Author: iManila Dev

Google has been the #1 go-to search engine of most Internet users that in 2006, the Oxford Dictionary officially included it as a word that refers to any kind of researching done on the Internet, regardless of the search engine you use.

There is no denying that google has the answer to almost all of our questions. With an average search of 3.5 billion per day, and roughly around 1.17 Billion users worldwide, it’s no surprise that many digital marketers see Google as an opportunity to reach more people and drive them towards their brands.

Today, tons of businesses – big and small alike fight for ad space on Google. Why? Because there is a big chance that your click may eventually lead to a sale. And if not, you’ll be able to measure the data to make adjustments to your marketing strategy.

So what makes Google Ads a good investment? Here are 8 reasons!

No business is too big or too small

One of the good things about advertising on Google is that any kind of business can do it. You can be a start-up business or a traditional corporation – you have the freedom to set your ad budgets daily. As long as your content is valuable and relevant to your customers, your ads will be effective.

No minimum investment

With Google Ads, there is less risk compared to other traditional ways of advertising, as it does not ask for a large or fixed amount to spend. It is also much easier to play around with your ad budget, goals, and target market, so you can really maximize the cost per result.

Easier to control and maintain campaigns

With traditional media, there are a lot of processes and hurdles that you have to go through before you can run a campaign. Google Ads on the other hand, can easily be set-up in just a few clicks. Easily access your dashboard, which contains your target market, ad budget, and the actual ad collaterals. Unlike traditional media, you can also make adjustments to your campaigns at any time, if there are metrics that you want to update.

Easy to scale and measure

When it comes to budget-result ratio, as long as an ad is performing at its best, then there is absolutely no reason for you to cap your budget. With Google ads, the more you increase your budget, the better your results will be. This makes Google Ads highly effective for businesses that need a lot of leads but are pressed for time and manpower.

Faster results compared to SEO

Your Google Search Engine Ranking Placement (SERP) is one factor that will make your  website credible. Doing SEO alone can get the job done, but it can take months for you to see valuable results. Thousands of new websites are being published on the World Wide Web, so your SERP has tendencies to change depending on how aggressive your competitors are with their online marketing strategies. By partnering your SEO efforts with Google Search Ads, you can immediately get impressions and clicks to your site.

Stay Connected to Your Target Audience with Remarketing

If you’re a digital marketer, then you know that remarketing is your best friend. When you do remarketing strategies, you target the customers who have previously shown interest in your brand. Google Remarketing Ads can easily track past visitors of your website, and allow you to ‘follow’ them by serving them other ads to encourage them to return.

Better Conversions Compared to Organic Traffic

We love organic traffic any time of the day, but paid ads are almost always better. Conversion rates are said to be 2x higher than organic traffic due to its nature of being more targeted and qualified. However, conversion rates vary from industry to industry. Paid ads may not work for certain businesses but hey, it doesn’t hurt to try

Your competitors are doing it

What are you waiting for? You surely don’t want to be left behind. Competition within certain industries is getting tougher as more businesses are investing in Google Ads. The more competitors there are fighting for certain keywords, the higher the cost per result may be. Try searching about your industry on Google. If you can’t find your business in the top of the page, then it’s time to put your money where it matters.

iManila is a full service digital agency based in Manila. Get a free consultation by sending your digital marketing queries to [email protected].

Growing a business through digital means is not a sprint in which you go all-in for you to reach your goal as fast as possible. You will just end up exhausting yourself and may quickly lose the build-up that you have attained for your business. It is rather a marathon wherein you need to experience the many bumps in the road in order for you to fully reach your business’s potential.

Though digital marketing has a lot of advantages from other type of marketing strategies, it still requires a thorough testing in order for a campaign to be successful. The right images, audience targeting, schedule optimization are just some of the factors that need to be considered in a digital marketing campaign. Same as with marathon, you will probably have an excellent start to your campaign but at some point you will experience what runners call “hitting the wall”. Problems such as the increasing of your CPC (cost-per-click) and decreasing of result acquisitions are just one of those walls that you will face. But worry not! This guide is for every businessman or digital marketer who wants to break through those walls and push themselves towards their goal.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is probably every business’s bread and butter towards their connections and potential partnerships. LinkedIn is crucial for businesses looking to make connections, generate leads, and ultimately, build their brand. It is a platform that can be utilized by business to business (B2B) companies to spread awareness and attain potential partnerships.

