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Tag: online marketing

Why Businesses Need a Post-Pandemic Strategy

The coronavirus’ threat to global business hasn’t reached its full magnitude yet. For the next few weeks or months, organizations will begin to shift to a new virtual work reality. This is the birth of a new digital normal. The million-dollar question is, are you prepared to journey the new normal?

With today’s rapidly shifting business landscape, the strategies you use to run and man your business will need to reflect this shift. Here’s how to prepare your business plan for the “post-pandemic normal”.

Smart Financials

Businesses who have not embraced digital transformation yet will most likely not thrive for long. In these problematic times, change is imperative in order to survive. Take your time to re-assess your priorities especially on your digital initiatives. It is crucial that you think smart when it comes to your budget allocation. Remember, the most efficient and effective way to communicate today is through digital.

When this crisis eases, we will be welcomed by generally new digital expectations from consumers. Is there going to be a major surge? Or a gradual rise? Your cash reserves must be able to respond to these kinds of scenarios.

Right Tools

To mitigate the threat of the virus, many organizations have worked remotely. By the end of this, it is likely that some companies will continue to work virtually while some return to their offices. But how will you support them while they are at home? First, you must re-think your strategies and make them long-term.

You may choose to provide your employees with more consistent access to networks, portable equipment and other communication software. This way you can increase their productivity while at home and you may host more intimate and hassle-free online meetings or virtual collaborations without missing a single idea.

Efficient Staffing

This global pandemic has created a wall in everyone’s workforce. To address this gap, you must continually make efficient and smart staffing decisions quickly. In a workplace, there are three typical employees present:

  1. Employees who effectively run the business
  2. Passionate and experience-hungry employees
  3. Starters who need to be trained

Identify individuals who belong in these categories. Then, instill trust and a healthy virtual working environment. Only then will your team members move to constantly communicate, actively collaborate and align their actions to the company’s goals.

After this review, classify additional skills you will need for the future. These could be people who are experts on cloud deployments, operating microservices, etc. If you plan to add in people, you must ensure that you choose the one with experience and can quickly teach other teams with new tools.

Right Brand Permission

Try to assess, is your brand really a digital brand? According to the Yale School of Management, “Brand permission defines the limits of customers’ willingness to accept a familiar brand name in new marketplace situations.” You cannot just claim to be “digital” and expect people to easily accept it especially when you haven’t been digital-driven, historically. You must earn it right.

Brand permission is something to work on and must need time. It focuses on delivering impactful digital products and services—to attract the people you need.

Digital transformation has since been a thing for businesses. But the global pandemic has only pushed to make it rise to a whole new different level — and FAST. We are living in an entirely new digital-driven world. Businesses can no longer simply sit on their laurels or draw digital out of their lives. On your pool of choices, fishing the right ones will ensure you a good spot in this ever-changing and unpredictable world.

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Ready to transition your brand online? We will be happy to guide you through. Learn more about how we can help you here at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/ or drop us an email at [email protected].

 

#iManila #DigitalAgency

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4 Ways Digital Marketing Can Help During the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the ongoing lockdown measures due to COVID-19, more people are staying at home. But what does it mean for marketers?

Traditional marketing platforms like billboards and street signs are now left unseen, with people staying at home, and away from the roads. On the other hand, a vast majority of those staying at home are spending more time online whether working remotely or reaching out to friends and family.

While we are in the middle of transforming into the “new” normal, take the time to assess and explore options to bring your business back up.

On our latest blog, let us share some insights on how you can utilize digital marketing during this time:

Reach out to your customers through Email Marketing

As one of the most cost-effective options to communicate with your audience, creating email campaigns can help you reach out to your existing clients. A simple reminder to let them know that you are here to serve and help them online can go a long way.

Update your Website FAQs

People are regularly searching for information online, now more than ever. Do not miss out on customers looking for your product. Update your website content to ensure that common client queries are on your website. Answering these questions and content to your website can give you an opportunity to rank higher on Google search engine results pages for keywords related to your business.

Communicate through Social Media

Utilize your social media platforms to interact, inform and share positive thoughts to your audience. Whether it is updating your business hours, taking online orders, or simply ensuring everyone’s safety, make use of your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or other social media platforms, to keep your customers updated.

Additionally, you can also explore running ads on Facebook or Instagram to generate awareness and grow your audience.

Consider running a Google Search Campaign

Running a Google Search Campaign is the best way to reach customers who are interested to purchase your product or service. This can be especially helpful for businesses producing essential goods to let your customers know that you are taking orders online and delivering directly.

