10 Reasons Businesses in Tanzania Should Invest in Marketing
Tanzania is poised to reach middle-income status, and tourism can be leveraged to promote faster economic growth, additional productive jobs, more fiscal revenues and additional foreign exchange earnings “
With its unparalleled natural beauty, vibrant cultures, and growing hospitality sector, Tanzania is quickly becoming one of Africa’s top tourist destinations.
This influx of visitors presents a golden opportunity for local businesses in the tourism sector—from restaurants and hotels to safari and tour companies.
However, some business owners may think that with so many tourists pouring in, there’s no need to invest in a marketing strategy. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
So I have compiled ten compelling reasons why partnering with a marketing company is essential for business success in Tanzania:
1. Stand Out in a Crowded Market:
With more tourists come more businesses vying for their attention. A marketing company can help you create a unique brand identity that makes your business stand out. By highlighting what makes your services special—whether it’s your eco-friendly tours, locally sourced cuisine, or personalized hospitality—marketing professionals ensure that tourists choose your business over the competition.
2. Target the Right Audience
Not all tourists are the same. Marketing experts use data-driven strategies to target the right audience, ensuring that your promotions reach those most likely to be interested in your services.
For example Simply IT uses tools that show us who is searching anywhere in the world. on the internet, for businesses, services, hotels, restaurants and holiday tours. We know their location, language, demographics and what they type in (or more commonly ‘speak’ into their devices to search engines. Also, we know when we build a marketing strategy that includes a website, social media or online advertising exactly how effective the promotional campaigns are. We produce reports about the results for our clients so they know precisely how much return on investment they are getting.
This precision targeting can result in higher engagement and conversion rates, translating to more bookings and higher revenue.
3. Enhance Your Online Presence:
In today’s digital age, an online presence is non-negotiable. Marketing companies can help you build and maintain a strong online presence through an optimized website, engaging social media content, and effective online advertising campaigns. A well-maintained online presence not only attracts more visitors but also builds credibility and trust.
A good example of this is Emerson Zanzibar Hotels in Stone Town. During the covid pandemic in 2020 they worked with Simply IT to develop a marketing strategy that included social media, website and careful Search Engine Optimisation. Everything was organic and not a cent was paid in online advertising campaigns.
By 2023 Emerson Zanzibar was the most visited website of any business in the whole of Stone Town. Emerson Zanzibar restaurants, hotels and live events continue to be a top authentic cultural attraction in Zanzibar thanks to a solid data-driven marketing strategy.
4. Build Relationships with Customers:
Effective marketing is about more than just making sales—it’s about building relationships. By engaging with customers through newsletters, social media interactions, and personalized offers, a marketing company helps foster loyalty and repeat business. This relationship-building is crucial for long-term success in the tourism industry.
Simply IT uses a special strategy for its clients when it runs their social media accounts. Whilst being data-driven, it keeps a personal touch and works closely with influencers and content creators from within the audience and customer-base of the client. This fosters a feeling of ownership and loyalty particularly in the hotel industry.
Simply IT helped Emerson Zanzibar hotels not only increase their Instagram following from 2K in 2022 to over 11K in 2024, but many of their loyal followers interact, continue to stay engaged and contribute to posts even when they return home.
5. Keep Up with Market Trends:
The tourism sector is dynamic, with trends and preferences constantly evolving. A marketing company stays on top of these trends, ensuring that your business remains relevant and appealing to tourists. Whether it’s leveraging the latest social media platform or tapping into emerging travel preferences, marketing experts ensure that your strategy is always current.
By studying Search Engine keywords Simply IT can tell the trends at least 6 months before tourists arrive on the island. Nationality, language, age and interests are all useful in developing ad campaigns to make businesses visible to potential tourists.
6. Create Compelling Content:
Content is king, especially in the tourism industry. High-quality content—such as stunning photographs, engaging blog posts, and informative videos—can captivate potential customers and inspire them to choose your business. Marketing companies have the expertise to create content that not only grabs attention but also tells your brand’s story effectively.
