Photo courtesy of Mr. John Maico Hernandez

29 July 2021

Lipa City, Philippines: In a move to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) adapt to the digital marketing trends in the new normal, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Batangas in collaboration with the Junior Chamber International (JCI) – Lipa and Batangas State University (BatStateU) - Lipa City, conducted a face-to-face training-workshop on Digital Market Sourcing and Branding, July 06.

Participating MSMEs include the association of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and DOST-Batangas' Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) cooperators, Magpantay Homemade Candy and Isabelle Concepts and Prints. Owners, officers, and layout artists of these MSMEs partook in the activity together with several students of BatStateU Lipa City. Mr. John Maico Hernandez, Science Research Specialist I of DOST Batangas, facilitated the training-workshop. As Mr. Hernandez has mentioned, the training is also part of his return service as a Scholarship Grantee of the Asian Productivity Organization (APO) for the Workshop on Promoting the Productivity Movement in the Digital Age held on April 20-22 this year.

Mr. Hernandez started his discussion by asking the participants about their efforts in adapting to the digital market before and at the onset of the pandemic. While it is widely known how the digital age created a big paradigm shift in marketing goods and services, connecting to people, and penetrating the wider digital market, the speaker sparked participants' interest in engaging to new digital approaches in promoting their businesses and in ensuring that the intended message reaches their target audience. His discussion was anchored on the purpose of analyzing the opportunities that digital technology offers in promoting the business and examining best practices of other businesses using digital promotion and digital communications for improving engagement with the target audience. Topics covered were Basic Principles of Productivity Promotion, Principles of Digital Promotion and Strategic Communication, How to Build a Digital Marketing and Promotion Plan, and Introduction to Marketing and Digital Promotion Tools.

The discussion also touched on some of the best digital marketing strategies in the Philippines. To provide examples of effective digital marketing, Mr. Hernandez presented MSMEs which integrate competitive approaches on increasing their visibility, engagement, and reach in social media. He also steered discussion on his organization's experiences in driving traffic and penetrating wider social media reach. Moving forward, Mr. Hernandez discussed the applied mechanisms to boost online presence organically. Relevant statistics about digital marketing in the Philippines, online consumers' psychology, behavior, and cultural influences were presented to provide participants with a common footing on what to consider to ensure targeting of audience and increasing online engagement.

The approaches on building a Digital Marketing and Promotion Plan were introduced using its different components which include identifying customers/audience, brand strategies, messaging plans, channel tactics, and measurement practices. To ensure the application of these principles, introduction on Marketing and Digital Promotion Tools were likewise covered. A range of advertising technology and marketing technology options used in digital promotion were presented. Mr. Hernandez assisted the participants in analyzing the weak links on their business brands and digital platform.

Workshops on analyzing the individual Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) and Marketing Persona of the participating MSMEs were conducted to guide them in designing their Digital Marketing and Promotion Plan. Participants exchanged opinions and shared personal experiences to address the workshop questions raised by the speaker. Each of them was handed a certificate of participation after the completion of the training-workshop.

Article from DOST Batangas (facebook.com/dostpstcbatangas)

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