MANILA, SEPTEMBER 3, 2013 – Google Philippines partnered with Activa Media and Directories Philippines Corporation (DPC) with its new initiative to reach small to medium-sized enterprises (SME) and help them grow their businesses with digital advertising through Google Adwords.
Dubbed as Premier SME Partnership Program, the project is designed to bring digital marketing to more Filipino SMEs by fostering a network of partners dedicated to providing specialized services that help SMEs grow.
Google Adwords is an advertising platform based on a system bidding for keywords. Winning bidders get to place text ads next to Google search results most relevant to their chosen keywords. These are also known as the "Sponsored Links."
The Google AdWords Premier SME Partner Program connects experienced AdWords partners with businesses that want expert help in creating, managing and optimizing their online advertising campaign. It fosters an ecosystem of expert agencies that go to the Philippines’ neighborhoods and towns to help small and medium-sized business (SMBs) get started with the digital platform.
With over 35 million Internet users in the Philippines, more than 88% of smartphone owners search on their device about products and services. The opportunities for SMEs who go digital are significant, but out of the roughly 800,000 SMEs in the country, a very small fraction advertise on the web.
This program aims to address the need of the SMEs to go digital because of the lack of resources and expertise by connecting the small and medium businesses with experienced AdWords providers. These partners can provide SMEs with the expert help they need to reach new customers online. They can assist in creating, managing and optimizing online advertising campaigns.
“More Filipinos are coming online and they’re turning to the web to meet their business needs. Digital isn’t a future trend: it’s happening today, and SMEs need to catch up to their customers,” said Narciso Reyes, country manager for Google Philippines.
DPC and Activa Media can help the entrepreneurs to grow their business by connecting SMEs in the Philippines with their customers online. The two companies can also ramp up their sales force through training programs, and will provide partners with dedicated marketing and sales support.
Domingo Angelo Lopez, VP for Product Development at DPC shared: “the Yellow Pages has had an online presence for 14 years now. Over the last decade, we’ve expanded our presence across the mobile and social media space as well. This goes to show how businesses can evolve in sync with technological changes in the marketplace.”
“We have well-trained teams, and with the support from Google, we are able to reinforce our message to SMEs that no one works harder to help grow their business than the Yellow Pages,” he shared.
On the other hand, Vincent Teo, director for regional business development at Activa Media said, “the Internet is changing the landscape of how customers find businesses. As one of the pioneer providers for Internet-based marketing services in Southeast Asia since 2005, we have helped thousands of SMEs build their web presence and fuel the growth of their businesses through various leading online platforms.”
“We are ecstatic to continue partnering with Google in our latest expansion in the Philippines, and we believe this equips us to be more able in providing our SME partners with the latest tools to assist them in growing their business,” he added.
Google Premier SME Program is a global initiative of Google and is operational in 37 countries.
