Marketing in the Philippines can be a little tricky, but it's worth the effort. The market is full of diverse cultures that have been influenced by both Western and traditional practices. So, if you want to expand your business in the Philippines, you'll need to do your research and implement marketing strategies that the Filipino market will easily accept.
One thing to keep in mind is that Filipinos love the internet and socializing. That's why it's essential to focus on internet marketing and social media marketing. By doing so, you can reach out to their hearts and get your brand out there.
With a population of 118.2 million in 2024, there are about 86.98 million internet users and 85.16 million active social media users in the Philippines. These numbers show the extensive reach of digital marketing campaigns through YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms. SEO marketing, online billboards, banner ads, and influencer marketing are also effective in penetrating the market.
But it's not enough to know that the Filipino market frequents the internet. You also need to understand their values and what advertising techniques have worked for them in the past.
That's why we've listed some of the best tips for marketing and advertising in the Philippines. If you're interested in making your brand known in this market, then keep reading.
7 Tips for Marketing in the Philippines ⬇️
Make them LOL: Use humor, memes, and witty wordplay on your marketing campaign
Happily Ever After: Use the power of storytelling to touch the market’s hearts
Best Offer: Give the market the best pricing, and offer sales and discounts
Keep it Short and Sweet: Utilize the trend of short-form content
Comment “Mine”: Utilize social media live streaming for online selling and e-commerce
Influencer Stamp: Collaborate with influencers who are credible and known among the market
Free and Organic: Encourage free and organic marketing through word-of-mouth and UGC
1. Make them LOL
Use humor, memes, and witty wordplay on your marketing campaign
Making people laugh is one of the simplest yet hardest ways to grab their attention and keep them engaged. The use of witty puns, funny wordplays, trendy memes, and humorous content has been proven effective in humanizing a brand.
Meme marketing is one of the subsets of viral marketing that brands use to leverage organic interactions and word-of-mouth from social media users. To make a successful humorous campaign, it's important to know the context of your market, what makes them laugh, why, and how to package the content in a relatable manner.
Take Angkas, for example, a popular motorcycle ride-hailing app that's known for its witty comebacks and original memes. The brand's social media handlers are well-aware of what's trending, funny, and shareable. They know how to use memes to their advantage, just like in this tweet where they used the Squidward meme from Spongebob Squarepants.
It gained a lot of attention and received over 17,000 likes on Twitter. This shows how important it is to use humor and relatable content in your marketing campaigns to catch the attention of your target market.
2. Happily Ever After
Use the power of storytelling to touch the market’s hearts
In this era of constantly looking at our phone screens for hours on end, it's natural to crave human connection while scrolling through the internet. That's why storytelling is a powerful tool in marketing, especially among Filipinos who appreciate online content with stories they can relate to.
To create good stories, you need to understand the daily life of your target market. A campaign targeting classes C and D won't be effective if the characters' lifestyle is based on classes A and B. Another great trick is to use real-life stories for your marketing campaign. Check out this commercial by Jollibee for an excellent example.
Jollibee based this heartwarming commercial on a true story. It starts with a man and a woman ordering the same food from Jollibee and gradually getting closer over the years. They become best friends, and the effective cinematography makes the audience assume they end up getting married. But then, the plot twist hits when the man was actually watching the woman get married to another person.
The commercial is a tribute to those who love unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. It's in line with Jollibee's slogan, "celebrate the joy of love." The video reached over 3.1 million views on YouTube and a million more on Facebook. This just shows the power of storytelling and how it can create emotional connections with your audience.
3. Best Offer
Give the market the best pricing, and offer sales and discounts
The pandemic has taken a toll on the economy, and Filipinos have had to adjust their spending habits accordingly.
According to a recent study by ShopBack, a pre-shopping portal in the Asia-Pacific region, Filipinos tend to wait for monthly sales before making online purchases. They are savvy shoppers who take advantage of free shipping vouchers, cashbacks, and discounts. This market also does their research to ensure they get the best price for the best quantity.
Shopee has been utilizing this marketing technique for quite some time now. The online marketplace's Pay Day Sales are highly anticipated by shoppers, along with their mid-year and end-year sales. Free deliveries and coupons are also big draws for this market.
It's important for businesses to understand the purchasing habits of their target market, especially during these challenging times. By offering discounts and freebies, businesses can attract more customers and build brand loyalty.
