain when you need to.

Okay, you have added an ad – now what? Well adad.co.za doesn’t just stop there – there are a number of things you can do as you will see below: -

1. You can change your Ad – Very useful if you’ve made a mistake or simply want to change some details. Just login and go to your zone >> now click the manage my Ads button and you will be taken to a list of your ads. Choose the ad you want to change and you will get the edit screen up which allows you to change your ad however you want – see the pic below.

You can change the title, you can edit any piece of text, you can add your pictures, you can move text and pics around or simply add some more text. The full list of options should be clear from the example. You can also unpublish your ad if you want to or if it is out of date – remember you only get 5 free published ads so you may want to unpublish old ones to get new ones.

2. You can send an MMS picture and add it to your Ad

If you have used your own phone number (which you should of – see http://adad.co.za/ms.php?i=79)  then if you send an MMS with a picture to ad@adad.co.za then this picture will get attached to your account and you can use it on any Ads.

3. You can send an SMS link of your Ad to numbers on your cellphone number database or spread the word by email or twitter.

If you have adad credits then you can send a mobile web link to your clients – this is great for promotions and special offers. Every SMS costs 4 adad credits (each costs around R0.10c). Currently every new user gets 5 credits when they sign up so why not try it out.

You can also send the link via email or, if you are logged onto Twitter, you can tweet the link.

4. You can feature your Ad (gold, silver or bronze level)

If you want your ad to stand out – why not feature it? Each location/sub-category has a gold, silver and bronze slot – Gold ads are always shown at the top of the section, silver ads 2nd and bronze ads 3rd. If you slot is taken you have to wait or choose another slot. You can purchase slots with adad credits for 3, 7 or 28 days and the amount is shown on the feature your ad page.

There are more benefits and things to do coming soon so watch this space.

And now you know – why not do more than just “Add an Ad to AdAd“

Adad.co.za now contains a useful information section that contains exactly that. We are eager to make the site a useful cellphone Internet destination for South Africans and as such we are now including some important information that is otherwise not generally available. The useful information we have got on is listed below: -

• Important Numbers for emergencies etc..
• South African Phone Codes
• Full text of the South African bill of rights
• Batho Pele Info

In the near future we will also be adding local police station numbers and local hospital numbers. If there is anything else you would like to have on your phone please let us know and we will do our best to get it on the site.

Using AdAd.co.za is a great way of starting to use mobile advertising in South Africa. The best thing about it is that it is free and linked into many mobile technologies. However there are lots of other ways that you can use advertising based around cellphones. We have produced a brief guide below for your information.

1. Using Bulk SMS

One of the most simple ways to utilise cellphone technology to advertise is my using bulk SMS. If you can get cellphone numbers off of your clients, customers and constituants and they give you permission you can send out promotional SMS messages using a simple bulk messaging client. The 2 biggest bulk messaging providers in South Africa are Clickatell and BulkSMS and you can get SMS’s from either for (+ or -) 30c (a lot depends on the bulk you buy). Both have easy to use interfaces and are reliable.

You should target your SMSs so that they will be relevant  and will not be regarded as junk by the people receiving. There is a danger (if you send messages to uninterested people) that they may get a negative view of you/your product as a result (exactly the opposite of what you need to achieve).

Of course if you include a link to an AdAd mobile web ad or your own mobi site then you could benefit in that you would be able to provide lots more information to the customer and engage with them more.

2. SMS shortcodes and links

Often you will see shortcodes (5 digit phone numbers) advertised together with the option to send a word to that number. This is widely used for getting people to subscribe to cellphone download services. You can also use this method to get people to go to your mobile web ad or mobi site – see for example how thumbtribe use it here -

To get a short code you need to go to the operators or a provider like clickatell. Details of vodacom’s solution is here http://www.vodacommobilemedia.co.za/rates_media_enabling_services_short_codes.html

3. Admob advertising

Admob are one of the leading mobile web advertising firms currently operating in South Africa. They allow you to place ads with their publishers and take a commission on each ad clicked. Of course to use this you need mobile content such as an AdAd mobile web Ad or your own mobi site to link to. The current cost per click in South Africa is between R0.50 and R3.50 (they set prices in US Dollars). The more you bid the more likely you ad will be shown based on the other advertisers bids and the amount of content available.

If you bid a low amount you ad will probably not get shown whereas if you bid to high then you will pay a lot per click and your budget could be exhausted quickly. Therefore it pays to experiment with this. You can also register as a publisher and serve admob ads on your site and then use them to re-advertise. It should be made clear that click through rates are generally very low – often less than 1%.

4. Mxit Advertising

The below is taken from the mxit site – http://www.mxitlifestyle.com/MXit-and-your-business

“What does MXit have to offer you?

The ability to deliver your message directly to the entire MXit community via text messages; the ability to link to downloadable content in the form of podcasts, music and movie clips directly to their mobile phone; feedback forms where you can ask questions and allow them to respond; branded content in the form of Wallpapers, Skinz and Emoticards offer a great branding opportunity;Splash Screen advertising uniquely targeted at your demographical sector; portal hosting and customised competitions to name but a few. Each feature is priced individually so you only pay for what you want.

