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MANILA, PHILIPPINES, April 2023 – Xiklab Digital announces a rebranding, including a new identity, reflecting the company’s transformation of its culture and a redefined strategy focused on building itself as the only Digital Marketing Consulting and Execution Company in the Philippines.
Following the agency’s launch in 2019, Xiklab is now focused on delivering digital-first solutions to its brand partners through a collaborative and customer-centric approach.
Combining its industry expertise across a wide range of digital services (i.e. digital strategy and creatives, paid media and performance optimization, customer experience, and technology and development), Xiklab offers a full suite of planning and outcome solutions for marketers and agencies.
“Over the past decade, Xiklab Digital has been a reliable partner in the design and execution of digital marketing campaigns for its clients both here in the Philippines and in the region,” says Bingo Soriano, Xiklab Digital’s Chief Executive Officer.
“With our expertise and experience in digital marketing through the years across a wide range of industries, we believe that it is opportune for the company to take our engagement with all our clients to the next level through deeper collaboration and proactive innovation.”
Anchored on the company’s new battlecry, Lighting the Way, Xiklab’s purpose is to craft valuable and long lasting digital experiences that profoundly impact lives and make a positive difference in the world to unlock the extraordinary.
“We will be laser-focused on guiding and coaching each of our brand partners in navigating the constantly changing and growing digital landscape, as well as carrying out their respective digital marketing initiatives, to enable these brands to concentrate on their core business while leveraging on the benefits offered by digital assets, digital platforms and tools,” adds Soriano.
To learn more about Xiklab’s services or if you’re interested in exploring a partnership with us, send us a message through the form below or contact us at [email protected].
With the fast-increasing internet penetration in the Philippines and the widespread growth of usage of digital platforms, consumers are now becoming more and more reachable within new and emerging platforms outside of the typical channels of Facebook and Google.
As per the latest 2022 data published by We Are Social and Kepios, the Internet Users in the Philippines increased by 2.2% or roughly 2.1 Millions Users. On the other hand, Social Media Users increased by an even higher percentage at 3.4% or 3.1 Million Users. Google, Facebook, and YouTube still top the list of the most visited websites.
Though this is a welcome improvement especially for brands online, the mainly used platform for advertising, Facebook, seems to be facing hurdles in market dominance. As per the latest data by Pew Research, the percentage of teens in the US who use Facebook decreased greatly from 71% in 2014 to just 32% this year. This is further supported by Bloomberg’s report last Q4 that the time spent by US teens on Facebook decreased by 16% YoY while the new teenager sign-up for the platform also decreased. Notably, even young adults’ time spent decreased by 5%. Facebook also reported last February that it was losing daily active users.
In this fast growing and ever-changing social media landscape, this makes digital advertising diversification a crucial topic that brands should be looking into. And with the continuous 21.1% YoY growth in Digital Ad Spend in the Philippines (roughly more than 186 Million Dollars), it begs the question – are you actually maximizing your ad spend or are you missing out on new potential touchpoints? What other platforms are your consumers actually using right now and how can you reach them?
Now, browsing and studying all the other channels can definitely be quite tedious. Luckily for you, Xiklab is here to save the day!
In this article, we list down 8 Digital Platforms in the Philippines where you can reach your audience via paid media advertising today.
TIKTOK
A fast-rising star in a sea of Facebook and Instagram Users – TikTok should definitely be one of the top platforms to explore in your list. Showing tremendous growth rates with its Ad Reach increasing by 8.8% Quarter on Quarter and now bragging more than 18 Million Monthly Active Users, the platform is surely gaining momentum with its channel dominance becoming the top 4 used Social Media App in the Philippines. As per WeAreSocial and GWI, TikTok is now part of the top platforms being used by Filipinos today, just next to Instagram, Messenger, and Facebook. With all these convincing numbers, this is definitely one of the platforms that you should be exploring.
Within TikTok Ads, you can reach up to 35.96 Million Users of highly engaged Gen Z and Millenials through its Affinity based targeting which encompasses your familiar interests of Food, Beauty, Travel, Games, Fashion, Tech, Business, Finance, and a lot more. And if you want to be even more granular in making sure you’re hitting the right people, you can explore behavioral targeting via the types of videos, content, or hashtags that users have interacted with.
@tiktok upcycling is the new recycling and other tips in eco-mindfulness from our superstar sustainability creators this #EarthMonth #ZeroWaste #DIY # #EarthDay #Upcycling ♬ original sound - TikTok
@tiktok from super-random to super-useful, let’s look back on what TikTok taught us in 2022 featuring @brunchwithbabs, @cookingwithlynja, @rob_skate4life, @oursignedworld, @getaheadwithnick
♬ original sound - TikTok
Now we can go on and on in discussing the potential of this platform. But to make things easier, you can learn more and read on about how your brand can benefit from TikTok through this FREE TikTok Whitepaper. And if you want to explore even deeper, we crafted an article with a FREE Media Playbook to show you all the different types of ads, targeting, and best practices that you can do to jumpstart your TikTok Campaigns. Awesome right?