7. Optimize Your Budget:
Many business owners worry about the cost of marketing. However, a good marketing company can help you get the most out of your budget by identifying the most effective channels and strategies for your business. This optimization means that every dollar spent on marketing works harder to bring in new customers and grow your business.
The Zanzibar Home Nursing website is a good example of a very affordable website designed to maximise visibility. Simply IT also added multiple languages (at a cost of only $100 per language per year) to its functionality and it definitely features top in most searches relating to nursing in Zanzibar.
8. Measure and Improve:
One of the key benefits of working with a marketing company is the ability to measure the success of your marketing efforts. Through analytics and reporting, marketing professionals can track what works and what doesn’t, allowing for continuous improvement. This data-driven approach ensures that your marketing strategy evolves to become more effective over time.
A great example of this continual improvement of online presence is the Urban Care Clinics in Fumba Town and also in Paje. With the use of online tracking of trends and what keywords and phrases website visitors search and where they go, Simply IT has been able to advise marketing strategies that have kept Urban Care firmly at the top.
9. Access Professional Expertise:
Marketing is a specialized field that requires knowledge, experience, and creativity. By partnering with a marketing company, you gain access to a team of professionals who are experts in their field. This expertise can make a significant difference in the success of your marketing efforts, ensuring that your campaigns are not only creative but also strategically sound.
Simply IT has decades of experience in the Digital Marketing sector in Europe and across Africa. Our experts produce a clearand concise marketing strategy every year for ourselves. Our website and online presence rank us very visible in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and across East Africa.
With the many changes that AI is bringing to Search Engine Optimisation we continue to lead by example.
10. Focus on What You Do Best:
Let’s face it, running a business in the tourism sector is demanding.
At Simply IT we take our hats off to you and we are in awe of the courage, determination and dedication it takes to make a business successful. We are as passionate as you are in making sure your dream is fulfilled.
By outsourcing your marketing to a professional company, like Simply IT, you can focus on what you do best—providing exceptional experiences for your customers.
This ensures that every aspect of your business is handled by those with the right skills and knowledge, leading to better overall performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while the increasing number of tourists in Tanzania presents an incredible opportunity, it’s crucial for businesses to invest in a solid marketing strategy. By working with a marketing company, you can ensure that your business not only attracts more visitors but also stands out in a competitive market, builds strong customer relationships, and continuously improves its marketing efforts. In the long run, this investment will pay off in the form of increased bookings, higher revenue, and a stronger brand reputation.
So, why wait? Embrace the power of professional marketing and watch your business thrive in Tanzania’s booming tourism industry!
Simply IT offers a suite of SEO tools that can help you build a strong SEO presence with your multilingual website.
From analysis of your competitors, keyword research to on-page optimization, multilingual SEO and backlink building, Simply IT can help you through the steps involved in building a successful multilingual site that features prominently in all the language search engines.
Contact Us Today.
Digital Marketing Articles
See All
Digital Marketing
5 Reasons websites in Tanzania need to be in multiple languages
We explore five reasons why Tanzania websites need to be in multiple languages, based on the latest research and best practices in localization. Simply IT is a Digital Marketing agency in Tanzania working with clients in Europe in France, Holland, Italy and Germany.
December 26, 2023
Digital Marketing
Multi-language Website SEO for East Africa
Multilingual SEO is definitely the way forward in East Africa to get an edge not just in Africa but globally. Beat your competitors and drive traffic and revenue by translating your website content into other languages.
August 13, 2023
Digital Marketing
8 Steps to get your website top on Google
Learn how to optimise your website for SEO with our top 8 tips straight from our experts here at Simply IT Tanzania
August 11, 2023
English 
Swahili 
Amharic 
Danish 
Dutch 
French 
German 
Italian 
Polish 
Arabic