How Digital Marketing Helps Philippine Businesses Fast-track Growth

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!