The Digital Marketing Landscape in the Philippines

People in the marketing and advertising industries are quite familiar with the term Digital Marketing. It has been used for quite some time already, but it hasn’t been given an exact definition.

What many people know is that it compasses so many things related to marketing and promotion – banner advertising, blogging, e-mail marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), podcasting, pay-per-click (PPC), and so much more. However, if you read that closely, it’s easy to see what digital marketing is not.

Digital Marketing is a form of marketing strategy that veers away from what we’re used to such as print ads, large billboard ads, TV commercials, and radio advertisements that don’t necessarily produce instantaneous feedback that reaches the knowledge of business owners.

Finding out how many people responded positively to a commercial they saw on TV takes a while, and sometimes, the data gathered are merely assumed numbers.

On the other hand, since digital marketing revolves around the Internet, verifying feedback, call-to-action responses, and more becomes so much easier.

Digital Marketing in the Philippines

Digital marketing is fast gaining ground in the Philippines, all thanks to the majority of Filipinos’ affinity to the Internet, particularly social media.

In fact, a special report explicitly said that Internet access in the Philippines enjoyed a staggering 500% growth over the last four years! That’s not hard to believe considering almost everyone in the Philippines, young and old alike, owns laptops, computers, tablets, and smartphones.

Because of their exposure to the Internet, Filipinos are becoming more and more tech-savvy. Whereas before, they were content with accessing the Internet to browse YouTube videos, check their emails, or browse their social networking accounts, nowadays, they have become more adventurous in exploring the World Wide Web.

Many Filipinos are now active bloggers, video bloggers, social media managers, online shoppers, and more, and all these despite the fact that about 70% of Filipinos have yet to have Internet access.

That says a lot about the potential for growth of digital marketing in the Philippines. That’s also the reason why business owners who want to reach many prospective customers should strive harder to be where these people are – online.

On that note, let’s look at four things business owners and digital marketers can do to rake in those immeasurable ROIs.

1. Visuals say a lot in internet marketing.

Most would agree that content marketing is usually the first option of digital marketers when brainstorming campaign ideas.

There’s actually nothing wrong with that, except that most digital marketers focus on a single aspect of content marketing – writing articles.

The truth is articles are not the only form of content. Videos, comics, white paper, PR, and infographics are all forms of content that digital marketers can try out.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a visually stimulating infographic can say a lot about your business.

What’s more, some people just don’t have time to read lengthy articles but enjoy looking at visual content posted on Pinterest or Instagram during their lunch break.

So tap into your inner Picasso and start doodling those infographics and see your business soar.

2. Diversity is the key if you want to win in your Digital Marketing Campaign.

There was a time when social media meant Facebook, Twitter, and occasionally, YouTube.

Nevertheless, the emergence of more diverse social media players like Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Path, and even Tumblr is making business owners think twice.

Apparently, experts see these social media platforms dominating many digital marketing campaigns not only this year but also in the coming years.

Hence, business owners should start zeroing in on these and use these to their advantage.

3. Sharing is caring.

Creating a blog for your business is a great way to build not only a strong online presence but also links.

A blog requires a tremendous amount of work from your end, but you can actually turn the tide around and make your customers do the branding for you.

First, make sure your blog has a seamless look that makes it easy for visitors to leave meaningful comments.

Second, make sure to integrate social media sharing buttons to prompt visitors to share the content they just read on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and everywhere else.

4. Steer your Digital Marketing in the right direction.

Pay close attention to location-based digital marketing.

What does that mean?

Many smartphone and tablet users install apps with GPS or location-based features. At the same time, a few of the more popular social networking sites encourage users to “check-in” and update everyone on their location anywhere they are in the world.

If digital marketers focus on location-based digital marketing, it would be so much easier for them to send the most relevant content or information to their existing and potential customers based on their geographical location, which in turn leads to a more personalized approach.

There you have it; four things you can try out to jumpstart your digital marketing campaigns.

Please read part 2 of our review on the latest Digital Landscape and Digital Transformation (DX) in the Philippines in our blog entitled “How Digital Marketing Helps Philippine Businesses Fast-Track Growth“.