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INFOTECH: Technology Partnership Puts SMEs on the Map
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A new partnership between the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) and digital mapping company TomTom will ensure that about 75 000 of South Africa’s small businesses get noticed by potential customers. This is a new geo-locator service to help small businesses gain greater visibility
The NSBC and TomTom will provide members with a “Put Your Business On The Map” service and an Address Validation Tool (AVT) which will help small businesses achieve greater visibility.
Mike Anderson, NSBC Founder and CEO says with the business geo-locator, small enterprises can now help new and existing customers find them quickly and easily. “In this way we can grow local small business, build local communities, drive job creation and ultimately build the nation,” Anderson says.
Utilising the power of technology
“Put Your Business On The Map” is a high-tech digital map that allows businesses to convert their geographical locations to Points of Interest (POI) and then place these on the most widely used digital map in Africa.
Businesses that convert their locations to corporate POI’s allow customers to search, locate and plot the most direct route to their addresses on the TomTom App or any of the TomTom portable navigation devices (PND’s).
The AVT is an automated address capturing system which can select provinces, cities, towns, suburbs, street names and numbers as well as a postal code for a specific address. The ability to filter this level of detail results in accurate, well-structured address and GPS co-ordinates.
Increasing brand awareness
The tool is also a precise form of direct marketing as it talks to a captive audience of GPS/PND owners and millions of internet users. Being “mapped” means that business owners can build brand awareness and enhance their company’s visual identity with brand icons.
Small businesses in South Africa make up a large percentage of the commercial sector and contribute significantly to local communities as well as economic growth. With the help of modern technology, the private sector can help grow entrepreneurship in South Africa.
Author: Wilma den Hartigh
Business News Sector Tags: Infotech|