Digital marketing never stops and can help reach your target consumers despite the lockdown.

Need a hand in reaching out to your audience through digital marketing? Talk to us today! Drop us a message at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/

What is up with Facebook in 2020?

The last 31 days of January 2020 has been heavily problematic for people around the world. With all the natural backlashes, war threats and virus outbreaks that claimed thousands of lives, it’s getting harder and harder for people to cope with every day. This may not be a lot to offer, but for Facebook, it’s a way to help people recover and re-connect. For businesses and brands, exciting and highly beneficial updates are on its way this 2020.

Home to around 2.2 billion users, Facebook, who also owns popular platforms Messenger and Instagram is no stranger to constant updates the way we’ve watched them implement changes in the past year. As marketers, it’s absolutely critical that we keep track and stay on top of these trends to stay relevant and to keep our audiences engaged.

  1. Lead Generation Tools in Messenger

This tool is out there but has been in beta-testing for quite some time. For businesses, your ads can now be clicked through and lead you to Messenger for faster inquiries and transactions. Messenger will simplify customers’ answers with automated questions in a direct, conversational way that brands can quickly jump into to continue the conversation and complete the conversion process. This will allow businesses to integrate their CRM provider to continue the conversation and track leads.

  1. Subscription Messaging Beta Update

The use of Subscription Messaging allows the brand to send non-promotional updates on a scheduled basis but unfortunately does not include advertisements, promotional content, solicitations, etc. On the new platform, Facebook’s Subscription Messaging is a big chance for businesses to send messages and provide their audiences with timely updates and information. This will help businesses to improve brand awareness and drive traffic to their websites which can lead to increased sales. This is a great way to promote your business on a more personal level compared to just having them be displayed in news feeds.

  1. Discover Tab Phase-Out

Launched just two years ago, Facebook has recently announced that they will be removing Messenger’s Discover Tab. This is in line with Messenger’s continuous overhaul which aims to simplify and declutter the app to focus on its core function – to connect people.

  1. Calibra

One of the major Facebook updates that will happen in 2020 is the launch of Calibra. A Facebook subsidiary, Calibra was designed to provide financial services under the digital wallet for the Libra network, a global cryptocurrency built on blockchain technology. This digital wallet is expected to be made available in Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp platforms, on top of its own app.

  1. New Navigation and Management Tools in Business Manager

This Facebook change is much more convenient in terms of improvements to Ads Manager and Business Manager that allow brands to build ads, manage Facebook assets and permission in an easier and faster way. This is useful for business owners who manage their business pages.

  1. Simplified Feed Formats

Because of the new Facebook design, primary text from seven are shorten to three lines for visibility and then prompted to click to view the entire text or post. Another major change is in terms of the aspect ratio of photos and videos from 2:3 to 4:5. These changes help to show more content in a span of one scroll.

  1. Refined Targeting Options

This year, privacy has been given attention as Facebook will trim down targeting ads to users in terms of demographics and buying behavior. This is part of an effort to lessen the pop-ups of third-party companies as it was known to track online behaviors outside of Facebook. It is great for individual privacy but a hassle for businesses that advertise on social media. To clear the confusion, Facebook will still target people based on their jobs and life events listed in user’s profiles as well as interaction on pages and posts.

  1. New Insights and eLearning Courses

Most businesses need a lot of improvement in terms of selling their brands to increase brand awareness and profitability. That’s why Facebook introduced free online courses for businesses to learn new marketing skills in presenting their brands. This is a great opportunity for marketers to learn how their consumers behave in order to help them grow their business.

Intimated by all these upcoming changes? Don’t fret! Having the right agency partner can help you navigate through this ever-changing digital landscape! Here at iManila, we believe in offering digital marketing services that will help you grow your business. Learn more about how we can help you here at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/ or drop us an email at [email protected]. #iManila #DigitalAgency

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!

Website Hosting Features You Should Know

 

We have mentioned it many times, and we think, we became very repetitive about it – your hosting service needs tighter security because your primary online presence depends on it.

Imagine your website that took a lifetime to load, or sections of your websites that are vulnerable to attacks and malware – are these the kind of situation that will give you peace of mind? NO, it is not, and it never will. Everything your company owns online is your digital assets. These are the building blocks that you need to mobilize and protect, to keep your digital marketing going.

