When it comes to digital marketing in Singapore, you need to be familiar with the latest trends, tools, and techniques. Without them, you will not get optimal value for money from your marketing campaigns.
As is the case with other forms of marketing, you need to be aware of various dynamics to create working digital marketing strategies. A well-executed marketing campaign guarantees success for a business, whether big or small.
Digital Marketing Techniques in Singapore
Here are some of the evergreen digital marketing strategies that can significantly boost your business in Singapore.
-
- Search engine optimisation
- Search engine marketing
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Email marketing
- Remarketing
- Influencer marketing
- Affiliate marketing
- Marketing automation
As a marketer, you have to employ smart techniques to convert leads into customers.
Best Digital Marketing Strategies for Singapore Companies
The following are the best strategies for any business doing digital marketing in Singapore.
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is perhaps the most crucial component of any digital marketing campaign. It refers to the actions you take in an attempt to improve the ranking of your website on search engine results. SEO in Singapore is constantly evolving, and you need to be aware of the latest Google algorithm updates to avoid going down in SERPs.
Although it is a broad subject, these are three major aspects of SEO.
- On-page optimisation – this refers to the improvements you make to your site to attain a higher ranking on Google. It involves improving user experience and interface, creating great content, keyword research, and so forth.
- Off-page optimisation – these are the actions implemented on third-party websites that improve your rank on Google. The most common form is backlinks.
- Local SEO – this is the optimisation of a website such that it ranks highly in a particular region, like Singapore.
From a digital marketing perspective, SEO is useful for increasing your website’s visibility on Google. When more people see your website, it means more traffic and potentially more sales.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of internet marketing in Singapore where you aim to get a higher ranking through paid methods. Mainly, it involves doing keyword research and bidding on the phrases that are likely to generate more traffic for your website.
Most marketers often opt for SEM because SEO can take a little longer to yield results. SEM can increase your site’s visibility if you bid on the right keywords.
Another advantage of SEM is that you can target ads to reach a specific audience. For instance, if you want your posts to reach the youth in Singapore, you specify this when setting up your campaign.
The most popular paid ads platforms are:
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- YouTube Ads
- Bing Ads
Content Marketing
Similar to SEM, content marketing is effective in targeting specific audiences. The core principle of this strategy is making content that is relevant and valuable to your clients. You also have to post regularly so that you keep your audience.
If you want to run a successful content marketing campaign, observe the following practices:
- Use the language of your target audience – your consumers should be familiar with the tone and mood you use in your content. Researching can help you on this front.
- Address the challenges of your target audience – your content should solve the problems of your customers.
- Use keywords appropriately – the keywords in your articles should resonate with the needs of your audience.
- Avoid jargon – you might think that using technical terms makes you appear knowledgeable, but they seclude your audience. Make sure that the words you use are easy to understand.
Above all, you should always centre your content on the needs of the user. When your content is useful to searchers, Google rewards you with a higher ranking. This is excellent if you have invested in digital marketing in Singapore.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
86% of Singaporeans use social media regularly, so it makes sense to include it as part of your digital marketing in Singapore. Nowadays, social media platforms have inbuilt analytics tools that allow you to track the progress, success, and engagement of marketing campaigns.
There are two main strategies that marketers use to promote their brands on social media. These are:
- Passive approach – here, marketers use social networks as a source of data concerning consumer behaviour and their views on their business’s brand and products. This information is useful in the highly competitive and dynamic advertisement space in Singapore.
- Active approach – this is where marketers actively promote their products and services to specific audiences.
The most popular social media platforms are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. The most significant advantage of SMM is that it enables you to target your ads, which increases their effectiveness. It also allows you to post different ad formats, including infographics, videos, audio, and so forth.
Email Marketing
Email marketing remains one of the most effective strategies for digital marketing in Singapore. According to HubSpot, a single email can generate an astounding ROI of 3800%, which means that a S$1 investment returns S$38.
The primary reason behind this amazing statistic is that the majority of adult internet users have active email account. The problem, however, is setting up an email marketing campaign for success.
Here are a few tips on how to execute an email marketing strategy.
- Get permission – the first step is getting consent from the people you wish to add to your mailing list. Make sure that you explain the purpose of the emails and include a compelling call to action.
- Create fantastic content – ensure that your messages are consistent. If you promised to deliver content daily, adhere to that routine. You can use a scheduling tool to assist you on this front.
