Maintaining a strong relationship with your customers truly matters, and what better way to do that than expressing it online where thousands of people can see it?
This love month, your best ally in setting up your platform to connect with customers online is none other than Emerge. Emerge is a digital marketing company with a digital-first approach, fueling businesses’ online growth through various services, including web design, social media marketing, and media buying.

In this busy and buzzing month of hearts, discover digital marketing solutions that deliver results. Emerge has launched three (3) promo offers on Social Media Content Marketing, Facebook Ads Management, and Website Design and Development packages–available for the whole month of February! These limited special offers include discounts and exciting freebies that you’ll surely love!

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If you want to make your marketing campaigns more effective on social media, subscribe to any EmergeCreative Social Media Content Marketing package. Emerge is giving 10% OFF and a FREE Social Media Brand Lift. Get plenty of engagements from followers across multiple platforms!

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Find Success this Love Month with Emerge

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0949-9939-045

Everyone is on TikTok! Should I move my business to TikTok instead? Is TikTok better? 

These might have lingered in your mind primarily if you handle your business’s social media accounts. Frequently, less engagement or few sales from Facebook and Instagram exhaust owners and look to TikTok as a redeeming platform. 

We call this social media migration, wherein an online brand/entity moves to another site or app and creates a social media account, leaving the original, similar to restarting the online entity of a business. 

I can’t blame them; TikTok has grown as one of the most prominent social media spaces because its short-form video content sparks memes and trends almost daily. From dance covers, funny videos, and even informative clips- the app is truly a game changer in their digital-first approach. 

Still, to answer the dilemma above, the answer is both a “yes” and a “no,” depending on where you are as an online brand and who you are as a social media identity.  

Yes, move to TikTok as it opens up new ways to a broader audience and younger market reach; and no, in a way that you still take the step of creating a TikTok account and build up your business in and through it, while not abandoning your Facebook and Instagram accounts for good.

Strategy is to go for all social media platforms, and not focus on one. Here are the reasons why:

Each Social Media Platform is Unique

Social media platforms always incorporate a unique feature and identity to their digital spaces. Tiktok, for example, is all about videos, typically short-form videos of skits, challenges, lip-sync, and dance craze. In fact, TikTok executives referred to their app as more of an “entertainment” platform than social media. 

Facebook, on the other hand, has omnibus features. From static postings of images and text, GIFs, long and short-form videos, added features like polls, trivia, community, and group management, while Instagram banks more on photographic postings. 

Most experienced digital marketers understand the relevance and impact of multi-platform marketing because there is clarity that audience demographics and psychographics are quite varied, ever-changing, and broad- one single social media account cannot sustain these. 

Avoid Starting Over Again Online

Most online businesses begin their online journey, apart from having a website, by creating a Facebook page and linking it with a corresponding Instagram account and TikTok for a different content approach and engagement strategy.

This is a simple yet effective way in introducing your brand to social media users, and a great way to engage with current and prospect customers. With Metabusiness features, Facebook helps target specific audiences and advertise to them in a cost-efficient way while building a community circled around your brand and provides an avenue for community marketing.

In becoming digital, communal approaches are effective strategies, and in the digital communities formed, membership marketing becomes the game's new name. People crave membership and community; it's a part of human nature that they look for in the digital sphere.

Before going to an entertainment platform such as TikTok, analyze your standing on Facebook first. 

Have your followers grown within a definite length of time? 

Next, ask yourself if there has been any development first on your side as the social media manager and business owner to get engagements and reach more people through varying content. 

If yes- you’ve gained significant followers and garnered consistent engagement, this means you’re already manageable when communicating to your audience; a good indication you may start your account on TikTok for newer forms of content- this time videos. 

If you cannot maintain a robust communal relationship online through your Facebook or IG accounts, connecting through TikTok would be a little challenging. Let’s say your page hardly grew in impressions, reach, and following. These are telltale signs that you need to work more on relating to your audience first and revamp your content. This is necessary to mend prior to migrating your brand to TikTok.

Ads Work Differently between Social Media Platforms

Social media ads are the hammer and nail for online businesses. As its main feature is to raise brand awareness,  ads can be effective for marketing your product or service and your brand.

Ultimately, brands that migrated from one social media platform to another need clarification as to why their original ads setup and targeting approach on Facebook does not work on TikTok and vice versa.

TikTok ads had significantly cheaper cost-per-impressions (CPMs) than Facebook and Google across all our campaigns globally in the last three months, hardly less than half the traffic cost of Google and three times less than Facebook's traffic. 

However, Facebook ads can reach a specific group thanks to detailed targeting options like: 

• Age
• Location
• Interests
• Purchasing History
• Search History
• Dislikes

Especially with their dynamic experience feature, this lets businesses use one ad campaign across multiple audiences, which increases exposure and reduces costs at once. Moreover, competition is lower than on other online advertising venues; hence there may be less expensive ways to get your message out. 

Both TikTok and FB ads have built-in A/B split testing capabilities, so you can constantly find effective combinations of creatives, content captions, and audiences. These powerful retargeting capabilities allow you to maximize your ad spending.

In bird’s eye view, the game is not using one platform over the other because it’s trendier or a lot of people talk about it, which makes it effective- Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media/entertainment digital spaces all have advantages that can help your brand grow and attract potential customers. And with the same level of benefits come disadvantages. But remember, the fundamental goal here is to build a community of loyal followers and customers- which social media is all about.

Connection more than Migration

Moving from one social media platform to another is a standard move for digital marketing, but abandoning one digital space for another, limits your chances of building a digital community around your business and brand. 

Remember that online brands that utilize multi-platform strategies have better rates of awareness and conversions. If you’re a starting business- start first on Facebook and Instagram. Grow a community and gather followers with the right content that relates and connects to your market. 

Play each platform’s strengths and use them to tailor-fit your goal. Move to TikTok once you have a clear view of what type of content your followers crave and digestible and have the resources to execute them. 

Growing your brand takes time, but with consistent and tested content plus proper usage of features each social media platform offers, you could build a solid and well-loved business online with loyal customers.

Have you ever seen a lesson taught through video reels?

Class essays on Instagram?

Or is it getting updated with school events and news through portals, online groups, and short-form content?

A few years ago, schools of all levels and educators embraced virtual lessons to address the conflicting demands of non-physical classes during the pandemic.

Our educational system and, in particular, the way we learn and teach are crucial spotlights in the era of digitalization. More and more educational institutions are investing their systems and operations in the digital-first approach. This is true for all academic levels – from primary school to vocational schools and universities to continuing education.

What if our School has a Social Media account already?

