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Tag: digital marketing

Increase Your Company Revenue with Search Ads

You may have heard of the buzz about Google Ads, particularly Google Search Ads in helping a business drive growth. If you haven’t heard, going into the digital advertisement realm may sound daunting.

Here we will break down this claim, can you really increase your company’s revenue with Search Ads?

What are Google Ads?

To set things straight, it is important to know first the basics. Google Ads is actually an umbrella that comprises three ad networks namely: The Google Search Network, the Google Display Network, and the YouTube Network. Clicking any of those will bring you to the seller’s landing page which is any page where they hope you will ‘convert’ and buy their products.

The search network is the most popular network on Google for advertising. This deals with user intent as people usually go on Google to search for something they already have in mind. Your goal here is lead people to convert instead of just raising brand awareness.

It is here that the term Pay-per-Click comes in because you pay for each click that you get from the searchers. The concept of Cost-per-click or more known as CPC is used which is the average that you will pay for clicks. These vary per industry and usually have different benchmarks. Why is CPC important? That is because keywords on the search network are based on the price during bidding. You can set limits to how much you are going to spend and that will determine what keywords you can bid in.

The goal for the search network is to have your ad rank in the first page ideally. This is determined by ad rank which is made up of a variety of factors that include bid amount, quality score, and more. Given this, bidding higher or having a better quality score can greatly influence your ranking on the Google Search Engine Results Page.

What Numbers Say

While it may be difficult to make a decision to jump on the Google Ad train, a lot of other businesses have made it work on their favor. Statistics show that 88% of consumers use the Internet to find a local business and that 29% of consumers search for local businesses at least every week. This shows a huge potential to tap into the market actively using the Google Search platform as your future customers.

Why is the search network the best strategy instead of Search Engine Optimization? Well 89% of the traffic generated by search ads cannot be replaced by organic clicks when the ads are paused. For high commercial intent queries on search, the top three ad spots take about 40% of the clicks on the page. On top of that, 98% of searchers choose a business that is on the first page of the results they get, which shows the importance of not just being able to be part of the search network but also ranking on the top.

Do they work?

Once properly set up and managed, you can find a strong return on investment by using Google Ads. Businesses in fact, can make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. For the businesses already using Google Ads, 72% of them plan to increase their PPC budgets which is another indicator that they are seeing good ROI. As for the mobile users, 70% of mobile searches call a business directly from Google Search.

While they are a multitude of other factors that leads to the success of a Google Ads campaign, its success still greatly depends on how its set up and managed. This is why it’s vital to have a great team to work on such a campaign. If you do not have a team that can do such, fear not for you can always leave it to the experts to manage your campaigns for you. Let a Google Partner agency like iManila be your partner in running your Google Search campaign. With many years of experience in the industry, you can count on us to deliver and give you an impactful campaign. Feel free to drop a message at [email protected] and see where we can help you! 

 

Risks of running your own digital campaign

Marketing is essential to expose your brand name and stand out. With the right practices, technique, and optimization, you can definitely make the most out of your marketing budget.

Now that a lot of marketing tools like Google ads and Facebook ads are available to anyone, you’ll probably think that running your own digital marketing campaign is a piece of cake. While it’s a good thing that you can market your own product, it also poses a lot of risks. A successful campaign can be achieved through the right practices, techniques, proper optimization, and updated market insights. Doing all these while also running the whole business can compromise the other areas in your company.

Keeping your focus clear on what you do best – which is essentially running the whole business – is important. That’s why, in reality, having a digital marketing agency just might come handy. By having someone else do the marketing for you, you’ll be disburdened by tasks that will require a lot of your time. In this manner, you can pay more attention on achieving business growth holistically without doing the groundwork and avoiding the risks that might compromise your company.

To help you out, we have listed down the risks of running your own marketing campaign:

You might miss the technicalities

A marketer’s task involves a lot of time and effort. From conceptualization, crafting the copies and graphics, up to implementation, monitoring, optimization, analysis, and reporting, this has to be carefully done step-by-step in order to achieve good results. Doing all this simultaneously with your other business management tasks can really be excruciating and might also affect the results that you want to achieve. Letting an expert from an agency do the work will save you time and effort so you can focus on more important things. After all, you can always check on the progress from time to time so you can still be updated on the project. The technicalities and complexities of running digital campaigns are mostly done by those who are seasoned and experienced, hence, it will be better to ask someone who specializes in the job.

You could be less objective

Marketing specialists are trained to foresee the perspective of a business’s target audience through market insights and estimation tools. Even though you know your product really well, it may not be true that your market sees what you see. The basic understanding of your target’s preference can be hard if you cannot be objective and separate yourself from your business. It is very crucial that you know the people to target or drive your ads into, but if you already have a lot of things on your slate, then you might have no time to do enough research for this.

