Conference for Aspiring Marketing Professionals

Last February 6, 2009, 4,000 students from different universities converged at the PICC Forum for the Conference for Aspiring Marketing Professionals. They were treated to a wide array of new and emerging marketing concepts and of course the Internet and Marketing Association of the Philippines was at the forefront of the event, represented by Mon Duremdes to speak about digital marketing. 

Here's the Steve Jobs of IMMAP in action!

Digital Delivers: Building Brands through Internet and Mobile Marketing

The title is this year's battlecry of IMMAP.

The other day the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) inducted it's new set of officers. I still remember the coming out party of IMMAP back in November 2006 in Greenbelt and then the first induction of members two months later (I was part of the first set!). 

IMMAP has grown by leaps and bounds and as Donald Lim (founding president) shared they were the most productive board with 2 major summits and course-offerings and a whole lot of activities during their term. Aside from that IMMAP has played an important role in evangelizing about the use of the internet and mobile platforms for marketing. A mean feat especially since this advocacy entails a lot of education.

 

Kudos to the old board and congratulations to the new set of officers of IMMAP!

1. President - Arthur Policarpio, Snapworx
2. Vice-President - Angeli Lambsdorff, DentsuIndio
3. Board Secretary - Arlene Amarante, Microsoft Advertising
4. Treasurer - Norelyn Babiera, Fiera de Manila

Committee Heads:

International Linkages - Jojit Alcazar
Industry Relations - Donald Lim
Research - Leah-Besa Jimenez
Standards and Ethics - Chris Concepcion
Education - Arlene Amarante
Academe and Youth - Mon Duremdes
3rd Internet & Mobile Marketing Summit - Angeli Lambsdorff
3rd Annual Boomerang Awards - Ed Mapa
PR - Melissa Limcaoco
Membership - Bing Kimpo
Fellowship - Mike Palacios
Advocacy - Nix Nolledo

Awesome Ad

I saw this ad on TV when it first came out about a month ago and I must admit I still look forward to seeing it on TV (translation: I don't change the channel when it comes up) because it's catchy. What's awesome about it though is how it has been viewed over 200,000 times in about a month (added 2 Youtube channels that have it).

Now some might argue that number is small compared to when it's shown on TV where eyeballs would be much higher. BUT! I would argue back that the efficiency of message delivery would be much, much higher when the person searched for it and watched it with undivided attention online. (Do you actually really pay attention to TV ads in between show segments? I do when it's this ad and the McDonald's ad.)

I was quite ecstatic to see TVCs being placed on Youtube since it shows that agencies and advertisers are dabbling more and more on viral marketing. 

A great sample of this would be HP's Yetube campaign.

Up next: creating your Youtube channel. 

We're Finally Getting There

The landscape for digital marketing in the Philippines have changed significantly in the past couple of years. I remember back in 2001 less than 5% of companies who would join exhibits would have email addresses much less websites. My Mom's export company back in 1999 stood out even though we were a newbie because we had a website (a home-made one by me!). 

It's been ten years since I started working on digital advertising stuff and I must admit it's been really slow to catch on in the Philippines. Really slow. I started off with online directories and the challenge back then was getting business to get their information online, must less have them showcase their products/services. After that phase was done (took a few years to get businesses comfortable) the next task was to convince companies to advertise online.

And I dare say we are going over that we're finally getting over that mountain.

But the next task is educating how. It's the most difficult phase I believe and a lot of organizations and people have been doing just that the past couple of years. What helped a lot in this process I believe are social networking sites and blogs and the Social Media Usage study of Universal Mccann clearly shows that a lot of active Filipino internet users spend a lot of time on these services. I've been seeing a lot of local ads on Facebook the past few months and more and more companies have been tapping bloggers because they want to be talked about online. It's just a matter of time.

Reports show that bulk of the online marketing spend goes to display ads (i.e. banner ads), I think this is because there is still a lack of better understanding of search. I believe this year that's where things will head to since: (1) advertisers will be looking for better ROI; (2) there will be better understanding that search isn't about demographics but direct needs; (3) there is more than enough available content online where advertisers can become relevant links for their target market; and (4) the continued growth of Filipino internet users. 