• Utilizing native videos in promoting content write-ups such as blog articles
• Acknowledge those people who like your posts or commented. The more people with large networks you tag, the bigger your posts will blow up on LinkedIn.
• Utilize automation tools such as LinkedHelper to ask and collaborate with other professionals about the content you are planning to post.
• Make your sales team 4X more effective by integrating automation tools in order to increase their connections and create awesome content of the product or service they are offering.
• Dominate B2B retargeting with LinkedIn dynamic ads

Facebook

• “Pattern interruption” to get your ads get noticed. This pertains of utilizing new form of ads such as 3D images, canvas type of images, carousel that will make your audience stop from scrolling and potentially engage with it.
• Using video content/ads that lets you garner 2x engagement more than still ads or text only content.
• Integrating the 3S (short, succinct, special) on your video content.
• Utilize a suitable type of content for every ad objective. It was found out that video-type ads cost more than the still images when they are use for lead generation ads.
• Messenger apps will soon replace email for communication. Start utilizing messenger ads to increase inquiries on Facebook.
• Provide promos or giveaways to increase message subscribers
• Use Facebook live during special events and announcements as a way to broadcast your company’s activities and offers.

Google

Google is the world’s leading source of information in today’s digitally adept society. Thus, it is more reasonable for every marketer to invest and know the benefits that Google ads can bring to their business. Here are some tips and hacks that can help you fully utilize Google marketing tool for your business.

• Utilizing Google Analytics to learn the different digital touch points that a person undergo before acquiring a product or service.
• Avoid losing ad traffic with the use of remarketing tool (Facebook pixel, Google tracking codes)
• Avoid losing 40% of your visitors by prioritizing the page load speed of your website that will be use on your online ads.
• Use WhatRunsWhere as competitive analysis tool to track what display ads your competitors are running.
• Create conversational videos on YouTube and remarket those audience that you have garnered from your LinkedIn InMailing list.
• Use long-tail keywords on your SEO campaign.

Digital marketing offers a whole new opportunity for businesses. However, it needs a thorough learning process and experimentation to fully take advantage of its facets. These tips are just the tip of the ice berg of what digital marketing can do. Hence, you need a trusted partner that can assist you in fully developing your digital marketing campaigns. Here at iManila, we provide digital marketing services that aims to reach every businesses’ KPIs. Our team consists of digital natives who are adept with different digital marketing tools and are continuously discovering potential digital marketing strategies.  For inquiries, visit our Contact Us page or get in touch with our team at (02) 490 0000 or (+63) 917 845 6005.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of inquiries that we get on a daily basis from clients inquiring about recovering a hacked email or receiving a lot of spam mails. As an agency thriving in the digital age, we fully understand how important emailing is as most companies use this as a way of communication. Needless to say, sensitive and private information is being passed through this form of channel. Thus, it is our mission to educate and inform our clients of the various ways they can increase the security of their account.

Beware of Phishing Attempts

Phishing scam mails are those kinds of email that presents itself as a legitimate email from a brand or company that you may be subscribed to, but is really just trying to steal data and information from you. The recipient is tricked into clicking a malicious link where they are asked to log in or enter sensitive information. This may lead to an installation of a malware, or freezing of the system as a form of ransomware attack where they will use sensitive information about you, against you.

Example of a Phishing scam email and what to look out for

Check the email address of who sent it.

A legitimate business email should follow the user@businessname format without other random numbers or letters.

Trace back your actions

Most hackers will claim that the recipient did a generic action so it’s easier to fool the person. So before you panic after reading a spam email, make sure you trace back to your previous transactions and actions to double check the legitimacy of the email.

Do not click on any links

Towards the end of the email, you will be required to click on a link wherein you need to enter your credentials. DO NOT CLICK that link! Clicking the link allows the hackers access to your software.

If you ever receive an unsolicited email with a link asking you to enter your credentials, DO NOT OPEN IT. You can instead mark the email as spam, block the sender, and delete. Make sure that you only enter your credentials into official websites and apps.

Double-securing your email

If you want to make sure that your email is safe and secure from hackers, there are more advance ways to do this.

Enable two-step verification

Most email platforms have a two-step verification feature that allows the user to choose another verification step. Aside from the usual typing of your username and password, you have another option to receive a security code that you will receive via SMS, call, or a through another third party device. This feature may be an extra step but it is another way to keep your accounts secured.

Use unique password patterns

We often use passwords that are personal to us because it is easier to remember. But that is something that can easily be used against you because those are information that a hacker may have easy access to (especially on Social Media!). It is also not advisable to use one password for all your accounts because well, for obvious reasons. If you want a foolproof and unique password for your multiple accounts, you may opt to use a password generator. Software like LastPass has a password generator that can provide random letter and number combinations. It also serves as a vault for your passwords so you don’t have to worry about forgetting them. The app can easily be downloaded on your phone or installed as an extension to your Chrome browser.