Now, to kick start your website hosting security feature knowledge, below are the basic web server features you need to be familiar with:

The truth is, your website is potentially under attack 24/7. And as your business flourishes and keeps on growing online, you are becoming an attractive prey to lurking malicious online criminals. With a malware detector feature, you get to secure your website by putting a reliable line of defense against security breaches and attacks.

iManila’s web hosting service provides a malware detector that monitors your website 24/7 for vulnerabilities and attacks. When we say monitors, that means that it screens every aspect of your web presence daily to identify security gaps. It not only checks your website, email, and applications, but also search engine blacklists and spam filters. It doesn’t just monitor; it also notifies your IT personnel about the findings with corresponding fixes to boost your security. That is one less burden on your back, enabling you to focus more on pressing matters concerning your business and the day to day operations.

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Securities are your first line of defenses. But as businesses like yours evolve, so are the hackers. Day by day, these people are working as hard as your online security to find fault and gaps that they can breach. And I mind you, they never stop, and probably they never will.

So iManila is integrating website backup feature to secure the latest backup version of your website. In this way, when your security features couldn’t keep up with these hackers, you can easily restore your website the way it is before the hacking incident.

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You and your company are working round the clock, so should your hosting server. We in iManila understands the worries and pains of businesses like yours – because we are also like you – driven to serve clients and grow as an organization. And all these things in mind will surely stretch you thin.

Important things like your hosting servers should always be secured even if you are not focusing on it all the time. That is why we at iManila has made it easy for businesses to secure the most important data and information in their websites by integrating these security features on our hosting services.

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Need some help? Contact Us right now!

Want some good news? If you do website revamp and transfer your hosting to us, your first year of hosting service is free with these security features.

Sounds good to you? Go ahead and email us at [email protected]

Website Credibility Signals You Need to Have

A website is considered the most important online asset for businesses and organizations. But with more than 1.2 billion published websites, how can you tell your target audiences that your website (which represents your business) is credible?

In marketing, despite having a remarkable product or service, if your website doesn’t convey the superiority of your business, then there will be a disconnection between your brand and your market.

To clearly understand the credibility signals online audience look on a website below are the critical factors that you should look out for:

  • Image of the business owner

One of the ultimate trust signals that will give credibility to your website is an image of the owner in about us section of the website. No matter how awkward and uncomfortable for business owners like you, putting your image will boost your website’s credibility.

  • Thorough contact information

One thing is common among online users nowadays – and that is getting the information they need in just a few steps and few clicks. To be able to increase your website’s credibility you should include all contact information that your audience or your market needs to know to reach you. And that is not just putting them on the website, but also making easy for your audience to see it.

related:  Usual Mistakes SMEs Do with Their Website

  • Testimonies

Nothing is more convincing than good words from people who have tried your products or services. People love a recommendation from people that are not part of a business organization. Their recommendations are highly valued as they had a first-hand experience with your brand. Now, putting the most compelling and believable testimonials from your current and past clients will surely help in building your website’s credibility.

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  • Social Links

Another means of validation of the credibility and also the legitimacy of your website is through social links. As the online community gravitates towards socials, they are expecting a consistency in your brand from the web to socials.

  • Web design, Branding and Information Architecture

This one is a big chunk to swallow for beginners as this includes three dimensions that work as one. All three are part of the improving user experience. A good branding yields a comprehensive guideline that can be used to create a remarkable web design.

Also, while doing the design, the information architecture (or the correct arrangement and careful selection of content to be included) of the website is also a crucial factor in giving a better user experience. It is a must that you need to make highly sought information easily accessible to your visitors, and that is part of a good information architecture.

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Bottom-line is, your website is the face of your business online. Making sure that it represents your brand well, and that it looks completely credible is essential in making your online marketing a success.

For inquiries about website revamp, develop and design, you can contact iManila at (02) 490-000. You can also send an email via [email protected] or via [email protected].

FRED: Could this be the initial SEO shake-up of 2017?

Many website masters may have noticed lately that their ranking is gradually diluting, and that their website traffic decreases despite their SEO compliance. Some of them are probably thinking that there is something wrong with their SEO activities, but some had a hint that Google may have released an algorithm update somewhere in the first quarter of the year.

What really happened is that most sites saw 50 percent to 90 percent traffic declines from Google organic search. This was a massive organic ranking drop for these sites. It is somewhat believed that the update was released last March 08, when there has been as a sudden drop in the traffic and even rankings.

And according to some SEO thought-leaders, FRED (which they named the update) targets websites that are low in quality content but heavy on the ads. Other than confirming that it was targeting ad-heavy sites, Google hasn’t said much more about Fred. Since there are no other details about the update, it probably would help most webmasters to focus on their links, including the method of acquiring those links.