4. Keep it Short and Sweet
Utilize the trend of short-form content
When it comes to social media platforms, Filipinos have spoken loud and clear. TikTok and Instagram have captured their attention and hearts, ranking third and fourth, respectively, in terms of popularity in 2022. Around 71.9% of Filipino internet users use Instagram, while 77.2% use TikTok. The secret to their success? Short-form video content.
In today's fast-paced world, younger generations prefer watching videos that don't exceed the 3-minute mark. With busy schedules and social media scrolling, people are looking for videos that are informative, entertaining, and take up only a few seconds of their time.
What does this mean for brands looking to expand in the Philippines? It means they need to keep up with the trends and create marketing content on TikTok and Instagram. Whether it's humorous, informative, or entertaining, brands need to focus on short-length videos to reach Gen Zs and millennials.
5. Comment “Mine”
Utilize social media live streaming for online selling and e-commerce
The pandemic has transformed the way Filipinos shop. With lockdowns and self-isolation, people are seeking more convenient ways to purchase goods without leaving the comfort and safety of their homes. That's why we saw a surge in online stores using live streaming for online selling.
Facebook started this trend, and other apps quickly followed suit. The secret to live selling's success is its tangible quality. Customers see the sellers in real-time and can interact with them through comments. Live selling also enhances the sellers' credibility since transactions are visible to the whole world, and the seller's face is visible to everyone. It's like the whole world is your witness, and everyone is involved. Plus, live selling allows sellers to answer questions and provide demos for the products.
Even as the Philippines gradually returns to normal, live selling remains one of the most convenient ways for Filipinos to shop. It offers a unique and interactive shopping experience that's hard to beat.
6. Influencer Stamp
Collaborate with influencers who are credible and known among the market
The Filipino market is a huge fan of influencers and experts. In the Philippines, influencers and experts are among the most followed account types by social media users. The influencer industry is thriving, given the country's high social media penetration rate. Filipinos follow influencers for entertainment and quality content, while influencers provide their viewers with carefully curated posts and authentic social interactions.
Filipino influencers come in various niches, from beauty, tech, travel, food, gaming, to parenting. They also use different social media platforms and target different audiences. A brand that wants to collaborate with Filipino influencers must understand the industry's ins and outs before choosing an influencer partner.
Take H&M, for example. The brand collaborated with social media star Rei Germar, who has over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube and a social media presence built on fashion and beauty content. She had been posting H&M shopping hauls even before their collaboration, making her the perfect influencer for H&M's campaign.
Influencers' opinions hold significant weight among their Filipino audiences. Content creators take years to build credibility in their chosen niches, which is why influencer marketing is effective. Influencer recommendations are more likely to be believed as true by their followers.
7. Free and Organic
Encourage free and organic marketing through word-of-mouth and UGC
Filipinos are passionate social media users, making it easy for quality content to go viral in this market. Filipinos love sharing content that they find amusing or relatable, clicking that "share" button without a second thought. They also enjoy sharing their viewpoints on various topics, creating their own posts on their social media walls. In fact, 30.1% of social media users in the Philippines go to social media to share their own opinions.
With this consumer behavior, one marketing strategy that has proven effective is User-Generated Content or UGC. UGC is any type of content that has been organically posted by a social media user about a particular product or service. One great example of UGC is when Instagram users use brand hashtags while showing off their newly bought products.
UGC is highly effective because it's the actual positive experience of real consumers shared online. It exudes honesty, authenticity, and practicality. What's more, it costs little to nothing for the brand. Brands can encourage consumers to create UGCs by providing avenues for reviews and testimonials. This helps build a community around the brand and creates a buzz that can reach even more potential customers.
CONCLUSION
The Philippine market loves using the internet, may it be for entertainment, research, socialization, or shopping. This made digital marketing techniques the best ways to penetrate the Filipino market. Brands wanting to bring their business to the Philippines may use internet marketing and advertising strategies.
In this list, we provided you with the best marketing tips and tricks practiced in the Philippines. These tips include meme marketing, storytelling, sales and discounts, short-length contents, live selling, influencer marketing, and the use of UGCs. We hope you were able to get a grasp of what works within the Philippine market.
We wish you the best on your business expansion in the Philippines.
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