Email scamming and hacking is very rampant nowadays that is why we strongly advise everyone to be careful and vigilant with whatever content and information you receive online. Always remember to double check so as not to fall victims to email phishing and hacking.

If you clicked on a malicious email and is now facing software issues, our Tech Support team can help you address any tech concerns. You may call us at (02) 490 0000 or email our team at [email protected]

Smartphones have changed the way we use our mobile phones. Now our phones are not just for texting and calling, but it has also become essential in the way we interact and transact in our day to day lives. Mobile applications have allowed us to pay for goods through e-wallet apps, book transportations, and even shop through our apps.

While most of the apps we enjoy are foreign-made, Pinoy-made apps didn’t fall far behind. Pinoy-made apps were customized to make our lives easier. From an app that aims to make your commute life more convenient, to a gaming-app that wants to entertain you during lunch time, here are 5 Pinoy-made apps you need installed on your phone.

Sakay.ph

Sakay.ph app is probably every commuters best friend. Sakay.ph allows every commuter to navigate through the city via different public transportations. They show various modes of transportations trains, buses, jeepneys, P2P, UV express, shuttles, and even the Pasig River Ferry. Once you’ve downloaded the app, all you have to do is input your current location and your destination. Sakay.ph will then show you all the different modes of transportation and routes you can take, including the travel time, and cost of travel. It’s also available on both Apple app store and Google Playstore. Commuting has never been this easy with sakay.ph

Paydro Live

You better brush up on your general knowledge because this app will test you to your limits. Unlike other trivia game apps, Paydro is more involved as it has a livestream host who asks the question. The game goes live every day at 12:30 PM. All you have to do is answer the trivia question within a given time, and if you are one of the lucky winners who is able to answer all questions, you get to split the grand prize with other winners in the end. The average prize is around 20,000 – 35,000 per game but in the past, it has reached up to Php 200,000, and an even bigger prize of Php 1,000,000 if they are able to reach 100,000 players in one game.

LawJuan

With LawJuan, you’ve literally got the law in the palm of your hands. This app provides lawyers, legal researchers, legislators, and the law enthusiast in you, access to over 15,000 laws of the republic of the Philippines. You can even access the files even without any internet connection. Whether you need help studying for an exam or just want to familiarize yourself with our laws, LawJuan is a must-download app for everyJuan!

Project Noah

The weather can be crazy here in the Philippines; one time it’s crazy hot and the next it’s raining like there’s no tomorrow. Good thing there’s an app that can help you monitor weather disturbances so you can plan out your day ahead. Project Noah allows you to get updates on rain and weather outlooks for different local cities.

Looloo Philippines

Tired of eating at the same old place? No matter how much you love eating at your favorite restaurant, you have to admit that sometimes you’ll want to go at some place new. Looloo Philippines was made to help you explore new places that you’ll love. This app isn’t just for the food lovers- it’s for everyone. You can explore new restaurants, gimik-spots, bars, and all other top-rated places in the Metro. You can also review places so you can let other people know how awesome that place is. While recommending a place to your friend can earn you credits and points that you can use to further enjoy your time.

Got an awesome and crazy app idea? We can help you turn your ideas into reality. Simply shoot us a message at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/ or you may also call us at (02) 490-0000.

A good hosting provider should be able to provide you with a reliable, top-performing, and stable website. Essentially, web hosting is where you store all files that you upload on your website.  You need to find the right hosting package for your website because if not, there is a tendency that it will overload. And if your hosting server is down, so is your website. So how exactly do you know which type of hosting package you need for your website? Will you be needing a shared or dedicated hosting plan? Here are some things to consider:

Shared web hosting

With shared web hosting, a certain number of users or organizations share one physical server. Each of them has an assigned amount of disk space and bandwidth that they can utilize. This type of hosting plan is a popular choice for its cost-effectiveness as it is much cheaper than the dedicated web hosting. Even though everyone in a shared web hosting server shares the resources, they cannot access each other’s accounts or websites so it ensures data safety and security.

Imagine living in a condominium, shared hosting would be you renting a unit on the second floor with other tenants. And you’re all sharing one elevator access to go to your respective units. One con for this is since you have a shared elevator, other tenants might be using the elevator more than you do so you take more time to reach your unit or your data might take more time to load for your website. You should go to a hosting provider who knows how to properly manage their shared hosting servers so the bandwidth is equally distributed amongst “tenants”.

Ideal for who?

• Small to medium enterprises
• Personal bloggers
• Websites with less than 20,000 visitors per month.