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Link building is always about quality over quantity. A few links from embedded within websites with outstanding domain authority are always better than a bucket of weak and spam-y links.

Since Fred has been making a shake-up in the SEO world, one thing appears to be a definite course-of-action for SEO experts and webmasters – to continue creating quality content and earn quality links.

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And in terms of on-page SEO, iManila’s digital marketing team is capable of helping small businesses to start their online presence through Google search engine’s results page. Visit our digital marketing page to know more about the services that we offer. For inquiries, please call (02) 565-4064 or send us an email at [email protected]

Things To Know Before Running an AdWords Text Ad

There will come a day when all businesses in the Philippines will shift online. And as of today, there’s a big chance that a sales executive will knock on your door and tell you, “Ma’am/Sir you need to advertise your business online, it’s the best way for you to get noticed without a big budget.”

What comes after are the feelings of amazement and confusion. Questions like, “Does it really work? Will it really work for my business? Do I need to allot more budget? How will I know if I am getting more from it?”

I am pretty sure that these are the things that you have in mind and you’re probably seeking for someone to guide you in making a decision whether to go or not.

At iManila, we encourage you to go for it. However, we first make sure that our prospective clients know the following things before we actually proceed to do the Google Search Ads for them.

  • First Mandatory: Website

One of the primary goals of a Google Ad is to bring web traffic through web clicks. The ads serve as a portal to bring them to a website of the client. If the client doesn’t have a website, we advise them to consider having one before we proceed with the ads.

A website serves as a primary online contact point of any online searchers to a prospective firm or business. The website must contain all vital information about the business including all contact numbers, email addresses, and physical address. We also highly recommend that the website contains all the offerings be it products or services.

Having a Website is NOT Enough

The website is mandatory but that doesn’t mean that having one is the end of it all. A website should be regularly updated. It should be well-designed and easy to navigate; otherwise, visitors will just bounce off.

The experience visitors have with a website is what matters to Google. If visitors are having a hard finding what they need to see on your website, then that means that the website is not well-made or it lacks content and substance. In return, Google will remove you from ranking high in the Google Search Engine Results Page, and it can also affect your ad rank in Google ads.

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  •  Second Mandatory: Research

We ask our clients if they have an accurate knowledge and sharp business intelligence about their competitors and their industry. This is for them to brief us about their positioning, prices and same with their competitors. If they don’t have one, we do some research to better understand their business and the competition within the industry.

What do we mean by competition?

We do not limit our research to offline must-knows such as location, prices, and their offerings. We also try running some keywords about the business and see if they are doing Google Ads as well. This will help us determine how tight it will get for our prospective clients should they push through with the service. And that’s how we adjust in terms of budget suggestion, keywords and even the landing pages of their ads.

  • Third Mandatory: Landing Page

A landing page is a specific page in the website that serves as a catch basin of incoming traffic from the Google Ads. It is the first page that they will see, hence the importance of having a well-designed and well-written one.

A landing page should be well-made and simple to understand. Moreover, it needs to have one explicit and achievable goal. Goals could be sign-ups, purchases or downloads. These landing pages offer valuable materials that are needed to be a downloaded from a portal going to an e-commerce page to convert them into a client.

What we always tell our clients is: Landing pages should contain a relevant and easy to understand core message. It either instructs to download, persuades to buy or begs for sign-ups.

  • Fourth Mandatory: Budget

Launching an ad means you are willing to pay a certain amount to post the ad. The same goes with Google Ad. It is universal for all ad platforms (both online and traditional) that an ad budget is required.

The difference between Google and other online platforms is that you have the power to dictate what budget works for you, unlike the traditional ones.

Fifth Mandatory: Understanding the Idea of the Bidding Scheme and PPC

Google Ads are created to operate on a specific model which is the pay-per-click type. Pay-per-click or PPC means that the advertiser gets charged for every click. If there are fewer clicks, there will be fewer charges as well. However, if there are a greater number of clicks, the higher is the possibility of spending your maximum allocated budget.

The bidding scheme, on the other hand, pertains to who gets the top spot in the allocated areas on the first page of Google based on the willingness to spend greater amount. However, Google rationalizes their bidding rules by incorporation of a quality score. Those advertisers whose ads obtain a high-quality score gets the spots.

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How to Achieve Better Quality Score?

