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How Can Social Media Help My Business?

Being on social media has practically been the norm for everyone. Whether you’re going to work, having your lunch, or just taking a 5-minute break from work, social media is a habit that people cannot seem to let go. Different Social media platforms have become rampant in the last five to eights years that people are so accustomed to getting information and news through it rather than the traditional method of newspaper and television. With this in mind, it’s hard to deny that businesses nowadays are starting to invest more and more on building their online identity through social media.

But what exactly does social media provide to businesses? Why is it that many of these big brands are so eager to be successful online? If you’re curious to find answers on why your business should invest in social media, we’ve outlined here for you some benefits that you should consider.

Social Media Provides Online Identity Support

The online space is very wide. Social media is just a fraction of what the online world is all about. Obviously, websites are probably the number one investment that a business should consider to have that online identity. However, a website alone will not cut it and it’s no longer enough to just have a website. In fact, more and more brands are using social media to support their websites, which is especially why it’s better to support your online efforts with a social media calendar as well. Having your own social media page, especially on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn is a great anchor to boost your online identity. With so many people using these platforms as their source of information and lifestyle display, there’s no doubt that your business will reach as many people as possible and gain the sales that you’re hoping for.

Let the online world know about your branding and identity by posting relevant content. Make sure that you’re voicing out your identity with direct and creative captions. Don’t forget to be cohesive and in-sync with regards to your overall look on all of your social media profiles.

Social Media Produces a Wider Audience Reach

As mentioned, social media attracts a lot of people. It can be considered as a hub or a place where people gather to share thoughts and ideas. With over a billion monthly users, social media is your go-to place to promote your business online. Make sure you’re setting up the right ads and targeting the right people in order to reach more relevant customers for your brand. Remember to capitalize every online opportunity in order to boost your business identity online through social media.

Social Media Generates an Increase in ROI

Lastly, every businesses’ main goal is to have that increase in their ROI. As long as you have a solid foundation on your social media profiles, and that all of your communications plans are in-sync with each of them, you can expect your ROI to rise in no time. It’s only just a matter of time and on whether or not your services or products targeting the right market.

Looking to start your online journey through social media? iManila is here to help! With over 23 years of experience in the IT industry, we’ve helped countless clients establish their identity online. For more information, contact us at (02) 490-0000 or leave us a message at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/.

What Makes a Good Website Design?

Good website design will never go out of trend. It’s not just about using beautiful graphics and a good color palette that matches your brand – a properly designed website should most importantly be functional. 

Form + Function

Structure, graphics, and layout are all essential parts of a website’s design. These things make up the website’s “form”, and what a visitor usually sees upon first glance of a website.  

Elements of the  “form” aspect of a website are always made with a purpose. The main purpose should always be about considering the user. The first few things that a good website designer should look into is how to make your website user-friendly, and make it easier for users to navigate around your website. This means that all graphics, photos, contents and the overall layout of the website should appeal to your consumer’s online behavior and preferences. 

Function, on the other hand, is how the elements of the form operate. When the form operates according to its predetermined function, only then can we truly say that we have a great design!

Why does this all matter?

Good website design will always make you win customers online. Why? Users, consumers, buyers, customers just simply benefit from it. Having a greatly designed website not only allows visitors to get the information they need, but it also allows them to easily find what they’re looking for. Websites with a great design and user interface attract online visitors to keep coming back for more. Not only does a great website increase a company’s reputation online but it also sustains a good user base, which increases your website’s visibility and ranking on search engines. In short, having a great website can not only change a consumer’s mind about your brand, but it also pumps up your online visibility organically in search engines. 

As a final note – a new and well-designed website is not just something your company can be proud of, but especially in this day and age filled with so many distractions – now more than ever you need a website that will be able to catch AND keep your consumers’ attention! 

Need help? iManila has delivered more than 5,000 web and digital marketing projects since its inception back in 1996. Drop us a message at [email protected]!

iManila has earned its Google Search Specialization!

