Digital economy driving growth, revenue of small businesses, says exec

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to have online presence to ensure sustained growth of their business as thousands of new users continue to go online each month, according to an internet marketing expert.

Denise Gamo-Halagueña, Google Philippines' head of ads marketing for large customers, said the online world is the new venue for small firms to drive business and revenue growth.

But it is not just a matter of staying online, but also about knowing your customers and how they act and behave digitally.

To effectively use the internet, businesses must make sure they are relevant. Being relevant, Ms. Halagueña said, means that they must be useful based on what the customer needs. This entails firms providing details that will lead to action, such as putting the address and business hours prominently, and including the telephone number of the physical shop online "so that people can just click on the button and call."

Ms. Halagueña suggested using Google My Business, a free business tool that small companies can use to have a business profile that shows up on both Google Search and Google Maps.

She also shared other interesting outcomes from researches and studies done by the company. One of these is that "intent"—"the deep-seated interest that people act on”—is now a better indicator of consumer behavior than "identity," as she pointed out that gender stereotypes are no longer effective in identifying buyers.

"If you just take a look at trends and behavior it already tells you a lot," she said.

Meanwhile, on Philippine online users specifically, Ms. Halagueña noted company data showing how in the past five years Filipino internet users have more than doubled. Of the 106 million Filipinos, 76 million are now online, with 83% going online via their mobile phones.

Further data indicate that the connected Filipino spends more than 10 hours online, and not just to do social messaging. The executive noted how 58% of the 10 hours spent online is done outside social messaging and involves activities ranging from doing job, education and product searches to video watching and staying connected with family and friends.

On another study tracking the path to purchase of Filipinos, Ms. Halagueña said 74% of online Pinoys do a search prior to purchase, 57% of them conducting the search on a smartphone, and making about six searches on average before actually making a decision or action.

Finally, Filipinos are "in the moment," said Ms. Halagueña, with 92% searching online "on the day of" itself, especially when it comes to dining, accommodations, local attractions and shops, with 62% doing a search even at the point of sale when just about to pay.