KUMU
In this day and age, live streaming has been one of the rising executions within digital marketing. If you’re one of the brands who are interested in targeting users who watch Live Streams, then look no further! Kumu is here to help.
With more than 11 Million registered users, your brand can be front and center as users interact and watch their favorite shows.
With its unique show-based sponsorships, you can be present based on what users actually prefer watching. Do Branded Takeovers for Game Shows, integrate Virtual Gifts within Food and Cooking Livestreams, tap a group of Influencers for a joint live streaming session, or just put your branding across a multitude of categories – from talent shows, to family content, celebrity chats, gaming reviews, and a lot more. The interactive format makes sure that the people you’re reaching are not only made aware of your brand, but also drives interest and consideration depending on your execution.
Ready to be seen? Then get ahead by watching our previous FUSED Kumu Webinar Video by our Event Speakers Paolo Pineda and Karly Lao, as they delve into the channel’s capabilities. And if you prefer reading more about it, take time to browse our FREE Kumu Whitepaper for more info!
Are you a brand looking to target working professionals or business owners? LinkedIn Ads may be for you!
Though not as popular as the other ad platforms due to its B2B nature, it continues to grow with quality users with more than a 13 Million potential audience base for your ads while increasing by 14.6% YoY in terms of Ad Reach. This give you a good potential audience to reach on a daily basis with 25.2% of PH GWI Data saying that they use the platform more than once a day.
With this user base and with the right chemistry for your brand, you can make the most out of its unique targeting parameters that can enable you to reach professionals according to their specific Job Titles, Seniority, Skills and Experience, or even parameters related to their Company, Size, or Industry.
This is the only platform that can hypertarget professionals with ease. So if you want to reach those CEOs, business owners, or just specific professionals or industries, then read on about LinkedIn Ads with our FREE LinkedIn Ads Playbook.
VIBER
Ever talked with your friends and colleagues over Viber and noticed a number of promos or brand ads right after your call or within different placements and tabs?
That’s because you can use Viber as an awareness channel by running Display Ads right within the platform! That’s right. With the platform gaining the Top 8th Social Media Platform used in the Philippines as per GWI and WeAreSocial, you can now reach more than 40 Million Registered Users and target them via demographics or maybe even their phone’s Operating System. And if you have a unique requirement where you want to target users with families or friends abroad, you can even make use of their call targeting which allows you to reach users who may be calling from one country to another.
Viber continues to be one of the actively used platforms with 34.7% of GWI respondents saying that they use Viber daily in the Philippines. So if you want to expand your touch points and reach new users, then this is one to consider.
Twitter has been widely used for more than a decade. And though it still hasn’t overtaken Facebook and Google when it comes to platform usage, it is interesting to note that it’s still one of the top social media channels being used in our country.
As per GWI data, Twitter is still Top 5 with 59.6% of GWI Philippine respondents saying that they use the platform more than once daily. With around 13 Million potential users to be targeted in the Philippines and its Ad Reach increasing by 2.9% Quarter on Quarter, it’s high time for you to check out its capabilities.
With its unique and interesting targeting parameters, you can actually become the “talk” of the town. Aside from the usual Interest Targeting across different categories, you can target users via the keywords they use in their tweets or even the topic of their conversations. This widens the potential user base that you can reach which makes it highly likely that your target market is present within this platform.
SPOTIFY
In a world of the typical image and video ads, set yourself apart by being present with 100% Audio SOV while making sure that users are actively listening to your message via Spotify Ads.
With more than 20 Million Monthly Active Users listening to their favorite music, you can target them by the genre of their sound trips or the context and type of playlist they’re listening to. All these while combining with demographic and interest-based parameters that will allow for you to customize your ad according to the user’s perona as well as specific moments in their listening experience – whether they may be working out as they listen to their gym playlist, having fun with their party music, chilling with a relaxing sound trip on a rainy afternoon, or even studying or working with their focus background music.
If this “sounds” good, then read more about how this platform can support your awareness campaigns with this FREE Spotify Ads Playbook.
WAZE
Ever wanted to target actual Car Owners, Drivers, or people who travel to certain locations? Or maybe simply wanted to complement your drive to store campaigns? Then Waze can lead you in the right direction!
Reach more than 2.8 Million Monthly Active Users with a platform that not a lot of brands have maximized. Place Store Pins, Takeover Banners, or show Arrows that lead users to your nearby establishments. All these, while utilizing geofencing targeting capabilities of the platform.
