I got an e-mail from Aileen, one of the readers of New Media Philippines. She’s currently taking up her masters degree in communications and she’s studying the trends of e-marketing in the Philippines. She asked a couple of questions and I’d like to take this opportunity to answer them and publish them in this blog post for everyone’s perusal. Questions revolve around e-marketing trends, how it changes consumer behavior, and the projected growth for e-marketing for the Philippines. Check out my answers after the break.
Effects of E-Marketing in Changing the consumers behavior in Asia
Internet Marketing can be used in a lot of ways. A very traditional approach would be to just echo your marketing message and plaster it across several websites with a static or flash banner ad. However, a more effective approach would be to be the Permission Marketing model by Seth Godin. Basically you use incentives to get the “permission” of the prospect to give his/her e-mail address or other pertinent information. You then send regular updates, building a relationship, and eventually converting to sales. This is a form of direct marketing that’s more personal and much more low-cost.
In traditional media, the consumer behavior is more passive. In e-Marketing, the consumer is actually looking for your marketing message, especially if you use the Permission Marketing model.
What E-Marketing activities are most widely used in the country? How about in other Asian countries?
In the US, Permission Marketing is the primary model. In the Philippines, we’re still transitioning from the traditional static banner ad placements. In fact, companies are just starting to get on the internet bandwagon. I’d say that we’re still going to be in the static banner ad era for a few more months, maybe years. This can also be correlated with the number of internet users in the country. It was only in the past 2 years that the internet community experienced massive robust growth. Because of the market size of the net and the high cost of traditional media, more and more companies are turning to the internet to promote their businesses.
How do you see the growth of E-Marketing in the country?
Advertising Agencies are getting Digital Marketing Managers. Companies and even politicians are putting up New Media Departments. That is a validation of the need for internet marketing specialists in the Philippines. It’s no longer a want, it’s a need. E-Marketing has no where to go but up especially with the massive growth of Filipino internet users.
Again guys, feel free to jump in and add your thoughts. Let’s help Aileen make a good presentation. 
If you have any questions, please do e-mail me at oplecarlo@gmail.com. I’ll try to answer and publish posts about it on a regular basis (makes for good content).
cool! nice presentation of thoughts on e-marketing.