Great! Then we are off to a great start.

First, make sure your school’s branding is done right online: logo color and semantics match that in the real-world application, consistent slogans or phrases, an array of creative materials that are conformable to any content post, and more. 

But it’s not just as simple as creating a Facebook or Twitter account and posting announcements, holiday greetings, or school employee’s birthday (don’t do the latter, LOL); going on social media means establishing both your offline branding and digital presence. You are making your institution part of a virtual community where your school’s current students, teachers and staff, school supervisors, and more are already present.

This social media community is navigated through various factors like psychographic interests and persona, demographic data, trends, and engagements, and converting content to actions, which must be considered whenever you have a campaign for your school’s social media.

Trends? Engagements? Content-to-Action? How do we do these things?

Here’s how-

Social Media Strategies to elevate School Operations and Learning

Avoid Group Chats, Create a Group Page.

Let’s begin with the classroom since most activities happen in this setting. Group chat is a good feature to stimulate conversations among student groups, but it is not excellent for online management and convo-thread organization.

GCs create hassle in backreading announcements, and responses or newer chats drown essential details. The teacher or class beadle might have to keep sending links or images or bumping a message since GC, like Messenger, doesn’t have pinning options. Plus, the notification bell is annoying as it keeps ringing whenever chats from each student pop out.

With Group pages, announcements and essential postings are organized with units  through the discussion feed as they are posted individually without getting drowned. Comments or questions are well-grouped, easily read, and monitored in each posting through the comment section.

Furthermore, Group pages may include attachment features for sharing lessons, learning materials, and external links like attendance sheets, school website, etc. Note: Your Group page should be connected to your school’s official social media account.

Include Social Media links on your school website and vice-versa.

Include a link to your school's social media accounts on your school website to share virtual traffic from the site to social media and form a central social media directory of the school's office's pages, school organization groups, and class group pages. (Note: Class group pages should be accessible only to enrolled students, their teacher/s, and authorized school personnel.)

It would be easier for parents and students to find your school's social media profiles by adding links to the website's main navigation that houses them all in one place. Furthermore, prospective students and employees would be able to see insights of what your school's program and campus life are.

Don't forget to include call-to-actions in the caption in the caption on social media postings like: "Check our website to learn more!" or "Discover our campus life via our website!"




Use Social Media platforms in class outputs and learning activities.

Students are familiar in using and navigating social media accounts, from socio-cultural and public relational ones like Facebook and Twitter to aesthetic and creative content platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

Beyond entertainment, teachers and educational facilitators can use these soc meds as platforms of learning and showcasing what students have learned through online outputs.

• Twitter can be great for a class discussion board or message board. Tweet reminders for assignment due dates, share learning snippets, and helpful links to practice quizzes or resources. Create a single Twitter handle and Twitter Circle per class and reuse them yearly.
• Instagram can be used by students for photo essays where they present a series of photos or graphics in a visually appealing manner and write engaging essays or articles as captions. Instagram allows students to practice digital storytelling.
• Facebook features like reels and short-form videos with credible content would be suitable for teaching significant but brief lessons. This also allows teachers to be simple and concise in their lessons. Furthermore, students can use reels to show class demonstrations or learning experiences. Same way TikTok uses short-form video content.
• Pinterest is the perfect site and app for student group activities, school event planning, and for teachers to prepare resources, lesson plans, and worksheets for their classes in one place. Make Pinterest boards to curate a digital bibliography for research projects, papers, or group assignments. Pin websites, books, or videos to a board on a single topic and refer back to it when it’s time to create an output.
• Blogs and write-up publishing sites are great online rooms for students and teachers alike to publish their academic works and learnings for members of the student body and faculty to read, collaborate, and solicit feedback. Blog pages can be linked to the school’s website as well.

Structure the School’s Social Media Crisis Strategy

During the monsoon season, schools are also at the forefront in informing students about class suspensions or early dismissals. Students and parents would keep on refreshing news pages and the school's soc med account waiting for announcements.

In times of emergency, communicating steps to the entirety of the campus is crucial, whether it’s a fire, earthquake or other immediate campus emergency, incorporating social media into every student’s crisis communication plan is a must.

A well-structured soc med policy is essential here. Is a designated soc med manager tasked with providing hourly updates and important announcements? The school must also Invest in SMS or email blast applications such as mail chimp and the like to disseminate announcements or protocols ahead of time and in bulk.




Share Snaps of the School Life

Publish aesthetic photos that show various aspects of your school or classroom happenings. This can be a simple facade of the school, a hallway, the library, a conference, student group activity, or a playground. The topics are limitless, just make sure you accompany them with a powerful and pleasant caption.

Highlighting events and extracurriculars can make your school stand out from the rest. While school and university websites tend to follow the same mold, social media like Instagram allows you to be more unique and casual.

Social Media Trends to Drive Student Engagements

Ride on Culture and Fads for your Online Campus

We’ve mentioned that being in social media means creating a virtual community; and just like any school community, online ones are built and grow through culture, trends, and tradition.

Make your school’s online content relevant and always in the now by riding on your campus’ culture and relatable topics or events. Here are some examples:

• Create a parody content of male teachers acting as members of BTS.
• Recognize students that are known for their “lolita” type of fashion.
• Interview the school’s varsity players but with a twist like truth or dare.
• Bag raid for your favorite teachers and see what essentials they carry.

These aren’t harmful contents but it is imperative to ask first for consent and approval from the appropriate people.

Trendjacking and Memes

Make online campus life more alive by riding on trends and memes. Trendjacking is done when a brand or organization, example the school, interjects itself or its own brand to a certain trend or meme that is gaining attention.

But timing is also relevant to trendjacking, that’s why trend jack or meme about the campus life or school events should be based on current trends or famous references that many would find relatable.

Use Online Polls and Survey

Another way of getting students’ engagement through social media, is by including their opinions and perspectives to school-related issues, events, and decisions. They are a part of the institution after all.

Let say your school is planning the annual Intramurals and the organizing committee are stressed by new and exciting games to include- your school’s page can create polling or survey posts to get students preferences and suggestions.

Surveys are also helpful in collating and summarizing what the student population feels about certain decisions or events in the school.




Bring Student Advocacies Online

advocacies which can be optimized to empower learners and faculty as well as to garner new reach among prospective students and educational collaborators. School spirit is best celebrated when the school support good and beneficial student

Advocacies for the environment, charity to the poor, agriculture, computer literacy, and more will get more traction to the schools online portals.




“Boost” for Growth

Like most social institutions, schools are brands and brands grow through proper advertising. In the digital plane, boosting the school’s social media postings and targeting specific demographics and psychographics bridges the school to more and more audiences.