What’s also important for these types of websites is that they are able to update the content frequently. This type of hosting plan should be enough for your website as it does not require any customized server configurations or complex technicalities on its features.

Dedicated server hosting

For this hosting plan, your website is the sole owner of a physical server. This means that all of the disk space and bandwidth of that particular server is all yours. The good thing about having a dedicated server is that you have a full control and flexibility on customizing your server and choosing your software so you can adjust your website based on its requirements.

Using the condominium analogy again, a dedicated server is like renting the whole floor of a condominium where you have access to a private elevator. You have the freedom to use that elevator however many times you want to use it in a day.

Ideal for who?

• Corporate websites with hi-res videos and images
• E-Commerce websites with a thousand plus expected web traffic
• News portal websites that upload multiple daily content

Although it is much more expensive compared to a shared hosting server, this type of hosting entitles you to your own unique IP address. Moreover, this type of plan is perfect for businesses that handle extremely sensitive transactions and requires enhanced security features or specifications.

Now that you have an idea about these two types of hosting plans, it’s time for you to decide based on your requirements. Now if you are looking for the best hosting provider who can provide you with the best reliable hosting services, turn to iManila! We can provide both shared web hosting and dedicated web hosting services for your website! Our hosting plans are affordable yet guarantees 99.95% uptime and availability. Check out our plans here.

For more inquiries, contact our 24/7 Customer Support at +63 2 490 0000 and +63 917 847 6005 or email us at [email protected]

Having an IT department can be crucial for any business that wants to succeed in the modern digital world. Studies have shown that 60% of businesses that do not have IT staff close down within 6 months of experiencing unprecedented data loss. An IT team can provide the necessary support to solve any hardware and software issues to keep business operations running smoothly. Here are some reasons why you should consider outsourcing your IT support team.

Reduce overhead costs

Setting up a business in the digital age has its own challenges. For starters, business owners will have to invest in IT infrastructure like email servers, network connections, as well as hardware, and other equipment. However, it doesn’t end there. Once everything has been set-up, it has to be maintained. Depending on the size of the company, it can be managed by one IT specialist, or an entire IT department.

Instead of hiring a big IT team, you can outsource your technical support requirements. This can drastically reduce labor costs, as well as operational expenses since you don’t need to rent or lease a bigger office space.

Get support outside of normal working hours

Most IT staff work during the standard nine-hour shift. However, not all IT-related issues happen within that timeframe. There could be network disruptions or email concerns that need troubleshooting outside work hours, which would require additional pay for your

Get the help you need when you need it, by partnering with an IT solutions company that offers 24/7 technical assistance. Rest easy knowing that your business is supported by a highly knowledgeable staff at anytime of the day.

Make use of latest technology for uninterrupted business flow

If you’re not a tech company, chances are, you’ll have difficulty staying on top of all the latest technology. By outsourcing your IT needs to a team that has years of industry expertise, you’ll be assured that your business uses the latest technologies to allow your business to continue thriving.

Remain focused on core business objectives

Businesses today are highly dependent on technology to keep their businesses up and running. And with how fast the world moves right now, employees are struggling to accomplish their tasks within the limited hours they have in a day. Technical issues could lose your business valuable time, and divide your employee’s attention between their business function and the IT-related concerns. Outsource your support team so you and your employees can concentrate on what you are skilled at, trained for, and paid to do.

Setting up your own IT department can cost a lot of money and use up more resources. By outsourcing IT support services, your company can free up more time and focus on the business.

Here at iManila, we have a fully equipped team of highly qualified technical support specialists to assist you with all your IT concerns. Starting at just Php7,500 a month, be reassured that your business operations will continue to run smoothly.

What started out as a small social networking site connecting  university students in the US, has become one of the biggest social networking sites in the world. Today, Facebook has over 2.23 billion monthly active users. In the last few years, businesses have been taking advantage of this by advertising, promoting, and selling their products through Facebook Business Pages. More and more businesses are also migrating their marketing efforts online, as digital marketing is more cost-effective and produces data-driven results. But as with everything else in the World Wide Web, Facebook’s rules are also fast-changing. In order to get the maximum result for your business, you need to catch up with Facebook’s newest and latest updates.

Here are 5 Facebook updates you need to know to help you grow your business online:

1.    Prioritize Video Content

Video content is the best way to reach a wider audience and increase your page and post engagements. Videos combine auditory and visual senses that’s why it captivates your audience even more. Studies have shown that 90% of the audience remembers the message when it is shown through a video format as compared to when they have only read it. Facebook has also updated the metrics of video content so you can have more detailed audience data. Facebook gives you the data of audience viewers, and it divides the followers and the non-followers. This feature can help you target your audience better, and see the potential audience you have yet to tap.

