Ambush – one word that could potentially sum up the year 2020. This time last year, you may have had a nice wine session with your family or friends while talking about how good 2019 has been to you. Or perhaps you spent lots of time planning where to go, what to do, what things to accomplish, or who to meet. But then for some weird reason none of those plans came to fruition in 2020. 

All of the horrible things that happened this year mostly came as surprise – which is, in fact, the most daunting part of it all. None of us expected that a year could be as action-packed and scary as this year, as if we were characters from an apocalyptic, disaster-themed kind of film. Some of us actually thought that we were in some sort of experiment or simulation, plotted by some unknown extraterrestrial beings, playing altogether the worst possible scenarios at once. 

But if there’s one lesson that 2020 has taught us, is what love truly means. Seeing so many people coming together to help other people throughout this year only proves the goodness in all human beings. This year showed the world that despite peoples’ differences in principles, political views, beliefs, and whatnot, when it came to hard times, we were all, at the essence of it all, bounded by true love and kindness.

This article is quite different from the rest of the blogs that we’ve published because this is about us – how iManila thrived, how we managed, and the beautiful things that came out of this experience.

The beginning

2020 started out a bit shaky, but overall many of us felt hopeful. Everyone celebrated a wonderful holiday season. When we returned to the office, our mancom prepared a nice welcome breakfast or as we like to call it, “First Breakfast”. Everyone enjoyed telling stories about their holidays, the places they went, and all the food they ate, while having a cup of coffee, some pandesal and to each his own palaman. Our “First Breakfast” may have sounded simple – but to us, these small celebrations simply make us feel at home. 

The first hurdle of our year came in February, smack in the month of love, when we received news that one of our own – Jet, our amazing and beloved senior website developer had passed away. We mourned as a family and remembered all of our good times with him. We all tried to stay strong despite his quick passing. 

We thought that the trials would be over but about a month later, the world suddenly stopped. What we thought would just be a regular flu was suddenly declared into a global pandemic. In fact, things changed too quickly as little did we know that our March socials held last March 13 would be our last face-to-face party as a family for the entire year. 

Work-from-home Journey

The months went by quickly. Summer came and went, the ber months arrived and now Christmas is over. Through it all, we all worked at the safety of our homes. This was a decision our management stood by from the beginning, not just for our welfare, but for our families and clients’ as well. 

Despite the struggles of adjusting from walking to your colleague’s desk every morning, to suddenly just sending them a message, we’re thankful that before the pandemic we had already established our main communication channel, Microsoft Teams. Just the same, even prior to the pandemic we had been used to working across cloud-based collaboration tools such as Google Workspace and Trello. And, being the tech company that we are, thankfully we had all of our files on the cloud! 

Even then, in the 24 years we’ve been improving lives through technology, this was still the first time iManila had gone 100% virtual so we weren’t really sure all departments could adapt to the set up. Fortunately as weeks turned into months, everyone learned. We managed all weekly meetings through calls, we taught clients how to use Microsoft Teams or Zoom or Google Meet. We did whatever was necessary to do to survive – and we did!

On top of letting go of our usual face-to-face interactions, the saddest thing we had to let go was our old office of about 20 years on the 7th floor of Hanston Building. For us, it wasn’t just a space for work or a place to accept client calls, but a haven or safe space for many of us. It’s a place where we all looked forward to being in, either to chit chat and laugh about nonsense, celebrate holidays the iManila way, party over our successes, or to just simply catch up and lift everyone up when work was getting a little tough. We shared over two happy decades in that very place and letting it go was just heart-breaking.

Now, we are so close to ending this year and yet we are still here waving our iManila flag high. We fought not just for the business to thrive but to stay together despite the challenges.

It’s weird what a year can do to anyone. But we always like to remember that there’s no other way but up. From the words of our President and CEO, Robert A. Deluria, “We aren’t tested for something that we can’t do. So if we are given huge challenges like this, it’s because we can get through them. We just need a leap of faith and hope that all these will one day come to pass and in the end are the better and braver versions of us.”

From all of us at iManila, we wish you and your family a safer, happier and a more hopeful new year!