- Analytics and segmentation – based on the performance of your first few emails, you can identify what different sections of your audience like. You can then design subsequent emails using the findings from the analytics.
If you are yet to venture into email marketing, you are missing out on massive returns. Even better, it does not require a vast amount of money to run.
Remarketing
Another crucial strategy in digital marketing is remarketing. Also known as retargeting, remarketing is the process in which you deliver ads to people who visited your site and left before completing the desired action. The incomplete action might be leaving an item on an online cart, failing to click a link, and so forth.
Remarketing is particularly effective, as users are 76% more likely to click an ad they have seen before than a regular display ad. There are two main approaches to remarketing.
- Pixel-based remarketing – this is where you place a snippet of code (pixel) in a user’s web browser when they visit your website. The visitor will then see your ads when they navigate to other sites.
- List-based remarketing – in this case, you target your ads to people on your mailing list. You first have to filter the specific addresses that you want to include in your retargeting campaign.
If you want to convert leads into clients, remarketing is the perfect strategy for your marketing campaign. You should tailor your subsequent ads such that they address the challenge that prevented the user from converting in the first instance. For example, if a customer did not checkout after adding an item to their shopping cart, your follow-up ad should indicate that you will offer a discount or free shipping.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a cost-effective way of boosting the success of your digital marketing in Singapore. Many marketers wrongly believe that an influencer must be a celebrity or any other famous personality. The truth is that an influencer is anybody with a huge following or an excellent record of promoting products.
According to Forbes, there are six types of influencers. These are:
- The celebrity – these have an established audience. They do not have to engage, as fans will follow them wherever they are.
- The journalist – gain a massive following by delivering trusted content and opinions.
- The industry expert – they get their following from their expertise in a particular niche. Their audience is usually smaller as compared to the celebrity and the journalist.
- The analyst – similar to the expert, but their specialisation area is much smaller.
- The stellar personal brand – these gain their influence by building trust with the audience of a business.
- The connector – these bring influence through existing and future connections. They are usually more popular than other influencers.
Before engaging in influencer marketing in Singapore, it is critical to research. Ideally, your influencer should be familiar with your niche. It is also worth noting that an influencer with a few hundred followers can be more effective than one with thousands.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a strategy where a business pays third-party websites (affiliates) to promote their products. It is cost-effective in that the affiliate only receives a payout commission if a customer purchases the product they are promoting on your behalf.
If you want to integrate this strategy into your digital marketing in Singapore, you need to know the parts of an affiliate marketing system.
- The merchant – this is you, the business that is looking to promote products by conducting online marketing in Singapore.
- The affiliate – this is the individual or company that promotes your products on their website. They are also known as the publisher.
- The consumer – this is the most important part of the affiliate system. Without sales, the affiliate will not get commissions, and you would not get any income.
- The network – this is the intermediary between the affiliate and your business. In most cases, the network handles the payment of commissions to affiliates and delivery of products to consumers.
Affiliate marketing not only increases traffic to your website but also ensures this traffic convert into customers. Very few people click an affiliate link with no intention of purchasing a product.
Video Marketing
Video marketing will use a video to promote the products or the service. The video can include various things including testimonials from customers, how to information, live events, explanations, and videos that are used as commercials to show off what the product or the service has to offer. Youtube is one of the best places to post a video. A business needs to use the keywords so that the video can be fond of this site and related sites. Fifty-seven percent of customers are more likely to purchase a product after seeing a video demonstration. In addition to Youtube, this video can be placed on the website or social media site. A person will be able to see the actual product and how it is used. If the business is offering a service the customers can see the employees hard at work and the quality of the work that they perform.
App Marketing
This marketing is a great way to get the attention of users. People are always on their smartphones, so it is important that the business plan adapts to this. The business can use an app and when a person downloads the app their ad will appear. This is great for social media sites as well as games. A business owner will need to be picky with their apps so they can find the target guidance so the adds are getting to the customers that are most likely to make a purchase.
E-Commerce Marketing
E-commerce marketing is the process of getting customers to the website that the business owns and operates so they can make a purchase of a good or a service. Marketing includes all of the marketing techniques that were previously mentioned. They rely heavily on SEO results. It is very important to get the highest rank possible with organic search results listings. This will allow customers to find the site so they will click on it and visit it. This site can also use online banners in order to attract attention to the store. The banner will be placed on another site or a social media site. When a person clicks on the banner they will be brought to the website. This also uses targeted email marketing to try to attract customers.
