Now more than ever, digital marketing is an essential consideration when running small businesses in the Philippines. And why not? Digital marketing campaigns can pave a wider and more successful customer reach for your products or services than it would if you stick with conventional marketing.
Consider these figures from a study in December 2020:
- No. of social network users in the Philippines – 76.2 million people as of January 2020, accounting for more than half of the country’s population
- No. of Facebook users in the Philippines – 73 million people as of June 2020, with monthly traffic of 600 million
- Average no. of hours Filipinos spend on social media – 4 hours
- Facebook’s market share of social media market in the Philippines – 92.7%
Imagine just how much these numbers had ballooned when the coronavirus lockdown started. Physical isolation and the government’s restriction of people’s movements not only gave rise to new laptop, desktop, and smartphone users, but more and more people have become internet savvy as well.
Senior citizens who were left at home eventually learned to hire cleaning services or buy medicines online. Displaced tricycle drivers who applied and got hired in food delivery jobs had to learn how to navigate the service app, on the fly, in order to be effective at their job and sustain it. Even very young kids may have learned to use certain online apps out of sheer necessity, aside from having to adjust to an online school setup. Internet use had risen massively as people adjusted to the ‘new normal’.
Telling data and rapid developments aside, many small businesses in the Philippines today haven’t yet tapped into the smart potential of digital marketing. In general, it’s either because they are not ready or they just don’t see the need for it.
Why Small Businesses In The Philippines Are Putting Off Digital Marketing Campaigns
According to the GoDaddy 2020 Global Entrepreneurship Survey, 60% of Philippine small business owners rely on technology to maintain their businesses during the pandemic, with 51% of them using social media and messaging apps as their means to reach their customers. Of these, only 43% are considering having their own website and 38% are eyeing the e-commerce space.
Let’s look further at the mindsets that keep small businesses from fully utilizing this marketing strategy, then we’ll unravel the beneficial impacts of digital marketing.
1. Money and time constraint
Small businesses deal with different sets of priorities. Competing online is regarded as time-consuming and complicated and, therefore, a low priority. Instead of allocating resources for this kind of campaigns, they would rather spend their time and hard-earned cash towards other aspects, such as hiring additional staff, store expansion, product improvement or personal projects and emergencies. Small businesses can have very different realizations about digital marketing, especially when they are still in the learning stage.
2. Contentment with what’s familiar
Many of today’s small businesses in the Philippines are a bit averse to technology or to new ways of marketing their business. Some have grown their business into its current manageable status through more conventional advertising such as signages, simple billboards or even radio advertising, and they would prefer it that way. They assume that as long as they maintain a high quality of products or services, customers will buy and support what they offer through active recommendations.
3. Not going beyond the physical location
Some small businesses may be strategically located and are highly visible to a good traffic of people. They are satisfied with the regular turnout of customers and don’t see the need for advertising, let alone digital marketing. They cling to the status quo.
4. Small crowd mentality
There are also business owners who view ‘small business’ in its literal sense. They find convenience in catering to a small crowd of customers, most of whom are friends or long-time loyal customers. Familiarity has more weight than growth.
In this digital age, when online commerce is inevitably getting more widespread, these excuses are becoming more irrelevant. Procrastination cannot be an option if you want to thrive as a business.
Why Digital Marketing Is Important
There is an enormous value in leveraging digital marketing to boost your business if you truly want to stay in the game. Read on especially if you identify as a small business with a growth mindset.
1. A cost-effective means to reach a wider marketplace
Compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing can get you to a much wider customer base at significantly less time and cost. Especially if you do a target-oriented digital marketing campaign, you can attract customers who match your niche and then turn that lead into an actual sale. It’s most cost-effective when those customers turn out to be high-paying and repeat customers.
Consider also those potential customers who, while not exactly your target, may become curious and interested in your product. They may also know someone to whom they could recommend your products or services. Remember that when we say wider marketplace, we are not just referring to the Philippine market but to the global one, given the nature of the internet and social media.
This kind of marketing is an exponential opportunity that may not be as immediately accessible through traditional marketing. You need to go digital or establish an effective social media presence to experience such a dramatic boost in your business.
2. Immediate feedback on your products and services
When you are serious about growing your business, you will value the feedback of reasonable customers. With digital marketing, businesses can directly interact with their customers and track real-time review of their products and services. While you gauge customer satisfaction via “word of mouth” in traditional marketing, customers can actually post their testimonials on your website or social media sites and create a long-term positive impact for your brand.
It’s more convenient to gather meaningful insights through online interactions with both existing and potential customers. Thanks to your website’s contact or inquiry forms or social media site’s comment and private message sections, you can access your customers’ preferences, interests or dislikes, and you have the chance to serve as many of them as you can for some gain. That’s how you build lasting relationships with them while taking care of your brand.
3. It offers measurable ROI
Aside from the ability to target your intended customers, digital marketing is also flexible in terms of measuring what works and what doesn’t, and then assessing why.
This gives small businesses a way to constantly review what type of online marketing gives the most significant business impact before they can determine which one to fully invest in.
Want to check your ROI with Google Ads? With Facebook marketing? With search engine optimization (SEO) or content marketing? These and more are powerful digital marketing tools that today’s smart businesses use to reach potential customers and turn them into buyers. Reach out to our expert team at DataClixDigital if you want to start exploring these areas.
4. It lets you compete better — and also win
There’s a big chance that a number of your closest competitors are already online and experiencing the wonders brought by digital marketing. Surely, you don’t want to be left behind and want to be found online too.
To compete online means to take note of what your competitors are doing, not always to adopt what works but because you can possibly come up with a better idea. This step, along with your engagement with your customers, can help shape your business into something better.
For example, if you see how well customers have responded to the professional and well-curated look of their digital page, it’s a hint that you don’t go digital just to compete. You might also need to collaborate with a digital marketing expert to make your online presence felt and seen as attractive by customers. Then watch how it pays off.
5. You don’t need to do it all by yourself
As earlier mentioned, some businesses are hesitant to do digital marketing for fear that they might not come up with something that works or is sustainable. Here’s the good news! You don’t have to do it yourself. You don’t have to struggle to find and spend time on it while also focusing on the other critical parts of operating your business. It’s worth reiterating that you can use the services of digital marketing experts because that’s what your competitors most likely do.
Here at DataClixDigital, we leverage the latest tools to develop the best marketing strategy for your business. We understand that not all businesses are the same, so we tailor our approach to your specific needs. What makes us different and worthy of your trust is that we are data-driven and ROI-focused. That makes your digital marketing decision a sound investment.
Now Is The Best Time To Grow Your Small Business — Invest In Digital Marketing Today
Take a little cost-benefit analysis to see that in the long run, digital marketing is much more worth it than traditional marketing, which has a limited reach. It’s simply hard to ignore the benefits that small businesses can take advantage of from starting a digital marketing campaign, especially now that much of the world has gone online on an unprecedented scale.
So waste no time and invest in your growth now. A sea of prospective customers is waiting for you online. Your competitors can’t wait to show you how you can stay in or win the game. To take the pressure off your chest, consider hiring the services of a reputable digital marketing team for optimum results. Contact us and we’d be happy to help you get started.