Last March 2019, iManila officially became a Google Partner. As a Google Partner, it not only allowed us to step up in our skills and expertise in running paid ads, but it has also pushed us to go for new milestones. With this, we’re happy to announce that just last month, we earned our Google Search Specialization!

This specialization comes at the right time for us as we continue to prove that as a digital agency, we’re well trained and equipped to help our clients become visible and relevant on the Google Search Network.

How can this benefit your company?

By partnering with a certified Google Partner agency like iManila who specializes in Google Search, you’re assured that the people working with you are experts in the field and can effectively run well-crafted Search Ads campaigns.

iManila is committed to continuously innovating and improving the digital marketing skills and expertise needed to help our clients reach their goals. This badge is just one of the many testimonies to that commitment.

If you’re looking for an agency to help you manage and run data-driven Google Ad campaigns, get in touch with us! Drop us an email at [email protected] or call us at +632 490 0000.

#GoogleAds #PaidAds #PayPerClick #DigitalAgency

Philippine Retail Industry in the Digital Era

In this day and age of technology and automation, the Philippine retail industry has a big task to move towards a new chapter. The 26th National Retail Conference and Stores Asia Expo 2019 held last August 15-16 in the SMX Convention Center centered on the theme Retail: Reimagined, focusing on the topic of digitalization and modern marketing as the future of the industry.

The conference hosted talks from several local and international experts in the retail industry, who spoke openly not just about the newest trends in the market, but how to survive amid the newest consumers, the Generation Z buyers in the next five to ten years.

While many retailers are still focused on trying to capture the attention of its millennial buyers, the 26th NRCE brought to light the importance to prepare for an even bigger generation – the Gen Z consumers, who will eventually consist of more than 30% of consumers in a matter of five years. These consumers are expected to have an even shorter attention span than the millennials and will demand more active engagement thru visually appealing content that will catch their eyes.

With this in mind, is your business ready for the future consumers?

Designing experience and building trust among your target market are just two of the things that should be remembered in this digital era. With the Internet and social media well within reach, businesses can easily take advantage of reaching out to their target market right at this very moment – allowing your products the visibility it needs to stay at the top of mind of your consumers.

According to a featured article of Ms. Tiffany Lung, a Retail Analyst and one of the guest speakers during the 26th NRCE, “Staying current and relevant in a fast-paced industry like retail is by no means an easy task. Retailers have to be agile, proactive, and quick on their feet in order to retain their market position amongst the competitive field, and at the same time adapt to an omnichannel consumer”.

And what’s the best way to adapt to the omnichannel consumer?

Simple.

Go digital.

The millennial generation and future Gen Z consumers are two of the most active generations online. Going digital will not just allow your brand visibility to these markets, but starting your online campaigns now will allow more time to build online engagement and relationships with your future consumers. At the same time, starting now will buy you time to create brand recall to your future buyers.

Going digital is easy. Start by creating a website then expand your online presence by being active on social media and starting digital paid advertising. Don’t be afraid to try new things for your business. Digital has worked wonders for old and new businesses alike. Why not give it a try?

Looking to take the digital leap? Let iManila help! Contact us at (02) 490 0000 or drop us an email at [email protected]!

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imanila team nrce 2019

The iManila team during the 26th National Retail Conference and Stores Asia Expo 2019.

The National Retail Conference and Expo is an annual two-day event managed by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) and dubbed as the BIGGEST and MOST IMPORTANT Retail Industry Event in the Philippines. Among the big brands who participated in this event are PLDT, Globe, Bench, Wilcon Depot, The SM Store, and Megaworld Lifestyle Malls. iManila is grateful to be an exhibitor and the Official Social Media Partner for this momentous event where the country’s top retailers converge.

A Guide to Consumer Experience Online

Up until a few years back, it would take a while before a shopper made a decision on which brand to buy along the aisles of a grocery store or supermarket. But as the years went by, technology gifted us with exciting innovations. Mobile phones became more powerful than ever. From having a mobile phone with the singular functionality of doing voice calls, the mobile phone developed into an all-in-one device that more or less had the same capabilities as a personal computer. It became faster and more efficient and allowed people to have technology readily available in their pockets.

