Marketing in Bangkok is a unique experience when compared to many other cities and certainly when compared to American cities. First, the Asian culture is completely different from the west. Second, although the overwhelming majority of people in Bangkok are Thai, there are also sizable communities of people who speak Japanese, English and Chinese. This means that trying to reach people through Traditional media can be difficult since there are Thai, English and Japanese newspapers here and radio stations in Thai, English and Chinese. And the mass market TV stations are all in Thai.
Since reaching people through traditional media is difficult many forward-thinking marketers are turning increasingly to the internet. There are many Thai language websites here in Thailand but many Thais also use English-language sites to a certain degree. Therefore, many marketers that are trying to reach local audiences for different products have quite a number of options. YouTube and Google, for example, get large numbers of Thai visitors and there is also a Thai-language versions of Google.
There are also a few Thai-language video sharing sites, although they receive very small amounts of traffic compared to YouTube. So, marketers here are producing content that is in English or Thai and also using tags in both languages to experiment with the effectiveness of tags that are not in English. Since Thais search in both languages this should ultimately prove to be successful.
Marketing companies in Bangkok are also using email marketing as part of their mix although reliable email lists are hard to come by here. However, there are some small lists available that are relatively reliable and there is at least one company that we know of – www.contactbangkok.com – that sends out weekly newsletters to its 40,000-strong database of businesses and you can pay to put an HTML ad inside it.
And, as connection and download speeds become faster here in Thailand, the use of video is becoming more and more important to marketers looking to use the fastest-growing and most effective method of communicating ideas. As mentioned above, there are very few Thai video-sharing sites but the major video-sharing sites in the world are becoming more popular here and traffic is on the rise.
As in other more developed countries, Thailand is also turning to the internet but the progress here has been somewhat slower. With recent technology and infrastructure improvements here, however, that progress should quicken and propel Thailand into the ranks of its more advanced neighbors.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Online Marketing In Bangkok
Online marketing in Bangkok is a relatively new trend as most Bangkok-area business people have been slow to realize that their websites are becoming more and more important in terms of bringing in business. While this may seem a bit strange to people in more developed countries, it is nevertheless the reality here in Thailand.
Because of this, the entire SEO and online marketing industry here is very small and not very advanced. A survey of company websites that purport to be SEO and online marketing consultants will quickly illustrate that almost every one of these companies has very little idea of what is actually involved in creating a successful SEO marketing campaign. One of the companies that does seem to have a very clear idea of what to do in this field has a site called MarketingBangkok.com and also offers an SEO and online marketing training course.
In general, though, the pickings are slim when it comes to real expertise in the field of online marketing and the prices that some people are paying here for the meager results they get seems to suggest that it may be better to do your online marketing using your own personnel. This necessitates training but there is, as mentioned above, a resource for this so it is possible to achieve. However, there are a number of factors to consider when attempting to create your own online marketing department inside your company.
First, make sure that your marketing plan includes all of the elements that are needed to pursue a well-rounded strategy. This means you need to do article marketing, post videos on sharing sites such as YouTube, post article and videos on news and citizen journalism sites, create a blog or multiple blogs, do link building (of the Google-approved variety), make use of social network sites and do bookmarking. These are the basic areas that are essential for most businesses, although yours may not utilize all of them right away.
Once you have mapped out the strategy you want to employ then you need to ensure that your personnel are trained well enough in the specific areas of writing, simple video production and basic skills that are needed to post content on external websites, use bookmarking sites and make use of social networking sites. These basic skills, along with a good database of websites to post content to, are all that are needed to put together an effective online marketing program that will drive more traffic to your website and increase your business.
Because of this, the entire SEO and online marketing industry here is very small and not very advanced. A survey of company websites that purport to be SEO and online marketing consultants will quickly illustrate that almost every one of these companies has very little idea of what is actually involved in creating a successful SEO marketing campaign. One of the companies that does seem to have a very clear idea of what to do in this field has a site called MarketingBangkok.com and also offers an SEO and online marketing training course.
In general, though, the pickings are slim when it comes to real expertise in the field of online marketing and the prices that some people are paying here for the meager results they get seems to suggest that it may be better to do your online marketing using your own personnel. This necessitates training but there is, as mentioned above, a resource for this so it is possible to achieve. However, there are a number of factors to consider when attempting to create your own online marketing department inside your company.
First, make sure that your marketing plan includes all of the elements that are needed to pursue a well-rounded strategy. This means you need to do article marketing, post videos on sharing sites such as YouTube, post article and videos on news and citizen journalism sites, create a blog or multiple blogs, do link building (of the Google-approved variety), make use of social network sites and do bookmarking. These are the basic areas that are essential for most businesses, although yours may not utilize all of them right away.
Once you have mapped out the strategy you want to employ then you need to ensure that your personnel are trained well enough in the specific areas of writing, simple video production and basic skills that are needed to post content on external websites, use bookmarking sites and make use of social networking sites. These basic skills, along with a good database of websites to post content to, are all that are needed to put together an effective online marketing program that will drive more traffic to your website and increase your business.