Marketing Automation
A core aspect of internet marketing in Singapore is automation. It is fast becoming a standard requirement for businesses around the world, meaning that marketers have to embrace it. Existing technology can automate 45% of the marketing activities performed by humans.
Marketing automation is the use of software to run your brand and product promotion campaigns. For instance, if you use it for your digital marketing in Singapore, the software will collect relevant data, analyse it, and give ideas on which strategies you need to implement.
Automation is a much better alternative to humans in terms of efficiency, particularly in handling repetitive tasks such as email marketing, social media posting, and ad campaigns. The data collected by automation software also allows marketers to create personalised ads which are more effective than regular ads.
The most significant benefit of using automation for your Singapore digital marketing campaigns is that it maintains consistency. This prevents brand confusion arising from inconsistent ads on various channels.
Digital marketing in Singapore: Trends to Watch
Any experienced marketer whose company does internet marketing in Singapore is aware that the industry is under constant evolution. You have to continually update your tactics to conform to the latest trends or risk falling behind competitors.
With that in mind, here are the trends that are set to revolutionise the Singapore digital marketing space this year.
- Omni-channel marketing
- Artificial intelligence
- Chatbots
- Programmatic advertising
- Personalisation
- Video marketing
- Voice search
Omni-channel Marketing
Omni-channel marketing is a universal type of multichannel marketing. In this strategy, the marketer creates several touchpoints that work together on several channels to ensure that the consumer has a straightforward buying process.
For instance, you can use influencer marketing in Singapore as the touchpoint for attracting customers, and email marketing as the means of generating leads.
70% of consumers research on multiple platforms before purchasing products online. This statistic underpins the significance of adopting an Omni-channel strategy to your digital marketing in Singapore.
Some of the channels you should add to your campaign include SMS, live chats, live broadcasts, podcasts, mobile apps, and social media videos, and so on.
Artificial Intelligence
The majority of technology enthusiasts still perceive artificial intelligence as the ‘next big thing’ in the industry. Soon, it may be as widespread as modern smartphones.
Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems that can gather information, analyse it and use the findings to solve problems or perform tasks. AI systems have inbuilt intelligence that can mimic the human brain.
As of now, AI is mostly used for content marketing, advertising, and customer support. Its potential application areas in marketing are many, but most of them are not yet widespread. This will soon change, as 72% of business leaders believe that AI is going to become a ‘business advantage’ in the near future.
AI is the perfect tool for identifying trends, collecting crucial market data, and doing competitor research. The technology is particularly useful in analysing content with complex data. It is more accurate and efficient than humans, who usually get tired after a shorter period as compared to these expert systems.
In the future, AI might be the primary creator of online content. However, humans will have to make the material relatable so that it serves a purpose for the consumer.
Chatbots
Chatbots are specialised software that assists users in completing various tasks when they are on a website. Most of these bots interact with humans using text messages, but some use verbal communication.
Some of the common uses of chatbots include:
- Lead generation
- Website browsing guidance
- Shopping assistance
- Client research
- Self-service
Bots are an excellent way of handling general user queries without involving human resources, which are often limited. The only time a human customer support official is needed is where the client requests an explanation beyond the scope of the chatbots.
Programmatic Advertising
Managing ads is a demanding job, especially if your digital marketing campaign focuses on multiple channels. This explains why marketing teams are integrating AI to help them on this front.
Programmatic advertising is where AI uses targeting algorithms to purchase and display adverts. This trend is already gaining traction worldwide. In 2019, companies will spend an estimated $85 billion (S$117 billion) on programmatically sold advertising.
The success of programmatic advertising depends on how you implement it. Specifically, it relies on a combination of automation, big data and technical proficiency, and human capital.
Currently, it is more suited for larger enterprises with a massive client base than small niche companies. That said, marketers should keep tabs on it because it can potentially transform the Singapore digital marketing space.
Personalisation
According to Forbes, 44% of consumers are more likely to purchase products from businesses that offer a personalised experience. If you are familiar with online marketing in Singapore, you probably know the significance of personalisation.
Here are the most important benefits of personalisation.
- Improved customer experience
- Increased brand loyalty
- Increased sales and revenue
- Brand consistency
- Increased selling opportunities across various platforms
Nowadays, consumers love it when their favourite brand recognises them. Thanks to marketing automation, personalisation has significantly improved. The consumer behaviour data collected by automated systems allow marketers to segment their audience into various sections according to their preferences.