Furthermore, investing in media buying or the process of purchasing ad space and time on digital and offline platforms to create display ads, paid search, mobile or video ads; will reduce risks of campaign failure and ensure more support for the school from sponsors and/or increase on enrollment turn-out.

Begin using Social Media for Education today!

Ready to try these tips for using social media for education settings?

Just make sure you have an organized social media policy and team of social media managers that will handle the school’s online brand, messaging, content, and actions. It is also imperative to create a social media calendar  to plot and create needed contents in advance. 

Once these are settled, go and plot various social media strategies that would be useful for your school system. Remember that the digital-first approach is about getting things easier and organized while at the same time pushing your school’s brand to newer reach and market.

Collaborate with faculty members to bring up their academic breakthroughs and achievements online. This will assist the school’s credibility and identity as an expert in educational development.

For content, add a humanistic approach to your digital initiatives by bringing the campus culture, trends, and activities online. Do not be afraid to trend jack and use memes appropriately, and capitalize on student expression and interest, they always make way for newer and fresher contents that would drive engagements.

Digital-first may seem difficult, but you’ll know it’s as easy as ABC.

If you need help where to start on the digital-first approach for your school or educational institution, message us and see how we can help!

What’s your go-to emoji as a social media marketer?

I’d love to know.

The emoji language is described as the world's fastest-growing language! More than 3,000 in total, the emojis continue to multiply and have grown to be more inclusive as time passes. 

Emojis' potential growth continues to grow as over 5 billion emojis are sent via Facebook and messenger daily, and an estimated 92% of internet users now use emojis in their everyday interactions. 

But how are emojis relevant in digital marketing? 

Can such tiny emoticons really help your social media marketing campaign? 

Keep reading and learn more about emojis and how you can use them effectively for your campaigns.

Emojis and Emoticons what makes them so relevant for marketing?

Emojis have been around for over three decades and are now used more than ever in advertising campaigns. Initially, emojis were symbols used to convey various emotions, feelings, and ideas. But with the recent social media boom, companies are using them to make their ads stand out from the rest of the content on their platforms. 

Believe it or not, emojis heavily affect how people perceive your posts on most social media platforms. Why? 

A 2017 University of Amsterdam study shows that people who use emojis are perceived as more fun, approachable, trustworthy, happy, successful, and intelligent, especially regarding social media marketing in the Philippines. Most Filipinos prefer ads that angle on humor. That’s why emojis have become one of the powerful tools for increasing engagement with the audience.

Using emojis has become part of the process of humanizing brands. After all, being relatable is one of the primary marketing strategies that help increase trust in brands. 

Emojis are now an innovative way to add more personality to your brand and add some fun into your content. In fact, people now use the term Emoji Marketing, coining it as an official technique to better connect with the audience and make them feel more connected to the brand.

Audience Engagements through Emojis: Dos and Don’ts

• DON’T overuse emojis. ​​People say it’s best to do things in moderation, which also applies to emojis! Remember, not everything needs an emoji. Don’t replace important words with emojis. If you do, people will not get what you’re trying to say more often than not. Check out the example below. Would you take the time to decipher the emoji message? I definitely wouldn’t. So if you have something to say, it’s still best to put it in words instead of making emojis speak for you. That way, your message to your audience gets across.

• DO know what the emojis you use, mean! ​​Some emojis have underlying meanings that may mean something inappropriate. 
  
  Let’s say you’re promoting a peach-flavored drink. It’s best to discern how you’d want to use “🍑.” You can either use it to your advantage or not use it at all. Just make sure that you don’t come across as out of touch. 

• DO pick out the emojis that best represent your brand. ​​With the variety of emojis to choose from and new ones being added every year, it’s best to use only the ones that match well. 
  
  They say consistency is crucial; the same goes for digital marketing and emojis! This way, you’re crafting your brand voice and tone through emojis, so social media users and your target audience subconsciously connect you to your brand emojis. See the brands below that apply the emojis that are just right for their brand personality!

Domino’s using the pizza emoji 🍕 as way to order!

KitKat really lives up to its tagline even through emojis!

Brands that Took The Emoji Marketing Game to the Next Level

• McDonald’s
  
  Simple yet very witty, McDonald’s goes viral after providing a creative execution of their products that have equivalent emojis! 🍔🥤🍟

• Taco Bell
  
  Sometimes demanding something new can work as a marketing tool! Taco Bell angles humor to express its frustration with the lack of taco emojis and proceeds to invite its audience to sign a petition for its creation.

• WWF
  
  Talk about creativity that makes a change! Word Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) uses the collection of 17 animal emojis that are  as an attempt to invite people to join and donate to the hashtag #EndangeredEmoji – to help save real animals from extinction.

The Conclusion

Now that you know how emojis work. Give it a try! You heard it here; emojis are the contemporary way to go! Remember, part of practicing digital-first is also speaking digital-first. So be sure to get into the social media trends and add those relevant emojis to your campaign.

Today, the laugh-cry emoji 😂 stands as the most used emoji worldwide and has kept its place for three consecutive years! What’s your most used emoji? 

For more inquiries and digital marketing solutions to help your business, get in touch with us today!

Select Emergians, who usually handle external communications, attended the Advanced Customer Service Management on Chat & Email Boot Camp with Jonathan Yabut held July 1st, 2022.

Present during the virtual training were Fey Gerero, Ge Baladhay, Ghera Guanzon, Harold Bacani - Brand & Communications Specialists; Kyle Bernardo - Community Management Specialist; Jane Asana, Marco Nepomuceno - Paid Ads Specialists; Nesie Obiado - Sales & Marketing; Christian Manuel - Web Development; Patrick Lee Orquiola - Creative Design Lead; and Jimmar Merino - Senior Account Manager & Brand Strategy Lead.

Providing excellent customer service involves maintaining a strong relationship with the company's stakeholders, whether inside or outside the organization; that's why these Emergians took their time to learn and expand their knowledge on managing communications with our clients and other external company stakeholders

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Jonathan Yabut is the resource speaker of the online workshop; you might remember him as the winner of The Apprentice Asia 2013.

He is now the founder of JY Consultancy & Ventures, providing free and premium online workshops and onsite speakerships to various industries in the Philippines and abroad.

He presented the webinar in a live session via Zoom and took the time to engage with the audience. 

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

The webinar is considered an online boot camp to level up the participants' ability to manage customer inquiries in written communication, especially on email, chats, and other online communication tools. 

The first part gave the audience a comprehensive understanding of the etiquette of written engagement and the difference and advantages of emails and chats as modes of communication with your clients.