SEO Training In Bangkok
SEO training in Bangkok is extremely limited at the time of this writing (December, 2009) as there is only one company in the city that regularly offers classes in this field. One of the reasons for this is that Thailand is quite a bit behind the U.S. and other countries where the internet is more a part of the business atmosphere. And, since this is the case, there is much less demand for people who are proficient in helping business owners drive traffic to their websites.
This lack of a widespread need for SEO services and other online marketing services is an indication of the present state of website marketing in Bangkok but the SEO training situation should gradually change as more and more businesspeople continue to realize that the future of their business is closely tied to the internet. This is especially true for people in the tourism and export industries, since their business comes largely from overseas, but it is also becoming increasingly important for companies who depend almost solely on business from local residents.
There are some areas already where local businesses are finding ways to use the internet to increase their customer base and income. Facebook is a prime example, especially for businesses like restaurants and bars. More and more of these businesses in Bangkok are setting up their own groups on Facebook and using them to reach people with news about promotions, specials, parties, menu changes, anything that might be of interest to their regular customers while at the same time adding to their friends list to keep building their group.
It will probably only be a short period of time before these people realize that while Facebook is helpful, there are also many other things that they can do to grow their business using online channels. Perhaps article marketing will be the next step they take or possibly using videos and video sharing sites to advertise their product and set up links to their sites. They would also then discover more link building techniques and also bookmarking sites and the advantages to using them.
So, as their interest in the internet as a marketing tool increases they will also need more and more expertise to successfully carry out these marketing functions.
This will spur the need for real expertise and knowledge and they will then require the services of a training company who fully understands all aspects of SEO and online marketing. These people will then also discover that the basic concepts of SEO and online marketing are easy to understand and carry out. All they need is someone to bring their attention to these techniques and help them acquire the basic skills that will allow them to become successful at SEO and online marketing.
Although the state of the training industry for SEO and online marketing is now confined to just one company this is bound to change in the coming months and years and more and more businesspeople in Bangkok realize that the future of their businesses really does lie on the internet.
This lack of a widespread need for SEO services and other online marketing services is an indication of the present state of website marketing in Bangkok but the SEO training situation should gradually change as more and more businesspeople continue to realize that the future of their business is closely tied to the internet. This is especially true for people in the tourism and export industries, since their business comes largely from overseas, but it is also becoming increasingly important for companies who depend almost solely on business from local residents.
There are some areas already where local businesses are finding ways to use the internet to increase their customer base and income. Facebook is a prime example, especially for businesses like restaurants and bars. More and more of these businesses in Bangkok are setting up their own groups on Facebook and using them to reach people with news about promotions, specials, parties, menu changes, anything that might be of interest to their regular customers while at the same time adding to their friends list to keep building their group.
It will probably only be a short period of time before these people realize that while Facebook is helpful, there are also many other things that they can do to grow their business using online channels. Perhaps article marketing will be the next step they take or possibly using videos and video sharing sites to advertise their product and set up links to their sites. They would also then discover more link building techniques and also bookmarking sites and the advantages to using them.
So, as their interest in the internet as a marketing tool increases they will also need more and more expertise to successfully carry out these marketing functions.
This will spur the need for real expertise and knowledge and they will then require the services of a training company who fully understands all aspects of SEO and online marketing. These people will then also discover that the basic concepts of SEO and online marketing are easy to understand and carry out. All they need is someone to bring their attention to these techniques and help them acquire the basic skills that will allow them to become successful at SEO and online marketing.
Although the state of the training industry for SEO and online marketing is now confined to just one company this is bound to change in the coming months and years and more and more businesspeople in Bangkok realize that the future of their businesses really does lie on the internet.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Link Building Information from Marketing Bangkok
http://www.seonorthamerica.com Useful information from SEO North America about how link building is used to help your SEO efforts.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
On-Site SEO Information from Marketing Bangkok
Useful information about how to optimize your onsite SEO from Marketing Bangkok.
Introduction to Online Marketing Excellence #2
Find out about some of the reasons to take the online marketing training course that's offered by Online Marketing Excellence in Bangkok.
Introduction to Online Marketing Excellence #1
Find out about some of the reasons to take the online marketing training course that's offered by Online Marketing Excellence in Bangkok.
Website Design at Marketing Bangkok
Find out what makes good website design and what needs to be done to rank high in Google's listings.
Student Experiences at Online Marketing Excellence #4
See what Online Marketing Excellence student Supinda has to say about her experiences in the course.
Student Experiences at Online Marketing Excellence #3
See what Online Marketing Excellence student Paweena has to say about her experiences in the course.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Online Marketing Excellence
Find out about some of the reasons to take the online marketing training course that's offered by Online Marketing Excellence in Bangkok.
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