After all, what company wouldn't want to have returns at minimal investment?

Should You Advertise Online During Crisis?

I got a barrage of questions from a former colleague earlier about advertising online. His exact question was, "Why should I advertise online even during crisis?"

The answer is easy.

Because advertising online (especially pay-per-click ads) is the most cost efficientmedium of advertising.

"Are you sure?" he said.

"Of course!" I answered back.

Before the advent of the internet our parents used the yellow pages (or the directory) to find suppliers they need (they still do!). They open up the book, find the right category and start calling the supplier they need. The same way we do online. We go to Google and search. Right?

You only search based on your needs. Be it to purchase something. Canvass. Do Reviews. Find a store. Compare. Or just simply because they are curious. You don't really search for something you don't really need right? 

The internet has a wealth of information and that's how a lot of people find info nowadays. Being there as relevant links or text (or even display ads) also helps because it may end up tickling the fancy of the person in that page. 

Anyway, in a more formal note, Piper Jaffray & Co. in their study “The New eCommerce Decade: The Age of Micro Targeting” found out that the most cost efficient way of acquiring customers is via search at $8.50 per customer acquired, the yellow pages follows second at $20 cost per acquisition. 

Makes sense doesn't it? And during crisis every centavo counts. 

So have you searched for your product online lately?

The Value of Blog Marketing

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being invited to speak about blogging to the International PR Association (Philippines). The attendees were the head honchos of long-time PR agencies and they basically wanted to understand what blogging is all about.

Blogging seems to be the craze in the country lately and more and more companies are taking a dip into it. IMMAP has also come up with an online course on blog marketing and we're just finishing it up a bit and it should be available in the coming month. Janette has also introduced her own course through her book "Blogging from Home".

If I was still a marketing manager I would definitely look into blog marketing, moreso because the products I used to handle were online and mobile services. And I would ask the question, "What value does it have for my brand?"

Some say that the internet is a totally different landscape. It's another world that emerged when it became a commodity. And studies have shown that people go online to search and check email. The key word there is SEARCH.

And now you must ask, "If I do an online search for my brand/product what do I see?"

Now you better check to see what's available online about your brand. To check, go here.

. . . (waiting for you to check)

So now that you've seen what content is showing up on search results about your brand then now you know more or less the value of marketing through blogs. Blogs provide content and do help in getting in the message your want to convey to readers. Content is essentially, I believe, the value of blog marketing and that includes brand awareness, testimonials/trial, the layman explanation of your service and feedback.

Don't forget, search and content go hand in hand.

Google Lauches "Google Insights for Search"

Ever wondered how your products fare online? Search and content works hand in hand. Why not do a search on your products/services by using keywords that would probably direct people to your brand. Did your company's website come out in the first page of the search results? Did you find other websites/blogs talking about your product?

Google innovates further by providing a new tool for its advertisers, "Google Insights for Search". It's a tool that allows advertisers to compare keywords based on its search volume.

Let's say I'm a travel agency selling trips to different beaches in the Philippines. Here are the keywords I used to compare:

Boracay
Palawan
Bohol

And got this result:


Which tells me that Boracay is a term that is twice as much searched as Palawan and Bohol.


The tool also tells me which countries are interested in it (Philippines, Hongkong and Singapore). The map at the side also gives me an idea about where the volume of searches come from by region and it clearly indicates that most of the searches come from the Philippines. (You can also filter by country, year and regions)


Aside from the keywords I provided, the tool also provides both top searches and rising searches that are related to my keywords. Making it easy for me to know what keywords I should use to create a Google Adwords campaign.

Methinks "Google Insights for Search" is good for the following:

1. Provides great input for keywords to use when creating Google Adwords campaigns
2. Helps in giving me an idea which of my products are more searchable (and perhaps sellable) than others
3. Let's me know what regions/countries are interested in my product (great for exporters!)
4. If I was just starting out a business I could actually also use this tool for marketing insights (target marketing!)

Information at its best.