Jonathan talked about the pros and cons of using email or chats, but he highlighted the importance of using a company email and a group chat for constant communication.

The second part focused on customer engagement in chat and email. 

Furthermore, the final part focused on super apps and software for customer engagement.

Aligned with Emerge's digital-first approach, the team agreed that this was the best part of the online workshop because they realized they were already making these recommendations. It just boosted their knowledge to a new level gearing up for a virtual-centric process.

From lead generation to onboarding to providing essential services and having a daily conversation with the client, everything must be done online. So the team took notes on the apps and software to be used and some tips on minimizing time-consuming activities to a more ergonomic and fast-paced exchange.

CONCLUSION

During the “Question and Answer” workshop, Jonathan emphasized that going digital is the new norm and that there is no going back. We can only move forward knowing that the digital era is here, and the business structures and systems should adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the digital world.

Moreover, Emerge is on the right track with its evolutions and updates on social media management, media buying, website development, and community management. 

Digital-first is the new rule!

Is your brand on TikTok already?

Interested in a TikTok strategy for your brand?

If yes, continue reading this article and set up your TikTok for success as part of your digital-first marketing strategy.

TikTok was undoubtedly the most downloaded social media app in the first half of 2022.

The online platform already has over 1 billion active users, making TikTok one of the biggest social media trends this 2022. While it began as a music-focused app that encouraged people to sing along to their favorite songs, there is now a diverse range of content that includes more original videos from users from all demographics.

This year, it’s becoming a major trend for brands to show their personality and engage with their target market through video specifically.

Until recently, TikTok-inspired shopping happened “organically”: creators mentioned products in their TikToks, and viewers rushed to eCommerce sites and local stores to find them.

Finally, TikTok announced the launch of TikTok Shop, a much-anticipated social commerce experience that will bring in-app shopping and simplified product discovery to the platform. Social media apps like TikTok let businesses communicate more with their customers, increasing brand exposure and customer loyalty.

But First: The TikTok Craze

According to various studies, millennials have an attention span of approximately 12 seconds, while Gen Z’s is about 8 seconds; therefore, the popularity of short video clips makes sense.

ByteDance, a tech company, recognized the opportunity and capitalized on it, developing TikTok.

When you launch the app, you first see a “For You” page that shows content that will most likely capture your attention and match your interests.

Other social media platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook, fill your feed only with posts from people and brands you follow.

TikTok's algorithm is intended to keep users interested by presenting them with new content from strangers that may spark their interest and keep them scrolling.

The “For You” page on TikTok may be the app’s most successful feature since it delivers user-generated content every second that is personalized to each user’s specific interests. This success led to the social platform’s next phase: TikTok Shop.

What is a TikTok Shop?

TikTok Shop is a social commerce platform that allows creators to promote and sell items on their profiles—adding a shopping tab to TikTok profiles. It will enable other TikTok users to browse items without leaving the app and have a more straightforward checkout process.

Creators can also tag items in organic TikTok content with dedicated product links. 

Many brands use TikTok influencers in their marketing initiatives, providing products to individuals with a large number of followers and requesting them to promote their products.

Sometimes reviews are honest and voluntary, but most of the time, influencers are paid to push favorable comments on whatever the brand wants them to promote.

How viewers purchase products is simple:

• First, they see a product they like and then find the brand’s TikTok page. Businesses who promote their products on TikTok will get a dedicated shopping tab on their profile
• The customer may then browse through the company’s product catalog and select the exact product they want
• When users are finished browsing, TikTok lets them purchase the products straight from the app

The interface is similar to Instagram’s, making it a simple transition for brands to reach a new audience and customers who use both platforms.

Setup Your Own TikTok Shopping Experience

If you Google “TikTok Seller Central,” it’ll take you to this page; just follow these easy steps to kick-start your business in TikTok Shop.

Tips for creating a successful TikTok shop

Pay attention to the accounts and brands you follow; the more prominent names will likely open their shops first. Keep an eye on their content and strategies, so you’re ready when the time comes for your business.

Once you have access to the TikTok Shop, follow these tips to set yourself up for success.

1. Optimize your product catalog

The shopping tab in your account will serve as your storefront, so make sure it is appealing to your customers.

When adding pictures, prioritize quality and aesthetics. Your product photos should be easily identifiable as yours, and they should be consistent with how you showcase your brand on TikTok (and, ideally, other platforms too).
Product titles should be kept to a maximum of 34 characters and include basic product information. The description should be extensive and have as much information as possible.

2. Give Users Full-screen Focus

TikTok’s software is designed to fit vertical videos only, unlike other social media apps like YouTube and Twitter, where you may turn your phone sideways, and the content would still fit on the screen.

Give viewers the whole experience every time by posting vertical videos only. Posting TikTok videos that give users full-screen focus is essential for projecting a sleek and professional image to the viewer.

3. Promote your products

Prepare to promote your products in some of your videos, but not all of them. TikTok users are marketing-savvy and critical of full-on ads. Combine clips promoting products with other entertaining video clips.

Make your promotional videos more entertaining by including some humor. Always remember, people don’t come to TikTok to shop; they come to be entertained.

4. Spread the word

Don’t wait for your followers to locate the TikTok Shop tab on their own!

Shout it from the rooftops! Make a couple of TikToks that guide your viewers in the right direction.

5. Take advantage of the latest trends

Whether it’s a popular dance or song that’s trending on TikTok around the world, the businesses that capitalize on the latest trends are the most successful.

6. Speak the language

Because you are most likely targeting Generation Z (or even Generation Alpha), try to speak their language. Don’t sound like an out-of-style man trying to sell them something.
Before you use an emoji, you must first understand what it means. Emojipedia can help with this. Include a variety of exciting emojis, but be careful not to misuse anything.

7. Partner with influencers

Posting clips of real people using your product will appear more authentic and encourage your viewers to connect with your brand more.

If you’re unfamiliar with the platform’s distinct trends, subcultures, and inside jokes, you might be better off handing creative direction to someone who lives and breathes the platform. 

Collaboration with TikTok influencers to advertise your products or services is an excellent way to reach new audiences in an engaging and authentic manner. Just be sure to find creators that are passionate about your brand.

The Conclusion

Are you ready to grow your business? Because TikTok Shop could well be the way to go.

TikTok Shop is probably the most prominent marketing feature on social media nowadays. As an extension of TikTok’s already fantastic capabilities, TikTok Shop combines a range of features and tools to enhance your brand.

Since it is free to join for all brands/businesses, it is an opportunity worth exploring. Signing up is quick and simple, and TikTok offers a variety of videos and tutorials to help you with everything you’ll do on the platform.