There is an interesting look at Mxit over at http://www.mobile-zeitgeist.com/2009/05/15/mxit/trackback/

5. Mobile Vouchers

Tying in mobile vouchers with a SMS campaign and a mobi site or a mobile web ad in becoming more common. If someone can show a personalised SMS with a code or show a downloaded on online picture of a personalised voucher then they get some kind of discount on goods.

It is a potential win-win. As a seller you get to add customer information to your database which you can use in the future. As a customer you get a better consumer experience and “something for free”.

6. Mobile Operators Advertising

Mobile operator hold a lot of cards with regard to mobile advertising.

http://www.vodacommobilemedia.co.za shows the wealth of potential advertising opportunities the operators can offer.  The Vodacom portal is one of the most visited sites on the mobile web because it is preset as the home page on a lot of devices.  They have also made it zero rated (people don’t pay for data to use their portal services) which is pretty hard for other portals to compete with.

They offer CPC and CPM banner ads (ignore the CPM). The mini-portal and Tenancies options are really for big content/download providers. They offer mobi-sites starting at R7500 which is high. One area that could be great for specific campaigns is the please call me advertising which seems very reasonable for the potential reach.

In the future it is clear that mobile operators will want to put  emphasis on location aware based advertising . The Grid is already testing this out.

7. Create you own Mobi Site

You can create you own mobile website or get a professional firm to create on for you. You can also use services such as winksite.com or mobisitegalore.com

A quick word of warning – A mobile website that is not marketed is invisible and it is much harder to market a mobile site than a traditional web site. Therefore you should also use other marketing and SEO techniques to get people to visit your mobi site.  Some important marketing elements to consider are a traditional web site, a blog, press releases as well as leveraging any existing customer relationships. Of course creating an AdAd.co.za mobile classified ad for your site will provide a valuable link.

It is also important to try to generate some kind of viral marketing around your mobi site. Some interesting ideas for viral promotion at http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341e2daf53ef01053695600b970c

8. Organised campaigns from specialised agencies

Of course if you don’t what to get your hands dirty and you have a load of many to spend why not just get a specialised mobile advertising agency to spend your money wisely. There are a few specialist about including: -

• cellsmart
• cerebra
• mobilitrix
• brandsh

Of course you can also take ideas from the big brands but they have a lot of money to play with. Coca-cola are currently running a campaign based around USSD – you enter your ringpull number on the *120 request and  then get told whether you are an instant winner – Either way you can still see some extra promotional information.

9. Further reading

This article gives you the basics and hopefully you will see that AdAd.co.za can play a role in your mobile marketing strategy. Of course there are many other articles and blogs out there to give you more information. The following sources are recommended: -

• http://www.bizcommunity.com/196/78.html
• http://ezinearticles.com/?South-Africa-and-the-New-Wave-of-Mobile-Websites&id=3150582
• http://metrics.admob.com/
• http://blog.mjelly.com/mobile_advertising/
• http://www.matthewbuckland.com/?tag=mobile-advertising
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_advertising

Good luck!

1. Go to http://adad.co.za

2. Click the “Add your free Ad” link.

3. Choose a Location – the default location screen lets you choose from Jozi, Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Bloem, PE or provinces. Jozi, Cape Town and Durbs allow you to set an area if you want e.g. Johannesburg, Soweto. Provinces also let you choose the big towns/areas in the province.

4. Choose a Category – There are 8 main ones – choose from “For Sale”, Housing, Jobs, Vehicles, Services, Personals (18+ only), Community & Pets – There is also an ‘everything else’ category and a ‘Just Testing’* category.

5. Choose a Subcategory – Each category lets you choose from a list of subcategories.

6. Click “Write your Ad”

7. Put in a Title and some text. If your phone can upload pics then you may want to add a picture.

8. (optional) Add more text and pics (up to 4) as required

9. Click “Submit your Ad”

10. If you are not logged on then login or register to Publish your Ad.

Now you have a mobile web Ad which people can view on their Internet enabled cellphones. You can edit it and if you have AdAd Credits you can feature your Ad or send it to people via SMS. You also now have an AdAd account which you can use for messaging, commenting and attaching MMS pics.

Two important things to note

• AdAd.co.za is primarily a free service – registering and adding your first 5 Ads is free
• We have a strict no spam policy which works both ways – We remove spam posts and ask users to report spam.  We will not contact you without your permission – we will also not publish your registered cell number unless you include it in an Ad.

So, why not try it out now – Your free mobile web ad is less than 5 minutes away

Thx and regards

Rob Allen

*If you don’t want to Add an Ad but want to test this out then please use the “Just Testing” Category.

Hi,

This is the AdAd.co.za blog which will contain updates and associated info around our mobile classifieds and related services. Of course the main adad.co.za site is at http://adad.co.za and is totally optimised for all mobile browsers.  We believe that we are running South Africa’s Best Mobile Classifieds site – we believe that there is no better (or cheaper) way of advertising in South Africa – No Downloads are required – AdAd.co.za uses as little data as possible to convey a great user experience.

We will also be putting the user guides here so you will able able to see how easy it is to Add your Free Ad to AdAd.co.za and

• Manage you Ads
• Feature your Ads
• Send SMS Links to your Ads
• Message other users
• Browse other Ads
• View other Useful Information
• And Much More …

Of course there is no simpler way to learn than to just use  it – so why not register your number now and take advantage of our services.