For example, the automation tool might identify when particular clients are likely to be online. If you run an email marketing campaign or want to post on social media, this information is critical in ensuring that your message reaches its target audience. Personalisation is the best tool for conversion rate optimisation.
Video Marketing
Video content is increasingly proving its usefulness as a means of capturing attention and engaging with internet users worldwide. YouTube accounts for 37% of global mobile web traffic, beating the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and general web browsing. This further underlines the importance of video content.
One of the reasons why video content adoption is low in digital marketing in Singapore is the aspect of production. Businesses believe that they have to produce videos that have the same quality as Hollywood movies. The reality is that consumers do not prioritise quality. What matters is the entertainment, engagement, and information they get from the videos.
Additionally, live video streams allow you to interact directly with your customers. They are particularly useful for product demos and answering customer questions. Video marketing can boost your engagement rates, build your brand image and establish you as an authority in a specific niche.
Voice Search
Voice searches are one of the latest trends for SEO in Singapore. The reason behind this is the prevalence of AI-powered digital assistants such as Google, Siri and Alexa. According to Google, 20% of search queries on its Android devices are voice searches.
Talking is the most preferred way of interacting, meaning that voice searches will soon become mainstream. The main difference between typed searches and voice searches is ha the later often provides one choice, while the former gives a list of options for the searcher to choose.
Optimising your online marketing campaign for voice searches requires a unique approach. For instance, you might need to optimise your website’s description such that it sounds ‘nice’ when read aloud. Also, you should use a language that is familiar to the user such that when they speak, the search engine will return your page in the results.
Must-Have Tools for Digital Marketing in Singapore
If you want to succeed in digital marketing in Singapore, you should invest in the following tools.
Google Trends
Google Trends allows you to see the latest trends in your location in real-time. It is fast and easy to use. All you need to do is to open the website and type in the relevant keyword. You can also add other parameters if you want more detailed results.
This tool is useful if you want to start a business, do competitor analysis, create a new marketing campaign or learn the trending topics in your region.
Google Keyword Planner
Keyword research is critical to the success of SEO in Singapore, as well as any other location worldwide. The Google Keyword Planner allows you to see how frequently users searched particular phrases in a given region over a specified period. For instance, you could see how many times users searched ‘influencer marketing in Singapore’ over the past six months.
After searching the keyword phrase, this tool will then tell you the level of competition it has. A highly-competitive keyword is more expensive than a phrase with low competition. The Google keyword planner is useful is getting a rough idea on keyword volumes. It supports the exportation of data to third-party platforms.
Google Analytics
By 2015, an estimated 50 million websites were using Google Analytics, making it the most popular analytics tool in the world.
For every company that does digital marketing in Singapore, this tool is a must-have. It allows one to track several aspects of consumer behaviour, including the resolution of the device they are using to access your website.
Furthermore, Google Analytics allows you to generate all types of reports and get more info about your audience. You can learn the location of your clients, as well as the channel that produces the highest traffic, most sales, most downloads, and so forth.
It is advisable to run this tool weekly for the best results.
Facebook Audience Insights
Facebook Audience Insights gives you data on your target audience, which helps in increasing the effectiveness of your ad campaigns for digital marketing in Singapore.
Once you create your business page, follow the steps below.
- Select the audience you want the insights for – in this case, you have the option to choose between a custom audience and everybody on Facebook.
- Build your target audience demographics – you select the location, gender, interests, and other metrics that define your target audience.
- Discover the preferences of your audience – you will learn the pages that your audience like on Facebook.
- Uncover info about your audience – this returns the details about your audience, including their location, language and the devices they use.
Canva
Visual content is vital for successful digital marketing in Singapore. If you are green in graphic design, Canva is a user-friendly tool that can assist in creating stunning visuals for your online marketing in Singapore.
The platform offers a wide range of templates and design elements to enable you to create logos, infographics, and other visual content for your website. It also has a share button that allows you to post your graphics to your preferred social network.
Unsplash
Sometimes, it can be quite challenging to find high-quality photos to enhance the outlook of your advertisements. Unsplash is a website that offers high-resolution stock photos for free. You do not have to worry about infringement of copyrights when you source images from this platform.
These are only but a few of the tools to help you succeed in digital marketing in Singapore. There are many others, depending on how you would like to shape your online marketing campaign.