Consider using TikTok Shop as part of your more comprehensive marketing strategy and if there’s anything we can do to support you, get in touch with us today.

In the past, many business owners have not banked on word-of-mouth (WOM) content to increase customer acquisition and sales, settling more on paid advertising and print ads. But with today’s social media, an era of impressions and influencers, this form of marketing is a valuable strategy in building your brand online.

Word-of-mouth marketing is an online strategy based on personal recommendations presented on social media through video or text content. In a simple context, a social media user recommends your product or service to their followers.

Since social media following ascertained trust on the person or page they’re getting the recommendation from, this automatically transfers trust and credibility to the focus brand.

But how do you use Word-of-Mouth marketing on social media to grow brand awareness and increase your sales?

In this blog post, I’ll show you tips that will guide you on starting word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing

Connect with Customers on Online Communities

For a brand to succeed, it should gather followers ranging from colleagues and relatives to first-try customers. According to recent research, 59% of Gen Z women prefer businesses recommended by friends and family.

Next is keeping them connected with each other and your brand. Build groups or communities online where they can get updates and answers to their questions about the product or service you offer.

You can also introduce your brand by joining other business-customer communities on social media buyer-seller groups, e-commerce groups, and more. 

Bank on customers’ testimonials and their reviews, and share highlights of their lives wherein your products or services were able to help them.

Tip: Before joining groups or communities, read their guidelines first. Also, assess the group you’re joining to ensure you maximize your efforts in staying in those communities.

Invest on Reels and Video Contents

“We bought this because we kept seeing it on Tiktok,” does that sound familiar?

In the age of Tiktok and short-form videos, turning your ordinary graphic and text content into videos creates an active and more effective marketing perspective for your brand. 

Videos connect people as it provides a human touch on seeing movements and hearing voices narrated by actual people concerning your brand and your products.

Moreover, video content such as reels or those posted on Tiktok gets shared much more than straightforward, one-dimensional content. Plan your campaign with these important notes: 

• Recommend to your loyal customers who create reviews and testimonials about your product to provide videos of them using the material.
• Encourage them to include your business details or how to purchase your products. 
• Gift them with complementary offerings from your brand; it can be another set of products or discount vouchers.

Tip: Reels and TikTok have different approaches to creating content. Both of them need different strategies to be implemented. Want to know more about Reels and TikTok? Listen to our latest MarkeThinkers Podcast’s episode here.

Create a Buzz with Other Media Channel

Let's say you'll be offering new services or launching a new product in a few months. Strategically, make it a point of a topic in any online conversation. Utilize the inner "Marites" out of your followers, so your launch date doesn't turn out to be a flop and make a buzz out of it. 

Offer special access to your customers and followers; an example is requesting them to reshare the post. The user with the most number of engagements can be part of an exclusive group that will get first access or discounts to your service.

Another is tapping online news and media agencies by sending them press releases about your upcoming product and service for publishing on their websites and social media.

Lastly, creatively build a social media campaign that at first may look like about a different thing rather than your actual product. 

One example is the sudden disappearance of the SM Mall of Asia Globe. It generated a lot of buzz on social media. IKEA, a lifestyle brand, rode on the trend and even stated that their mascot, Tito Ball, has nothing to do with the missing globe. 

Tip: Reactive PR is a trend right now. Any brand can jump on it by sharing different angles on the topic. Find an angle that is relevant to your business. Being the first to react to these kinds of buzz is important.

Engage with Influencers

Influencers are ideal affiliate groups in harnessing WOM marketing initiatives. They have the following and means to create buzz for your brand. 

Partner with one, two, or dozens of influencers as affiliate marketers. These can be people inclined to your industry; for example: if you’re selling baby products, partner with influencers who are mothers or experts in parenting. 

Promote your products in their blog posts, videos and reels, and on social media channels. In exchange, give them free products or a portion of each sale made through a unique product link.

You may create a referral program that rewards existing customers for telling their friends about you. For example, offer a 5% kickback for the new customers’ first order made available only through your affiliated influencer.

Tip: Create a solid affiliate marketing program to create a win-win situation between a brand and influencers before engaging with them.

Include a Strong Call-to-action (CTA)

Social media has new features to help your products or services be accessible and informative for your target audience. These include product tags and links to external platforms where they can click and purchase.

Still, it is advisable to always include quick links as part of your call-to-action (CTA) in every caption on social media post. Frequently, affiliated groups like those in your brand communities or partnered influencers would include in their video that “link is on the bio” or “link is on the caption.” 

Your potential customers would want to check the price first before proceeding on buying your items after seeing the WOM content.

Tip: Tailor your call-to-action (CTA) to your social media goal. Every post can have different CTAs. Get creative and make the message simple and easy to follow.

Conclusion

Word-of-mouth (WOM) uses referral marketing to encourage customers to share your brand with a target audience they know offline and online.

Connect, grow, and build communities where you can share your products and services and tap social media users, influencers, and other media to create a buzz through reviews and testimonials. Bank on videos through Tiktok and other social media platforms like Facebook stories or Instagram reels. 

Lastly, do not forget to always include your purchasing details like store address, eCommerce or website link, and product information. 

If you have any inquiries or are looking for digital marketing solutions for your business, https://digital.emerge.com.ph/lp/get-proposal/ to get started.

The Philippines has seen an unprecedented surge in Digital Transformation (DX) over the last few years, which was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, a behavioral shift of Filipino consumers, an adaptation of brick and mortar businesses from office-based to hybrid and virtual operations, and the demand for digital marketing and digital tools such as CRM, Sales Enablement, Marketing Automation, AI and machine-learning, Data & Analytics, Business Intelligence (BI), and e-commerce.

The necessity to be online has become more significant than ever to the point where it has become the foundation of establishing, running, and scaling a business.

Today, we explore the online state of the Philippines and the trends that influence the digital marketing industry in the country. We also examine how digital marketing agencies in the Philippines can help Philippine companies and some tips on creating a digital marketing strategy that drives success.

The Digital Landscape in the Philippines

By January 2022, the Philippines recorded 76.01 million out of 111.8 million Filipinos active internet users. (Source) This was a 2.1 million increase in population between 2021 and 2022, according to Kepios.

The internet penetration rate in the Philippines is 68% percent of the total population at the beginning of 2022.

Social media-wise, the total population of social media users in the Philippines by 2022 was 92.05 million, equivalent to 82.4% of the country's population.

A survey conducted by Pulse Asia in September 2021 found that more than half of Filipino internet users go online more than once a day. This is either to check the news or their social media accounts. The rest go online at least once a day to less than once a week.

