THE PHILIPPINES, OCTOBER 2011: Tri-media is now TRIP-media: TV, Radio, Internet, and Print. But why, despite almost infinite potential and possibilities, are bosses so hard to convince to go down the digital path?
The answer is simple, said MRM Worldwide’s Donald Lim. Many, if not all, top management people do not view digital as a strategic imperative because it is yet a foreign identity. Even the term “social networking site” is a relatively new term.
“Digital is techie for them,” said Lim. “Digital must not be digital when you present it to them. They don’t understand ‘page views’ and they don’t care,” he added. What these big bosses care about are business results and this is what digital marketers and advertisers should concentrate on: how to engage and be relevant to the audience through digital marketing in order to convert the clicks on your website to clinks on to the company’s piggy bank.
And while having one million fans on Facebook or followers on Twitter might be an encouraging sign of brand awareness, it is not the most effective business metric. Lim says that digital performance is better gauged through the engagement rate (or ER): the percentage of likes, comments, and shares that your posts receive, based on the number of likes (or followers) your page has.
Lim says the usual conversion rate for a page’s ER is 0.1%: if you have 400,000 fans, ideally, 400 of them should like, comment, or share every post you make. The goal is to push the value higher than this percentage by engaging the consumer through relevant applications and digital advertising and/or marketing strategies.
“Facebook is a living organism,” said Lim, referring to how this social networking medium changes and adapts, catering to the needs and requirements of its users. Earned media, where the consumers themselves become your media channel, is owed to how a brand engages its fans and current and potential consumers.
There is also what is called “digital brand health” which brands should also keep track of: assets, liabilities, reputation, and footprint. Of these four, only the assets are assuredly positive. The rest could yield different negative reactions: hate pages or blogs and even direct comments on your page.
Not to worry, though, said Lim, because the simplest way to overcome these negative reactions is to simply ignore them. “Don’t overreact,” he said. “Filipinos are very emotional but also very forgetful.” Any issue will blow over if it doesn’t get too much attention.
“If you did something wrong, apologize,” advised Lim. “But take negative comments offline. Don’t reply there (on your Facebook Wall). Send them a private message.” This way, you can attend to each concern on a more personal level without attracting further undue attention from other users.
Lim’s talk on “Earned New Media” is part of the opening seminar of the Advertising Board of the Philippines’ (AdBoard) Ad Academy, which offers AdBoard members continuing education on digital marketing.
Speakers included Media Contacts Philippines’ Eduardo Mapa, Jr., one of the founders of Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines, and Carlo Ople, a social media marketing specialist and now TV5’s New Media Manager for Social Marketing.