Creating a Digital Marketing Plan
Before any marking technique is used a company needs to create a digital marketing plan. They need to know their target client base and the types of social media and websites they are using. They also need to find out what time of day these people are active online so they will be able to see the ads. The ads that are placed are going to need to be appealing to the customers and show how they are able to fill a need or a want that they have. This will help determine the type of marketing that is the most effective. A digital marketing strategy template can be used to make sure all aspect of the marketing is covered and there is a clear plan for marketing purposes. Once the website is developed and the Facebook page is up and running the company has to engage new customers. They will need to post content that will entertain or inform them based on what is being sold. This includes making social media posts and responding to all comments left by customers in a timely manner. The company can offer an incentive for signing up for an email list or special promotions for new customers. They may be offered free shipping on their purchase or a specific percentage off of their total order if they sign up for the email list. This will allow them to make a purchase and it is now the time to provide great services to them. This will allow them to share positive experiences on social media sites and they will return to make purchases in the future. They need to have a seamless process with their transactions so they will share a positive experience with others.
Budgeting
Like with any forms of advertising it is important to set aside a budget for digital advertising. There are some things to look at when budgeting for this marketing. The business needs to set goals. They need to determine the target audience they are looking to work with and if they want their customers to share their site on Facebook. They also need to determine if they are looking to increase sales or get new sales. This information will help determine what form of marketing will work best. Instagram and Twitter are often free to low cost to use to develop a page. A Facebook business page is also inexpensive. A person can set a specific dollar amount that they are looking to spend each day for their ads. They should schedule the ads to run when their target audience is the most likely to be online and using this site. This is going to take some research. In addition to social media, a business needs to look at the other places they will be advertising online. They need to look where their customers are visiting and add this to the budget. They will also need someone to develop their site. It is best to pay a professional so the site will be seamless. The company needs to decide if they are going to have someone in a house run their social media marketing or if they are going to want to pay a professional to do so. This will help them develop their budget. They will need to track the amount of traffic being generated by each means of advertising. This will allow them to adjust the budget as needed by what form is being the most effective.
Executing
Digital marketing is a full-time job. Someone at the company will need to respond to emails, respond to posts and comments, and develop content to post on the site. The content must be fresh and engaging. It is best to look for someone with experience so they can keep the sites up and running. They will also be able to use the information collected to develop content that is interesting and engaging.
Measuring
There are a number of programs that can be developed to determine which form of digital marking is the most successful and generate traffic to the site. This is very important to determine the traffic and the source. Google has a great program that will collect this information. They will collect where the traffic is coming from and the time of day they are visiting the site. There are features that can also be customized and it can be turned into a report that is easy to understand.
Digital Marketing: DIY or Work with an Agency
There is a lot to learn about digital marketing. In order to have a successful marketing plan a person will need to understand how to use social media, use the latest techniques when it comes to SEO, learn how to make content that is interesting and engaging, learn all of the aspects of website design, learn how to research a target audience, learn how to analyze traffic results, and many other aspects. For a business owner, this is a great deal of information to take in. A large to medium business may be able to hire a digital campaign marketing executive as part of their staff. This can still get to be very expensive. If a person does not know how to work the computer or they do not have enough time during the workday to devote to digital content managing, they should hire an outside source to handle this for them. They can work with an experienced content manager and tell them exactly what they are looking for. When it comes to website design it is best to work with the professionals. The design has to be appealing and has to be professional looking as well. There is certain information that must be included on the website including all contact information for the business. They also need to work in keywords and link them properly. This is something that should be handled by professionals. A small business owner can start out small with one social media site but a larger organization may benefit from working with a professional agency.
Digital marketing can help a business increase their sales. Digital marketing in Singapore is very important to help a business reach local customers as well as those that live a distance away. Digital marketing will help a company target those that are the most likely to make purchase and market directly to them. There are millions of people that are on the computer and smart devices daily. They are looking for goods and services. With the increase in access to technology, a company has to develop a solid marketing plan so they can use the digital means to reach customers and to increase their sales.
Conclusion
Although it might appear complicated, digital marketing in Singapore is all about awareness and flexibility. If you are updated on the latest techniques, trends and tools, you are likely to run a successful campaign. That said, you should always remain flexible and adjust the tips mentioned above to suit the preferences of your clients.
Call us today at +65 6789 9852 for expert guidance on how to create, execute, and monitor a custom digital marketing campaign in Singapore.