You could spend more or less than the ideal budget

A major risk when running your own digital campaign is that you can easily be convinced to spend more and more to get the results that you want. Or, it can also be the other way around whereas you would think that spending less is a better option. This is when both expertise and the objectivity of an expert marketer comes into practice. Since the recommendations of agencies, like iManila, are based on historical data and premium market analysis tools, you can be assured that you can get the right estimates for your campaign with the ideal budget. This will prevent your campaign from overspending or throwing away your hard-earned marketing dollars. By also acquiring the service of an expert, you can easily track and manage your return on investments and have a detailed report on what went well and how you can improve more in terms of your marketing assets.

Need help from an expert marketer? Contact iManila and see how our digital marketing services can help your business grow! #iManila #DigitalMarketing #GooglePartner

A New Battle: Instagram vs Misinformation

The fight against misinformation has always been an uphill battle. This time, the battle sees itself on new ground: Instagram.

Instagram puts its foot down and tackles head-on the rampant issue about fake news.

That was the decision months ago when Instagram decided to add a tool that allowed its users to report posts that contain false information. The results? The posts are sent to the fact checkers of Instagram and from there they can be hidden from Instagram’s Explore page and hashtag page, the public spaces of the app.

We cannot blame the juggernaut photo app for taking this precaution. Other social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are plagued with fake news, conspiracy theories, and other forms of misinformation.

The Battle Plan

Facebook wants to be more serious about battling against fake news on Instagram. The photos app will add ‘false information’ labels to conceal the post in question. Should users still want to view the post they have to click ‘See Post’ to get there. These labels are set to appear not just in the main Instagram feed but also in Stories. It will also warn users who will try to share a post that has been previously debunked by fact-checkers.

Instagram is currently working on being much quicker in fanning out the flames of misinformation before they go viral. If they get signals that a post may be false, they cut down its distribution as their third-party fact-checkers attempt to review it. In short, Instagram urges its users to take a second guess with the flagged posts they see.

While this may seem like an incremental step into getting rid of misinformation completely, it may leave a lasting effect. In Instagram’s battle for misinformation, this tool may prove to be a double-edged sword.

Side 1: Less Hate, More Credibility

Information these days travels faster, whether true or false. The images that accompany this news, it makes these posts all the more convincing. As a result, a person’s perceptions can be easily manipulated with just a simple click of a post.

These effects can be destructive as people’s opinions can be largely shaped by what they see on their own feeds. Even if one person would agree with a post, it would be a source of affirmation for most users. Misinformation set to defame a certain person or brand can bring about hate be the one to set the course for its discourse. With the wrong intentions behind posting, any posts with claims can be destructive.

Facebook’s efforts to fight back against fake news materialized after they realized how Russia used social media in their favor to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. They estimated that around 70 million Americans could have seen the Russian propaganda ads. This reflects the potency of false information propaganda in swaying the opinions of the public.

With the enabled tools of Facebook and now Instagram aimed at flagging false information, while it is not a guarantee to eliminate all sources of misinformation, it can help in lessening its reach. This can warn people to be wary of the content and will lead them to seek for other more credible sources of information. This reinforces the path to better credibility in these social network systems.

Side 2: The Influencer Dilemma

This, however, begs the question on how this can affect the future of influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing, a kind of social media marketing, use endorsements and product mentions for individuals called influencers. These influencers often have a dedicated social following and are seen as experts in whatever niche they belong to. What enabled this marketing form to work is because of the high trust the followers of these influencers have, making their word gold.

Influencer marketing was never one to be stagnant as technology and trends constantly change. However, what will it mean for the landscape when posts by influencers can be flagged as false information? What will happen when these claims by esteemed influencers are deemed as misleading by fact-checkers? What if it’s the word of facts vs the word of influencers?

Though these still far stretch, with Facebook’s sworn dedication to combat fake news for itself and Instagram, anything impossible now could be possible eventually. This presses a challenge to influencers and marketers alike that low brow tactics aimed at promoting your product will not suffice. If you want your product to be credible for your customers (and now the fact-checkers), it must have a substantial basis.

Truce

For now, we can call it a truce.

It can be good with its fight for false information, but since this is relatively a new feature used on Instagram, we cannot be entirely sure of where it can lead the influencer market, which resides in this app. Technology is ever-evolving but it is a tool that helps improve how we work and live our lives. Having the right tools that strike the balance of satisfying the demands of both the users and businesses is essential to ensure the best experience for everybody, which is the goal at the end of the day.