The survey also revealed that Facebook still tops the social media platform game in the Philippines at 99%, followed by YouTube at 57%, TikTok at 17%, Instagram at 14%, and Twitter at 8%.

Online shopping has also seen growth in the Philippines. The e-commerce industry in the country is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 17% between 2021 and 2025. (Source)

In addition, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reported that the number of online sellers in the Philippines increased from 1,700 in March 2020 to 93,318 in January 2021.

29.7% of total Filipino internet users use online payment channels to pay for their online purchases. Alternative payment solutions such as GCash, PayMaya, Paypal, and Apple Pay made up 30.6% of e-commerce payments in 2021.

What is impacting the digital marketing industry in the Philippines?

Due to safety concerns, both public and private institutions have adopted a Work-From-Home (WFH) setup for employees. This shift to remote working has prompted Filipinos to become more active online.

A similar system had also been implemented for schools, which opened the doors for a younger generation of consumers to spend more time online.

E-commerce in the Philippines

Due to safety, cost, and logistics concerns, many businesses in the Philippines have decided to switch to digital. This eventually led to the massive rise of e-commerce in the Philippines. 

The rise of e-commerce also increased the demand for brands to become more present and approachable online. Since people now search for everything online, they also expect to see you online. 

Because of this, digital marketing in the Philippines has become increasingly relevant for businesses today.

As a result of the growing demand for online marketing, more digital marketing agencies in the Philippines have transformed their services into a one-stop solution for businesses. As a result, online marketing became more convenient and cost-effective than hiring separate agencies or freelancers for each task.

Government support for the Digital Transformation (DX) of businesses

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has plans to cultivate digital opportunities in the Philippines. And if things proceed according to plan, the Philippines can raise "Php 5 trillion or 101 million US dollars in economic value by 2030." (DICT)

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also sees its 2022 roadmap focusing on e-commerce as the nexus of a country's economy. The roadmap, with the theme "Basta E-commerce, Madali," aims to achieve the following:

• Ease market access by facilitating electronic transactions
• Digitization of enterprises and digitalization of government
• Reduce logistic costs and improve logistics performance

What digital marketing strategies can Philippine businesses get into?

Every digital marketing channel available online can be applied to any business in the Philippines. It all comes down to your level of marketing need, target audience, and niche. 

But to give you an idea, here are the standard digital marketing services in the Philippines:

• Social media - building a page for your business on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, sharing content on your page, and engaging with your target audience online.
• Content - creating content that shares your expertise, engages your target audience, and eventually leads them to purchase from you.
• Website design and development - creating a website with proper design, site architecture, and an easy-to-use interface.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - makes your website discoverable so you can gain traffic and turn them into sales.
• Digital consulting - guides businesses on how to tackle their digital marketing transformation.
• Data analytics - analyze your data and provide insights and recommendations to help you make informed marketing decisions.

How Digital Marketing Agencies in the Philippines Help Philippine Companies

You've heard all the rave about digital marketing, but what exact benefits can you expect when you jump on the online marketing wagon?

1. Increases their online visibility

With the right digital marketing strategy, you can get your business found by your target customers, no matter how saturated your market or niche is. The key is to provide value to your audience and implement strategies that will bring that value straight to their doorstep.

To increase your online visibility, digital marketing experts in the Philippines practice these strategies:

a. Create content

Creating valuable content is the most effective way to: 

• Answer your target market's questions and problems
• Prove your expertise
• Build a connection with them. 
• Incorporate your target keywords and increase your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs)

b. Implement SEO strategies for your content and website

To get people to discover your content and your brand, digital marketers optimize your website for search engines. This way, if a user searches your target keywords, you'll be one of the top results.

c. Get active on social media

Being on the same social media platform as your audience opens up possibilities to connect and build a trusting relationship with them.

2. Provides more cost-efficient methods than traditional marketing

The reason why digital marketing is a hit among businesses is that it can yield the same results as traditional marketing, sans the need for a huge budget and resources.

With your digital marketing strategy, you can expect steady traffic and never-ending brand awareness, resulting in higher profit margins in the long run. 

3. Delivers a better conversion rate

When you get consistent visitors to your website or online store, you have a high chance of converting those leads into sales. 

To accomplish this, you can implement different digital marketing strategies such as SEO, social media marketing, content marketing, and paid ads. 

4. Gives you an equal footing with bigger brands in terms of branding and marketing opportunities

Before, public ads such as TV commercials were the preferred way to reach a wider market. However, only established brands in the Philippines can afford those since they require a substantial budget. 

Digital marketing provides small and large enterprises with opportunities to advertise their offerings directly to their target markets. Now, small restaurants can compete with established fast-food chains in terms of marketing online, as long as they have time and skills (or an available expert).

5. Prepares you for the future of marketing and businesses in the Philippines

It's no secret that the future, businesses included, is heading towards a digital state. It's only logical to get ahead of the trend as early as you can so you can easily adapt your business to the future technological trends in marketing and operations.

How much does digital marketing in the Philippines cost?

The average rates of digital marketing agencies and freelancers in the Philippines can range from ₱12,000 – ₱150,000 per month. Some offer discounted packages and retainers for custom services, so the rate can still vary.

Highly-rated agencies (those with years of experience and portfolio) can cost up to ₱1,000,000 per year.

For small and starting businesses who only need help with certain digital marketing strategies, you can hire a freelancer for around ₱10,000 per month on average. Again, this rate can be higher or lower, depending on the services you'll avail.

Should I hire an agency to do digital marketing for my business?

If you're a business that wants to leverage the benefits of digital marketing without the uncertainty of success, then yes, you should hire an agency.

Digital marketing agencies in the Philippines already have the expertise and portfolio to guarantee the highest results for your online marketing. 

If you are a startup business with a limited budget, you can always go DIY or hire an entry-level freelancer. 

Our 4 tips to excel in your digital marketing in the Philippines

Whether you decide to take care of your digital marketing or hire an expert, here are our four tips to ensure your business's success in your marketing:

1. Set goals and KPIs

At some point in your digital marketing campaign, you'll need a set of indicators to determine whether your strategies are working or not or if you need to improve something.

For every online marketing campaign you'll launch, ask yourself these questions: 

• What do I want to achieve from this campaign, and how do I intend to earn that? 
• What are the KPIs I need to monitor during the campaign run? For instance, on social media, should I track the number of followers, shares, comments, profile visits, etc.?

2. Engage with customers consistently

Those who wish to convert their audience into happy, loyal customers must establish trust and common ground between them. The most effective way to do that is to keep in touch with them. Ask them questions, respond to their inquiries and complaints, and interact with their posts.