This advancement in technology has, in response, led to changes in behavior. Research shows that the current global population spent an average of 6 hours and 42 minutes online. Currently, in the Philippines, the average time being spent online is 10 hours and 2 minutes. This actually makes us one of the countries with the longest Internet activity. In which, various businesses, like you, can take advantage of.

Human Attention Span Is Getting Shorter Than Ever

In a study made by Microsoft two years back, it was revealed that the average human attention span is at eight-seconds, making it shorter than the attention span of a goldfish at nine (9) seconds. This only means that your message and idea should come out clearly to viewers in eight seconds or less!

New statistics from Google also revealed that you only have six (6) to eight (8) seconds to get online audiences’ attention. Whether we like it or not, the realities of user experience all happen within an average moment of 8 seconds – what Google calls micro-moments.

What are micro-moments?

Micro-moments are the collective activities and experiences of people online. It is the usual things we look at or search for online. And usually, these moments are so short, menial, and unnoticeable – and yet collectively an indication of our total online experience.

When we search for something and can’t seem to find it in a snap of a finger, ultimately we shift to different search terms or a different application or browser just find what we need to know NOW. This is a perfect example of micro-moments.

New Consumer Reality

Micro-moments are the new consumer reality. Consumers rely on their smartphones to make pre-purchase validations even before making an actual purchase whether it be online or offline.

In between those micro-moments online, within those quick tapping of their phones, and impatient waiting for seconds, a business has to be there with them – a brand has to be able to show them the things they need to get quickly.

Do you need to adapt to this new reality?

The quick answer: YES! The economy of mobile and consumer experience requires businesses to always be on their toes especially when it comes to improving their customer’s purchase journey and experience.

Why? Because in this day and age, consumer experience is one of the most shared experiences online. Great experiences spread like a heart-warming story – the type people will love. Bad experiences, on the other hand, spread like a wild-fire that turn everything in its path into ashes. In short, customer experiences shared online about your brand can either make or break your business.

These experiences are the online consumer micro-moments that brands and businesses should give importance to. These moments sandwiched in eight (8) seconds have gained the power to change the course of how some leaders run their businesses.

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Are you ready to change the way you run your business? Let iManila help you make consumer-based strategies to enhance your business’s marketing. Learn more about our digital marketing services by clicking the link below.

imanila.ph/digital-marketing

How much is your peace of mind?

It was a hectic Monday, and your office is in chaos preparing for the weekly management meeting– when suddenly a noisy commotion grows in a corner as your employees are starting to break in panic.

“No inbound leads have come in!” an assistant, cried in.

Everyone’s on their toes trying to find out why, only to realize that the culprit is your server, as it crashed and failed to load your website, thus making it inaccessible for a couple of hours now, and still counting.

The sad thing is, this is the third time that this has happened just this month alone, and it’s starting to take a toll on your revenue.

What to do?

This scenario is probably one of the main stressors for most companies relying on their online channels to generate business.

The one-million-dollar question here is, “is it worth it to get stressed over this kind of issue time and time again?”

Our answer is NO.

You can always rely on reputable companies who can do it for you.

As one of the most trusted full-service digital marketing agencies in the country, iManila is the go-to provider of brands and companies here and abroad for the following services:

Hosting

Our hosting solutions are engineered for powerful and reliable performance online. From shared and dedicated hosting to SSL certificates and web security and backup, you can count on our solutions to provide 99.5% uptime and availability.

Web Design and Development

Our mission is to turn beautiful designs into useful and functional websites that represent your business in the best way possible. With a pool of expert designers and developers, we are very much capable of producing well-designed and functional websites from informational websites, to e-commerce sites with various functionalities.

Web System and Applications Development

A website is not just the only thing that businesses need these days. Reach your market through web and mobile applications by transforming your business to carry out automated processes and operations to improve productivity and profit.