Marketing your business on Instagram shouldn’t be as scary as riding headfirst into a battle. You don’t have to do it alone as there are digital marketing agencies fully equipped to help you, just like iManila.

Let iManila be your partner as we navigate new terrain, drop us a message at [email protected].

iManila joins Google Learning Sessions 101

“Be there, be seen, be relevant”

 

Such were the words spoken by Google PH’s Agency Acceleration Specialist, Berns Bachar in the recently concluded Google Learning Session 101 at the Google Headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig last October 18, 2019.

The Google session was attended by various representatives from digital marketing agencies, and brand specialists from different companies in the Metro who were looking to learn more about Google’s Search and Display Ads, and YouTube Ads. Google PH’s training highlighted the importance of creating digital campaigns for the success of one’s business.  “One of the most effective ways to spread brand awareness is via Search ads,” Bachar said.

 

*Photo and figures by TechCrunch

 

Search Ads are intent-based campaigns where ads appear when users search for a particular item or brand through different keywords.

Basing on Google’s monthly search record, the search platform receives over 2.5-billion searches per month in the Philippines alone and 3.5-billion daily searches worldwide. Google’s search engine market is valued at 94% of all searches and outranks other search engines in most, if not all, countries in the world. A total of 70% of these searches take place in mobile devices while only 30% on desktop and tablet devices.

According to Google, their search platform is an arena where brands fight over to outrank competitors and get everyone’s attention. So Google warns, if you aren’t there, your competition will be!

YouTube ads, on the other hand, are not intent-based like search ads, hence, they only appear to users who are viewing videos relating to the brand. For the record, YouTube has more than 1.5-billion monthly active users, second to Facebook which has more than 2-billion active users monthly. Though outnumbered by Facebook, 90% of digital users globally consider YouTube as their primary destination and 70% of consumers go to YouTube before buying a product.

 

*Photo and figures by TechCrunch

 

According to another speaker, Andre Visenio, Google PH’s Agency Business Lead, there are four unique approaches that you may apply to your future YouTube ads:

“Attract, Brand, Connect and Direct”.

Attract is basically for a bumper or 6-seconder video ads. The video must start with a bang, run in the middle subtly and end it with another bang. To power your video ad, it must have good audio and sound effects, eye-catching visuals and a relatable storyline. Brand, however, is more of highlighting the brand; Connect is provoking an emotional connection, sometimes funny and mostly heart-touching video ads. While direct is like the word itself, ads that are direct with clear messaging.

Compared to other social media platforms, YouTube users tend to spend more time on the platform. On mobile specifically, YouTube reports the average session time as more than 40 minutes. This is great for small businesses looking to drive more attention to their ads.

 

*Photo by Sapling

 

The latter part of the training discusses the perks of creating a display campaign for businesses. According to Bachar, who previously discussed about search ads, “Consumers in a browsing mindset are more receptive to learning about brands.”

Unlike search campaigns that are intent-based, display ads are more passive as they only show up while skimming through websites to shop, watch videos or read articles. Display ads appear in Google Display Network (GDN) platforms such as Chrome, YouTube, Gmail, Google Map, and Google Play. In a report by Google, users spend 10 hours a day online, in which 42% of all users go to social media and the remaining 58% spend their time online outside of social media, doing either online shopping or reading articles. As for people who visit the website, 10% of them read news, 25% watch videos, 25% are shopping and researching, while 40% are playing games.

The era has come where brands would raise their fists and fight off other brands to step up and capture their target markets. Search, Display and YouTube campaigns are great ways to start in building your brand.

 

“People expect your brands to be present online, especially on the web. Take this opportunity to boost your brand on a bigger and wider market. Advise your clients, friends or families who sell their products offline to switch to digital now,” Bachar said.

 

Unsure of how you’re going to maximize these digital opportunities? We can help you! Send us an email at [email protected]! #iManila #GooglePartner #DigitalMarketing

 

Google Display Network for Brand Awareness

When getting started with digital marketing tools, chances are you’ve probably already heard of Google Ads. What not a lot know though is that they branch out into two – Search and Display. While a search campaign shows text ads on search engine results (Search Network), a Google Display campaign is the more visual approach of showing banner/video ads in over 2 million partner websites, videos, and apps (Display Network).

A valuable marketing platform, Google’s Display Networks reaches over 90% of internet users and it takes the form of visual banner ads as seen below.

Google Display Network

Search Ads vs. Display Ads

What sets both networks apart?

While the Search Ads taps into users directly and actively searching into Google’s Search Engine or other partner search sites. This means that there is already intent in the minds of the users to search for that particular item.