3. Measure campaign results

The most effective way to find out if your marketing is a success is to measure and study your campaign results, measuring metrics such as:

• Return on Investment
• Cost per lead
• Cost per acquisition
• Bounce rate
• Conversion rate
• New vs. returning visitors

4. Decide what you'll outsource and what you'll do in-house

Not everything has to be outsourced to a digital marketing expert, especially if you don't have the budget and resources right now. Evaluate your capacity and identify which digital marketing channels you want to implement, the ones you're having difficulty with, and which one you can DIY.

When you decide what you'll outsource, you can start looking for a digital marketing agency in the Philippines that can help you succeed online and grow your business. Contact us to jumpstart your Digital Transformation (DX) today!

The terms community and social media management are frequently interchanged. While community management is a vital aspect of every social media strategy, it gets increasingly relevant and effective as your consumer base grows. You can ensure that you're putting out material that establishes expertise and generates trust in your business by knowing who your followers are, what they're saying, and what they're searching for. 

To begin, what exactly is community management?

Community management is the active component of interacting with your community of followers, admirers, and target audience across social media platforms, just as it sounds. This involves active listening, a crucial part of engaging with your followers to understand their wants and requirements about your offerings.

Your community comprises your present customers, target consumers, and anyone who interacts with your business online, both directly and indirectly. The term "community" may imply a single location. Still, your community is distributed across the internet: It may be on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, forums, and even article comment sections.

Here are some tips on managing your community on social media:

Determine who your most enthusiastic supporters are

The audience and engagement levels vary by channel. Develop a talent for prioritizing your time to be an effective channel manager.

The more active channels frequently created and managed to generate more interactions than the less engaged channels. As you set up a time to review responses, you'll need to devote more attention to the most engaging medium.

Customer recognition 

Acknowledging when a customer approaches you with a query or complaint is critical. This goes a long way toward making consumers feel heard and increasing customer trust.

Give them an immediate solution to their problem if at all possible. If that's not possible, inform them you're looking into the situation. Make it evident that you understand the customer's perspective since this will help to increase the value of the community you're creating.

Communicate in a genuine and consistent manner

Customers join your community hoping to make a genuine connection with someone. Be honest and sincere, in addition to keeping a consistent voice and tone of messaging across all groups.

In other words, engage on a human level with consumers, supporters, and followers. Be sensitive and approach every conversation from the perspective of the customer. 

Gather Customer Feedback

It takes time to create a vibrant community. It's a lengthy process requiring ongoing tweaking of engagement tactics and content forms.

Create surveys or polls to collect feedback on various community management practices, your products, their practices, and anything else you want to know. You may Conduct consumer surveys on most social media platforms, but you should also consider sending them via email.

Set objectives and track your progress

Keep track of your progress as you alter the method. A goal should be set for each sort of community management. The following are the shared objectives:

• Create long-term customer partnerships
• Increase brand recognition
• Increase website traffic
• enlarge your target market
• Make contact with decision-makers

To sum up, many people start community management with the greatest of intentions, reacting to every post and comment on their social media networks. This is an excellent way to keep engagements and online identity active. However, in order to be successful over time, the community management strategy must be consistent, scalable, and sustainable.

Looking for help in managing and growing your social media presence with fresh and engaging content? Like and Follow our Facebook page and Instagram and discover how Emerge can help you out!

The concept of digital-first refers to planning and implementing strategies and activities starting with the digital or online version, which is then adapted to offline (contrary to the traditional approach of starting with an offline strategy and then adapting it to online). Digital-first leverages digital platforms into new channels, such as social media, over traditional channels like print and television. 

What’s Digital First?

Instead of the usual course where traditional or offline marketing is prioritized and later adapted for the digital space, the digital-first approach prioritizes the development and implementation of a digital marketing strategy, which can be adapted later for offline channels. 

Digital-first approach acknowledges the diversity of audiences in the online space and the need to fine-tune campaigns and decisions according to their behaviors and the platforms they frequent to.

The best examples of digital-first are:

• Companies building apps that combine educational, entertaining, and promotional content
• Creating e-commerce websites for an easier and faster shopping transaction
• Launching brand awareness campaigns on multiple social media platforms

Implementing the digital-first approach is simply like being on social media. You take on different personas for each platform - a professional on LinkedIn, an influencer on Instagram, and a grey area between professional and funny on Facebook. But at the end of the day, they're all one person: you. 

The same is true for digital-first. You deliver the message in different ways based on your audiences' perception and your choice of media, but the context is the same. 

While digital-first involves a lot of technology, it is about providing positive experiences to consumers, from pre-sale to post-sale. Technology only plays a part in establishing relationships with your target customers. 

The components of digital-first

The digital-first approach highlights the opportunity to engage more with customers and build a better customer experience (CX) with them. This isn't usually the case with traditional marketing, which displays ads shotgun-style without much opportunity for feedback from the target audience. 

Automation plays a huge role in the digital-first approach. The idea of streamlining routine tasks, such as responding to inquiries or sending retargeting emails, is part of building a positive customer experience. 

As a result, the reduced turnaround time for customers leads to increased revenue, reduced churn, and reduced customer support costs.

Data management is also one of the core foundations of the digital-first approach. The best marketing campaigns for any audience require the analysis of their data, such as their browsing history, transaction records, and recent online interactions.

By drawing patterns from these data, a business can create an actionable marketing campaign that works for an audience of mid-30s female professionals and early 20s career women, for example.

With these factors taken into account, it is clear that digital-first is not a one-time project with a fixed timeline. More than anything else, it's about putting your business' versatility to work and adapting to the changing dynamics of the digital economy.

Why Does Digital First Matter?

Today, people rely on technology for almost everything - finding answers, socializing, purchasing something, booking services, and more. Perhaps discovering something they didn't know they needed. That's why Digital Transformation (DX) has become an enterprise-wide priority for businesses around the globe.

Gone are the days when digital marketing was an afterthought and traditional marketing was at the top of the hierarchy. With the effect of Covid-19 shifting consumer behavior and the economy into digital, it has become clear that Digital Transformation (DX) is a necessity more than a luxury.

With a digital-first approach, brands can better connect with their customers and provide better service that addresses their needs and issues. It also built a bridge for like-minded people to find and converse with each other, ultimately building the population of online communities today.

Consumers want to engage, they want to have a dialogue, they want to talk to each other, and they want to talk to the brand and the company. That has always been a strength of the brand, but that strength has been so much increased on the back of digital technology.

Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, former CEO of The LEGO Group

63% or 6 out of 10 shoppers also start their buying journey online. (ThinkwithGoogle, 2018). It doesn't matter whether they end up purchasing online or in a brick-and-mortar shop - they always do the initial search online. This is why your brand needs to be out there, so people can see you when they're ready to begin their shopping journey. 

From a business's perspective, brands who have already made the #digitalfirsttransformation enjoy more than marketing achievements. By going digital, they've managed to improve operational efficiencies (40%), meet customer expectations (35%), and improve product quality (26%). (PTC)

Those who have adopted the digital-first transformation have found market pressure as their top leading motivation to take the leap, aside from growth opportunities and increased stakes with the competition (Prophet).

What Does This Mean?

Brand visibility on many channels as possible is more critical than ever. This is because if consumers don't know about your brand, it's only a matter of time until they find your competition. Not adopting the digital-first approach will result in plenty of missed opportunities.

People's increased dependence on online media and solutions for their buying journey also emphasizes that the best time to go digital-first is now.

How LEGO and IKEA Mastered and Applied Digital First

LEGO's Digital Transformation (DX)

In an attempt to save the company from nearing bankruptcy due to supply chain and material cost issues, LEGO decided to embrace digitalization. This led to the LEGO Enterprise Program, which had brought the following benefits to the company only one year after implementation:

• Faster innovation
• Enhanced customer relationships
• Efficient supply chain processes

But what stood out from their Digital Transformation (DX) was their idea to allow fans to create their own designs through their online 3D design tool, the LEGO Digital Designer. The company marketed the tool as a channel for learning and development, which became a hit, especially with millennial parents.

The designer tool also allowed adult fans around the world to create miniatures of their favorite characters or real-life personalities.

The LEGO Group also recognized the emergence of social media and online marketing to engage with customers, so they also utilized these platforms for their marketing. 

They leveraged fan pages and groups on social media platforms to grow their fan base, which led to major conferences and fan-based gatherings. Through this strategy, they were able to reconnect with their adult fans through the help of nostalgia for playing LEGO during their childhood days.

The company has also cultivated the benefits of User-Generated Content (UGC) to empower its content and brand marketing. This resulted in the LEGO Group becoming the second most-watched brand on YouTube.

LEGO saw its digital efforts and revenues triple as children were forced to engage in indoor activities due to the pandemic. The toy manufacturer has seen a 46% increase in revenue from January to June 2021 alone. 

LEGO has steadily recovered since then and is now called the "Apple of the toy industry." 

IKEA Towards a Digital Future in Shopping

Looking to create a flawless digital experience for its customers, the beloved Swedish furniture brand pioneered the Click & Collect service. It gives consumers control of their shopping experience by placing an order online and choosing a branch and date to pick up their purchase. 

To implement the program, IKEA had to transform its website to offer online payment processing, real-time inventory listing, and other pertinent e-Commerce solutions. 

As a result, customers looking to buy a specific item without the need to wander in the store now have a convenient mode of shopping.

But IKEA's Digital Transformation (DX) doesn't stop there. In an effort to reach more customers "in ways that are more accessible and personalized," IKEA opened the IKEA Planning Studios. These micro-stores feature a 3D imaging program, where customers can visualize their living rooms, kitchens, or bedrooms with IKEA products.

The studios were built in urban areas like Manhattan and Riyadh to drive more customers in areas with no mega-stores nearby. However, customers will still need to visit a warehouse store if they wish to purchase items from their design.

Digital-First and the Customer Experience (CX)

Numerous businesses have already jumped into the digital-first transformation, but what sets their success apart is their approach to digital customer service. 

A digital-first approach to customer service means creating fulfilling, standout, and personalized experiences for customers every step of the way. It diverges from the traditional strategy of prioritizing efficiency over customers.

Today, we've welcomed a revolutionary era in customer experience called predictive service. Knowing how to apprehend issues, provide solutions and identify opportunities are the core of digital customer service. For example, a chatbot pops up when a visitor spends a minute or so on your site.

Predictive service aims to function like a salesperson offering assistance to a previous customer about their recent purchase. When a customer browses a guide about using one of your products, a chatbot can pop up to inquire if the customer needs any help with their recent purchase. 

From there, the chatbot can provide more relevant guides to familiarize the customer with the product or pull more data about them for more context (if they need more help than what the articles can provide).

Predictive service can make digital customer service platforms function like in-store employees to make their online shopping a hassle-free experience. Customers won't need to queue to get service - the whole customer service experience works on their urgency and need.

Predictive service and automation technology

People today don't like taking the initiative to find a solution to their problem or scouring the internet to learn about something. You must provide them with the information and the opportunity. This is where technologies like Machine Learning, chatbots, and mobile messaging come into play.

Due to the demand for fast and automated responses, chatbots have evolved from points of inquiry to almost-perfect alternative agents. Now, chatbots can perform intricate customer service tasks such as:

• Provide relevant articles from your knowledgebase to answer a question
• Relay information about delivery/shipping progress
• Send a list of FAQs for post-sales inquiries 

All these benefits and features of predictive service make it one of the reasons why a digitally-transformed business enjoys better brand visibility than its competition.

To develop predictive service, a company must rely on plenty of data to understand every customer touchpoint and shape an experience. The whole goal is to make the tedious processes of doing business with you "invisible" to the customer, to make them think that everything's a seamless and convenient experience when they shop with you. 

This strategy requires thorough research and analysis, but when done right, it could bring you more revenue (and better customer relationship) than before.

How Can You Improve Your Digital Marketing Performance?

Set long-term goals. Digital-first is not a short boat trip to keep your business afloat but a long-term cruise to bring your business to new heights. Knowing what you want to achieve in the next five or ten years will tremendously help in making meaningful short-term campaigns and marketing decisions.

Strengthen your customer service. The end goal is to create a seamless experience for customers so they can navigate through the conversion process smoothly. This means adopting new technologies like CRM tools, chatbots, AI content tools, Business Intelligence (BI), and machine learning.

Cultivate as much data as possible. A digital marketer's greatest ace is data because data are facts, and they tell you a great deal about your audience.

Leverage the power of the people. You can always rely on your audience to shape working and winning digital experience for them by conducting surveys for feedback and opinions and utilizing user-generated content. 

Keep an eye out for trends. The shortcut to becoming viral and putting your business out there is to jump on a trend and do it successfully. Take a look at the brands on TikTok that are taking on challenges and other trends to see the proof.

Here at Emerge, we're firm believers in the need to adopt the digital-first approach for businesses to create brand awareness and increase revenue, especially during these competitive times. Contact us to jumpstart your Digital Transformation (DX)!