2020 has been a challenging year for us all. We entered the year strong with so many plans and growth targets in place – ready to beat last year’s numbers and ready to come out a stronger iManila family. Little did we know that the challenge ahead of us would go far beyond numbers. We were even celebrating our monthly company socials last March not knowing that it would be our last activity face-to-face together.

Despite all of the struggles and adjustments, the office space we’ve left behind after 20 years since we are all working from home, as well as the people whom we have had to bid goodbye to, there’s still a lot of things to be thankful for. We are grateful for the good health of all of our employees and our ability to stay operational throughout the pandemic in order to provide for our people’s livelihoods despite the economic downturn this year. We are thankful for the good health of our loved ones and for the time we have been able to spend with them as we continue to work from home through next year. 

Lastly, we are grateful to our loyal clients whom we have grown with throughout the years, sharing the many economic struggles that we have faced together. I know that together, we will be able to adapt, survive and thrive from this pandemic. Thank you for your continued trust and support and we look forward to continuing to improve your lives through technology for many more years to come. 

Wishing you and your family a blessed and joyful Christmas!

Cheers!

From,

For a lot of people, Christmas is an exciting time filled with holiday cheer! But for businesses, what this means is an opportunity to take advantage of an increase in consumer spending. With the right marketing strategy, Christmas is just about the perfect time to hop on the holiday hype train to help boost your business’ sales!

In order to have a great campaign, every marketer needs two things: opportunity and strategy. Christmas alone is a great season of opportunity for businesses to meet the needs of their shoppers. How you can properly capitalize on this opportunity is if it is paired with the right strategy. Waiting for customers to come knocking at your door will not be a sufficient holiday marketing plan. The right strategy can help you cut across the noise of the holiday shopping sphere and reach your customers. It is important to keep in mind that the effects of COVID-19 include a shift in the usual consumer buying patterns. Learning how to unlock this with the right strategy is invaluable. With that, here is a quick guide to get you started on your Christmas campaigns and why it’s never too late. 

Think in terms of the customer 

The biggest question is figuring out what to sell, and if it is something customers will like. The key here is to think in terms of the customer. Find out what customers usually need, and in particular, how your target market would react to the upcoming holidays. Once you figure this out, this is when you can look to other competitors for inspiration and check out current trends in marketing to see what clicks with customers. Combining what you know here can then help you form what offering you can give them. 

Urgency is the best medicine 

Customers are aware of time constraints and this is something you can help them with by giving them a sense of urgency in making that conversion. What you can do is to give customers a definite date for the end of the offer or promotion. It’s always a good idea to bundle some of your products together or offer one or the other for free or at a discounted price for a limited time. This makes your offer irresistible and it gives your consumers a sense of urgency to buy your products today. 

Find inspiration with what works

You do not have to search far and wide to get original content for the holidays. Oftentimes the best way to save you time and to remove the trial-and-error of a new marketing idea is to take ideas from previous ads that work. These ads have appealed to customers which is what makes them a great reference point for your ads or organic posts. This means you wouldn’t be needing to rack your brains on whether the messaging you’re thinking about will be one that connects with your customers. Remember that having the most unique or original content or post does not necessarily make it an effective one for customers.

Have content for the holidays 

Christmas is on the minds of customers the closer we get to the actual day, so as marketers, showing customers that you are also putting out content that is holiday-themed shows that you are relatable and understand what they are feeling. The best part about this is getting to play around with content and using the holidays as an opportunity to engage with customers by putting out content you can’t use anywhere else. Creating Christmas themed content that still keeps your branding intact is one way to achieve this. This time of the year is the best time to get your business ready for the holidays amidst the pandemic!

Keep them thinking of holidays with blogs 

Blogs are vital not just for the SEO of your website but also in keeping customers engaged. It’s good to have regular blog posts but you can take it to the next level by turning your December blogs holiday-themed. Use this not just as a means to promote your product but also as a way to put out relevant advice and content for the season. 

The way you can have the best marketing campaign for the holidays is to plan ahead to make a strategy that works for you while capitalizing on the opportunity. It is not too late to start on your holiday marketing campaign. Follow these easy ber-months marketing guides for all digital marketers and find the right partner who can guide you with your holiday campaigns.  iManila has years of experience in helping brands get a holiday boost with their digital marketing campaigns.  See how we can work together and contact us now!