Display Ads, on the other hand, are more passive as they usually appear when users are just going about their usual internet activity such as skimming through a news article, watching video clips, and the like. These ads are mainly small banners or boxes following you around as you scroll through a site. This means that the primary interest of the user is the website content itself and the display ads are just merely secondary. The main difference is that the users aren’t directly on ‘shopping mode’ and may not be familiar with your brand at all. This is because the Google Display Network is a tool that can be used for prospecting and brand awareness.

Due to the low-intent nature of the users when encountering Display Ads, the click-through-rate (CTR) and conversion rate are often below 1%. But the advantage here is the wide array of targeting options that go beyond keywords, and the ability to access a good portion of internet users due to the numerous website placements. The result is finding a tighter network audience with more relevant targeting.

Prospecting and Remarketing

There are two ways to target using Google Display Ads:

(1) First is through prospecting which happens when internet users who may have no previous knowledge of your brand, product, or services are targeted.

(2) The other is through remarketing, which targets users who have engaged with your website in some form previously.

The latter is often referred to as the best way to optimize Display Ads, this option makes use of the audiences found in Google Analytics to help find your target market. These remarketed audiences take place in many forms such as website visitors, users who downloaded content or submitted forms, users who signed up for free trials or other offers, and users who have completed transactions previously. This is why it is said that remarketing completes the circle of engagement as it helps keep past visitors who took interest in a certain product or service to see targeted ads and eventually lead them to make that purchase.

 

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We have laid out the basic need-to-knows about Google’s Display Network, perfect for any business that wants to get their brand or service out there to wider audiences. While Search Ads target those actively looking for products, who knows if you might bag the right market with you through the more passive Display Ads.

In the end, it all depends on your company’s marketing goals and knowing what type of ad or strategy to utilize. While it may seem scary to venture into Google Ads alone, there are always agencies out there to help you with your marketing goals. iManila is a Google Partner agency that can help you navigate Google’s diverse marketing platforms to reach your audience and deliver optimal results! Feel free to drop us a message at [email protected] and kick start your digital marketing journey with us.

How to Choose a Digital Marketing Agency

Choosing the right Digital Marketing Agency for your company, like any other business decisions, should be thought of with careful considerations. Only a bad entrepreneur will invest his money in an agency without doing a little research first.

Below we’ve listed down a few things that you should consider when looking for the best digital marketing agency:

 

Decide what services you need

Before approaching digital marketing agencies, you must first decide and write down what you’re going to ask from them. Take a good look at your marketing and business objectives and then plot the strategies you think you’re going to need. 

  • Set an expectation for your digital campaign (Do you want more leads or are you just looking to build brand awareness?);
  • A project duration (Is this for a long-term project or something more urgent like an upcoming sale?);
  • and/or a specialty (Does your business have a website or is it heavier on social media?)

 

 Evaluate Case Studies

Review the digital marketing agency’s portfolio and previous clients’ feedback. A good agency will have positive reactions from their past clients and will also have an impressive portfolio of successful campaigns.  By doing this, you will also get a picture of the extent of their experiences and what you can expect from them.

 

See The Kind of People You Will Be Working With

A shared vision is the key to any successful campaign. If you have a team working for you, of course, you’d want them to understand your brand story and your goals. It is important to know whether the people in the agency are the kind of people you’d entrust your business with. So what’s the secret recipe in creating the A-Team (or should I stay DM Team)? Let me tell you:

  • Professional
  • Determined
  • Strategic
  • Creative
  • Team players

 

Look at the History and Reputation of the Agency

It is easy to think that young agencies are the most tech-savvy and therefore the right choice when it comes to digital strategies. But the key point here is not how young or old the company is. A great agency combines experience and development. Look at how a company started and how it is today. A company that has been in the industry for many years and is able to adapt through innovations shows that they know how to build and maintain–a company that is perfect in helping you grow your business. 

Awards and Partnerships are also a key factor in deciding which Digital Marketing Agency you should choose. An agency that has a certification or partnership with reputable companies like Google, is more likely to deliver quality service. You can also scan for news or run a quick Google search to show you everything you need to know about the Digital Marketing Agency you’re interested in.

 

iManila, a certified Google Partner, has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry and carries a website that is placed among the top 500 websites in the Philippines (we’re currently at Rank 460!). Competing against thousands of both small and big players on the web, iManila’s Alexa Ranking further proves our company’s credible reputation in delivering quality digital marketing services that are trusted by our clients both here and abroad. Choose iManila as your Digital Marketing partner now. Find out how by dropping us an email at [email protected] or by visiting our website at www.imanila.ph. #iManila #DigitalMarketing

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