2.    Augmented Reality is the future of Ads

Many brands have been taking advantage of the rise of Augmented Reality (AR). This is especially helpful for the beauty and fashion industry, as Facebook now allows them to do AR ads. A perfect example for this is Sephora, which launched their “try – on” feature to  help consumers find the perfect shade suitable for their skin. Using Augmented Reality can hel p improve the user-experience of your audience, and                                        can further help with converting your potential customers into actual users.

3.    “Keyword Snoozing”

Another Facebook update to watch out is “Keyword Snoozing” feature. Keyword Snoozing will allow users to avoid seeing certain topics on their timeline by “snoozing” the keywords. While this is helpful for avoiding spoilers of your favorite TV show, this might have a negative impact on your business. It’s best that you learn how to adjust your content to these types of updates.

4.    Cross-posting on IG and IG stories

Tired of switching from one app to another? Facebook has now made it easier for a page admin to cross-post Facebook posts to an Instagram account. This feature is only available to single-image posts. You should also keep in mind that Facebook and Instagram have different principles and style when it comes to content.

5.    Global Targeting

Facebook is expanding their global reach. If you are targeting multiple countries with your ad, Facebook can now translate your ad text into the local language of the specific country you are targeting.

Facebook is a great tool to market and improve the sales of your business. If you are looking into diving into the digital realm, iManila can help your business grow through fresh ideas and strategic marketing plans.

You may call us at (02) 490-0000 or email us at [email protected] for inquiries.`

Out of the total 7.6 billion people in the world, over 67% or 5.1 billion people have a mobile device. These devices have changed the way we interact, communicate, and perform daily tasks – some are apparent, while others are less so.

Today, more users are connecting to the Internet via their mobile phone than any other device. Out of the total global connections on all mobile devices, 57% of them are done through a smartphone. According to We Are Social, each smartphone has an average of 80 apps installed. Users are also 13 times more likely to use a native app versus their mobile web browser to access certain brands.

There are 3.8 million apps available on the Google Play Store, and over 2 million apps on Apple’s App Store. In  2017, there were over 175 million mobile apps downloaded worldwide.

In a world that has become increasingly dependent on mobile technology, more businesses are considering developing a mobile application. While apps offer convenience and ease to its users, it doesn’t come cheap. Even the most basic apps can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So, how much does it cost to develop a mobile app? Here are some factors that can determine the cost of an app:

Who are the intended users?

Before investing in an app, get to know your target customers. What devices are they using? You can keep costs down by developing an app on only one platform – Android or iOS – if majority of your target users are only using a particular operating system. Developing apps for both platforms will entail more time and almost double the expense.

What is the main objective of the app?

Keep your app simple and focused. Once you get your app idea, chances are, you’re going to want to keep adding special (and sometimes unnecessary) functionalities, which could increase costs.

Want to build an app that keeps track of loyalty points? Check!

Has a catalog of rewards? Check!

Will allow you to order food? Wait, what?

Can turn your house lights on and off? Umm, just stop.

Some of the most popular apps today usually only focus on one main objective. If you want to have a successful app, start with your core focus and build additional features only when the need arises. Great apps generally only do one thing, but they do it well.

Does the app require big data collection, storage, and integration?

Mobile apps cannot store big chunks of information. The global average app size (not including games) is 23MB for iOS devices, and only 6MB for Android devices. Most apps need a separate database to house information that cannot be stored in the mobile app itself.

These include:

• List of Inventory for eCommerce or Booking Apps
• Shipment Database for Tracking Apps
• Account Information for Loyalty/Rewards/Banking/Social Apps

If you don’t have an existing database to connect to the app, you will also need to invest in a separate web system to store and process heavy data, which can also drive costs up.

How often does the app need to be updated?

Given how quick mobile companies upgrade their products and OS, new versions of apps must also be created to keep them relevant and compatible with devices. It’s good to consider this factor prior to developing an app given that each update will require additional testing and debugging.

To summarize, an app is a big investment, but it can also provide profitable returns to your business if you analyze your requirements properly. It is also good to account for how much you’re willing to spend on marketing your app to get the desired results from your investment. Developing an app is the first step, but getting your intended users to download and use the app is another story.

There’s a lot to think about, plan, and do when creating an app, but that’s why we’re here. Here at iManila, we aim to improve the lives of people through technology, and one way to do that is to make it easier for our clients to turn their ideas in reality.

If you’ve got an app idea ready for developing, give us a call at (02) 490 0000 or contact us by clicking here.