Quality scores of Google ads are computed using the following elements:

  • Bid – refers to the amount the advertiser is willing to spend
  • Ad Relevance – The resonance of the ad message to the online researchers. It is sometimes evaluated by Click-through rate. Click-through rate is the number of clicks your ad gets over the number of times it was shown by Google.
  • Landing Page experience – The behavior of the visitors as they land on your page. The higher the bounce (quick and unexpected movement of visitors out of the website) rate is considered as bad landing page experience.

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As mentioned from the items above, clients need to make sure that they have everything in their arsenal before actually going for a Google ad – and one of those is having a well-made website with compelling landing pages.

Taking into considerations the ‘mandatories’ above will result in a higher success rate when doing the Google ad.

For further questions and inquiries about the Google Ad or with Website Development and revamp. Contact us at (02) 490-0000 or send us an email at [email protected].

 

 

Online Duopoly: Which One Is Suitable For Your Business, Facebook or Google?

 

Facebook or Google? This could be one of the common questions business owners kept on asking themselves. One of the digital truths that you need to deal with is that a business cannot grow online on organic alone. That is true in some cases, especially when venturing into digital marketing for the first time. But with so many platforms available, from search engines, apps, websites, and to social media networks – you might be wondering which one to choose when advertising your business online.

The truth is, these overwhelming choices shouldn’t be your primary concern.

Why?

Because there are only two dominant leaders in online advertising today namely: Google and Facebook. And you should stick with them quite often when dealing with digital ads,

The Duopoly

Admit it or not, there are only two entities in so far, who have valuable profile data of online users in the world – Google and Facebook. They are the two titans who earn a lot from their ad platform businesses, thus calling them a duopoly.

Why duopoly? You probably asking yourself.

To begin with, Facebook owns Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. These four are the top social media networks and social messaging platforms in terms of numbers of active users.

In the recent quarterly report of Facebook, the flagship platform has reached a 1.9 Billion user base per month. Instagram has 700 million each month while the two leading social messaging platform – Messenger and WhatsApp – both have 1.2 billion user base.

Facebook earns a staggering 97% of its 2016 revenue from its digital advertising business.

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Meanwhile, Google – a world renowned search engine brand that reached immense trust and popularity for having a spot in the Oxford dictionary is also a leader in transforming digital marketing these days. This brand has earned an accepted scholastic use of its verb variations such as “googled” and googling” making Google undeniably one of the greatest modern enterprises of the millennium.

Google owns YouTube – the world’s largest video streaming site. It also expands its services through consolidating its core businesses under the name Alphabet Inc. Alphabet is responsible for developing and reshaping its services that are linked with their core mission to improve the user experience. Alphabet Inc. from the name of the company itself covers almost the entire Roman alphabet including the Ad platform of Google for search and display networks.

Google digital ad business generates 32.8% of the total revenue of this tech conglomerate.

Which One is Right for Your Business?

A good approach to this question is to try both and see which works well with your business. But since most of the SMEs marketing budget are strictly limited, doing so is not in your priority list. To weight which one is right for your business. Below is our weigh in:

 

  • B2B and Service-oriented business

Does your business belong in this category? If YES, then Google search engine marketing (SEM) fits your business well. Why? The reason is plain and simple. A B2B model relies heavily on website transactions, and this is out of corporate custom revolving around the idea of legitimacy. When a website is your primary contact point online, Google’s search engine marketing is a go-to platform.

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  • B2C and Consumer Goods / Retail

The good thing about this category is that the risk of losing money when investing in both platforms is low compared to B2B and Service-oriented businesses. The reason is, reaching the end consumers with products (tangible trades) that they really need is one foot ahead than business offering services (which are intangible).

In this kind of business, if one looks after brand awareness, social ad via Facebook is a good avenue. With most retail business in the country relying on brick-and-mortar store than e-commerce, social ads by Facebook fits just fine. Be it engagement or web clicks (or visits), Facebooks ads can surely reach to the end consumers with ease.

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In the Philippines, there is a preconceived notion of having comfort in purchasing tangible trades than the intangible ones. If you are in the business of providing services, you got to build a solid reputation to compete well with your competitors online. If you are dealing with consumer goods and retail, the challenge is to create a way to sift through the clutters of other consumer-centric ads online.

Be it Facebook or Google, the success of an online ad relies on understanding your audience and your business. Once you all had it in your mind and in your heart, sending the message across these two platforms won’t be too much of a pain.

If by chance that a business like yours is looking for an assistance in starting your brand presence online either through Facebook or through the search engine of Google, iManila is capable of helping you get noticed by your target audience online.

Give us a call at (02) 490-0000 / (02) 565-4064, or send your inquiries through our website portal at https://imanila.ph/lets-talk/