Digital Marketing

Today’s online information age is unstoppable and is accelerating faster than anyone can anticipate. With social media networks and search engines rising as key getaways of the information highway, marketers are rapidly shifting from offline to online to reach their customers.

With the combination of both organic effort and paid advertising, you can surely interact with your audience in real-time. To add, digital marketing provides measurable results which can surely empower you to make wise business decisions when it comes to optimizing your campaigns and achieving your company’s goals.

Tech Support Services  

Get 24/7 support from our fully-equipped, highly-knowledgeable technical staff! With over a million man-hours of experience, our technical support specialists can solve and troubleshoot all hardware and software issues of your business.

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Let iManila give you the peace of mind that you need. To know more about our services, call us at +632 4900000 or send us an email at [email protected].

Things You Need Before Starting a Website

Gone are the days when businesses can only rely on traditional marketing platforms such as flyers, TV and newspaper ads, directory listings, and billboard placements to promote their brand. With the continuous rise of online users all over the world, it is indeed much easier (and more affordable) for brands and companies to create brand awareness and reach new audiences with various online and social media platforms that we have today.

Among the first few things that your brand should have in today’s digital age is a website. As the primary source of information for your company online, having a website is now a must for businesses regardless if they’re an SME or a big corporation. Not only does a website establish your brand’s credibility, but it also is the center of your online marketing strategies to help your business grow.

If you are hoping to build one for yourself, let us walk you through some of the basic things that you need to start a website:

A Domain Name

It is a staple for every website to have its own URL/Web address. It is important for a website to have its domain for the visitors to easily access their website through the internet.

While it is very common for businesses to have domain names that are the same as their business names (such as walmart.com), you can pick a domain name to include any text phrase you want as long as it is not already taken. You must take note, however, that your domain should be relevant to your business. It is the first touchpoint of your visitors towards your website, so make sure it is directly related to your business.

A domain name typically costs around PHP 600.00 to PHP 1,600.00 with a recurring/renewal fee every year. Make sure that your domain has not yet been purchased and is still available for use. You can use iManila’s free domain checker on our home page!

Solid Content & Information

Now this defines the full look of your website – inserting content and images. It’s important to remember that a business website is ultimately just a framework. It isn’t finished until you’ve populated it with content and information.

You must organize all of the things that should be put on each of your web pages. These contents serve as important factors for search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing to crawl and mark your website credible. Putting all the necessary content on your website requires a lot of time. We suggest creating your own sitemap first in order to have a clear plan before establishing a website.

Web designer and developer

After deciding on your domain name or even purchasing one as well as gathering the content and information that you want to be featured, the next thing that you will need is a company that can help you build your business site. iManila is one of the leading web development companies in the Philippines! We specialize in creating various websites for different business across all verticals – whether it’s an informative or an eCommerce site!

Establishing your own business website is as important as having your own physical store. It helps create your own identity and showcase your brand online. If you are looking to have your own website, then you have come to the right place!

As one of the country’s top digital marketing and web development agencies, iManila is trusted by many companies in creating credible and professionally designed websites to stand out in today’s online world.

For more information, contact us at (02) 490 0000 or leave us a message at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/.

Why Online Ads are the New Titan

We’re so used to seeing an advertisement that runs down the lengths of buildings along the most traversed roads in the Metro. Enormous billboards and even LED walls towering over us in all their titan glory.

But sometimes, titans lose their strength. After all, nothing is forever.

No one can deny that these billboards eat up the attention of anyone who lay eyes on their monstrosity. But billboards are only as good as the next one.

Out of sight, out of mind, right?

But the Internet is predominant, which only makes it a perfect avenue for advertisement.

Online advertising is the fastest growing marketing channel which uses the world wide web to deliver promotional messages in various digital formats. These formats range from search engine marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, mobile advertising, and display advertising.

We’ve outlined all of the reasons why online advertising should be part of your marketing campaign:

Reach

Online ads let you customize your target audience. In this day and age when everyone is always online, you can easily target your customers wherever they are. With online ads, you can also “filter” out your reach based on your preference. This is an assurance that your products and services are getting to the right audience who have a higher chance of buying your products or availing of your services. Closing a sale? You can bet on it.

