Connect: Writing for Online Audiences is a timeous guide for South Africans working in the digital space. It encapsulates the current digital landscape in South Africa, with its constraints and opportunities for reaching audiences via social media platforms, websites, blogs, apps and email. It is designed to help students, as well as industry decision-makers, connect with audiences, whether as social media managers, search engine writers, digital analysts, copywriters, content marketing strategists or digital public relations executives. Primarily, these are all online storytellers and this book aims to assist them in achieving their goals.

About the Authors

The contributing authors are all well-respected experts in their fields who share their invaluable experience in this book:

Dr Maritha Pritchard is a senior lecturer in the Department of Strategic Communication at the University of Johannesburg. Her published research interest is digital media and she has presented on the topic at several local and international conferences. Maritha has over 20 years’ industry experience and regularly presents digital media strategy workshops for the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa’s CPD programmes. She is also a judge in the digital and social media marketing categories for the annual PRISM awards for excellence in the public relations industry.

Karabo Sitto is a lecturer in the Department of Strategic Communication at the University of Johannesburg. She joined academia on a full-time basis in 2016, having previously lectured part-time while working in the digital advertising industry. Prior to taking on her role in academia, she spent over a decade in several corporate roles cutting across finance, marketing, digital advertising and public relations. She is currently working towards completing her doctoral degree at the University of Johannesburg.

Introduction • Understanding the characteristics of online writing • Developing an online profile and persona • Designing a digital communication strategy • Email as a relationship marketing channel • Developing website content and enhancing user-experience • Digital public relations • Writing for Search Engines • Blogging • Storytelling for social media platforms • The ethical challenges of digital media • Metrics and analytics for ROI • Essential digital business tools for organisations