Efficiency

Marketing online is generally much cheaper than traditional advertising approaches. With online ads, you can reach as much engagement as your budget allows you. Online marketing platforms enable you to calibrate your ad according to your audience targeting and budget so you can be assured that your campaign is always maximized. This gives you an initial overview of how many people you can “reach” with your ad, giving you an idea of how much you can expect to turn into leads.

Effectivity

The Internet is a huge place. And at present, more and more people are spending a considerable amount of time on it. From SMEs to large enterprises, everyone’s expanding their reach and creating brand awareness through various online marketing platforms. Just look at the number of online retail stores who’ve successfully built their businesses from their social media channels alone.

Engagement

Among the many advantages of digital marketing, is its ability to directly connect and let you communicate with your target audience.  With TV, radio, newspaper, and billboards, one can just merely see and grasp your message but cannot respond to it right away – a situation that online advertisement has managed to solve. The Web is such an interactive space. Information and ideas can get passed on in a matter of minutes regardless of distance or time zones.

Utilizing the vast amount of Internet users and the time all these people spend online is what a lot of marketers today are aiming to do as part of their individual marketing strategies.

The Internet is universal. Use it to your business’ advantage.

Interested to advertise your brand online? Let iManila help you! From social media marketing, email marketing to Google campaigns, we’ve got it covered! Call us at (02) 490 0000 or email us at [email protected] for more information!

See you online!

10 Common Web Design Terms Every Marketer Should Know

As the company’s trailblazers, the marketing team is expected to take the lead in making sure that their company’s branding is consistently represented for both offline and online materials alike. 

With the continuous growth of digital marketing, more companies are indeed taking more time in making sure that they are well represented online, most especially through their website.

If you’re looking into building or redesigning your website, it is possible that you may be lost with the all the terms that web designers and web developers use that you may not be familiar with. 

Be ready to take the lead and make your next web design meeting more productive by familiarizing yourself with these common web design terms:

ALT tag 

The ALT tag/text or Alternative tag/text displays in the image placeholder while the page is loading. It also helps in optimizing your website for ADA compliance, SEO ranking, and web accessibility. 

Call to Action (CTA)

A specific image, banner or button, CTAs are designed to guide your website’s visitor for a desired or expected course of action (e.g. Download Now, Contact Us, Learn More, etc.).

Domain

An essential component when creating a website, your domain is the “address” where people go to visit your website (i.e. ABC.com).

Hosting

This refers to where you “house”, serve and maintain your website. A web server is a computer running web software that allows and connects your website or web page on the internet. 

Meta Tag

An important aspect of SEO ranking, a meta tag stores information about a specific page on your website such as its description. This information is then used by search engines for indexing to help categorize and rank your website in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Plugin

This refers to software apps that are “plugin” in your Content Management Software (CMS) such as WordPress, to enable added features to your website.

Responsive Design

Probably one of the most important things to take note of when building a website, responsive design refers to your site’s ability to adjust to different screen types from desktop, tablet or mobile phones. 

Site Map

The first step in designing a website, a site map acts as the “blueprint” of your website. From its pages and content, it is important to iron it out in your site map to have a seamless website design process. 

SSL (Security Sockets Layer)

With privacy a major concern in the digital age, a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a security protocol that establishes encrypted communication between a browser and a website. Make sure that your website is equipped with an SSL certificate (a website equipped with an SSL certificate has a lock symbol appearing before the URL) to keep your website’s information secure at all times. 

User Experience (UX)

UX (User Experience) is the discipline of seamlessly optimizing your website’s content, design tools and techniques to help your website visitors in easily navigating your website. This covers all aspects in creating your website from copywriting, design and even your website’s screen loading time. 

Need a hand in creating or redesigning your website? Let our team at iManila help you!

Contact us today at (02) 490 0000 or email us at [email protected].