With more stores opening their doors for customer visits and offline purchases, Waze is something that will make a comeback as more users get back on the road.
GRAB
Grab has a whopping 90+ Million Monthly Active Users across Southeast Asia. That’s a huge audience base for daily users who visit platform for transportation, food, and groceries. Not only that, according to GWI, 37.3% of the Philippine respondents say that they use Grab while 35.4% use Grab Food every day.
With all this active user data, you can maximize the app’s consumer base by targeting based on Eater Profiles (from the types of restaurants and cuisines they like) or the type of Traveler they may be (whether domestic, international, business, leisure, motorbike, among others). And due to the presence of its payment integrations, it can even provide a unique advantage that other platforms may not possess – such as targeting whether your audience is using Credit Cards or other Payment Types, the type of Bank and Card they have, or even the size of their spending.
So if you want to ride these new advertising opportunities with Grab Ads, then check out our FREE Grab App Study that was born from Xiklab’s latest FUSED Event with the Country Head of GrabAds Philippines, Wiwa Cajumban.
BONUS! Not exactly for running ads, but this is definitely a channel you might also want to look into:
Discord
One of the rising stars this past year with more than 150 Million Monthly Active Users, Discord is continuously growing especially with the younger audiences. Unlike the other platforms in this list, Discord is not necessarily an advertising channel but rather a Community Building, Events, Chat, Live Streaming, and Social Media portal that you can use to complement your online marketing strategies.
What started off as mainly a gaming medium, it has now become more popular even within other communities such as tech, fashion, cars, entertainment, among others. As per WeAreSocial and GWI, around 29.8%-31.6% of their respondents in the Philippines actively use this app, gaining the Top 10th spot across the most used Social Media Platforms in our country!
So if you want to reach out to your younger markets, especially the Gen Z, and if you want to create a unique avenue where you can build your relationship with your community, then this platform might be for you!
Immerse yourself more with this platform by getting our FREE Discord Whitepaper.
Gone are the days where you just spend all your digital budgets on Facebook. With the advent of new ways to tap into your market and the decreasing dominance of Facebook usage, great ad opportunities have risen during other important moments of your consumer.
Whether it be seeing display awareness banners during conversations on Viber, discovering image or video ads while users are booking transportation or food deliveries via Grab, listening and chilling to music on Spotify, or even browsing trending videos on TikTok, digital advertising opportunities are continuously evolving, making it of paramount importance for your brand to be up-to-date and present where it matters.
Be ahead of the trend and overcome your competition while safeguarding your presence on digital even with the ever-changing landscape.
Though all these can definitely be daunting, having a digital marketing partner can make things a lot easier. And if you’re looking for a team that can guide you through this online advertising journey, then allow us to help you. Don’t hesitate to reach out by filling up the form below or by emailing [email protected].
Content is king, this phrase coined by Bill Gates in his essay in 1996 continues to be heard across the industry and true enough, it has been instilled in every content marketers mind. In this day and age when social media continues to evolve and is also becoming a very saturated landscape, brands need to find a way to stand out.
One effective way to market your brand on social media is through visual messaging. Humans are visual beings and as you may already know, we process visuals faster and impacts us longer than any other form of communication. For brands and businesses, visuals accompanied with a strategic social media marketing strategy will win you a lot of views and engagement. So, with this, allow me to change the first phrase of this article to Visuals are the true kings, as they sit rightfully and comfortably on their throne.
As an Art Director, I’m prone to creative blocks when I need to create visual content for social media. So, whenever I find myself in the art limbo, I find inspiration through other brands that have great visual content.
That being said, I’ve come up with a list of pages across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tiktok you can follow for your inspiration in visual content creation:
Oreo
The world’s best-selling cookie owns the visual content marketing game on social media. The cookie is so versatile, that they are able to do it so creatively and extensively. The ingenuity of the brand shows when they use a trending topic or event and incorporate their cookie into it’s from pop culture, relevant and important occasions, like political events. This is what makes Oreo’s social media content fun and engaging.
Starbucks
Who would’ve thought coffee would be an interesting subject in a photograph? Well, Starbucks has managed to curate creative visuals in their social media pages. They always find a creative way to market their ever so visually-appealing frappuccinos and teavanas, by making the most out of them through visuals. They make good use of the platform and explore different content formats, from animated illustrations, boomerangs and stop-motions. They truly make sure to present their drinks not only for the sake of it, but to make them part of a bigger story.
Spotify
The way Spotify presents abundant amounts of data into eye-catching graphics is outstanding. Their use of typography is brilliant and really bold, it captures you instantly. Even their stylized covers of the artists and playlists are gorgeous enough for users to look at and make them listen to them more. They also create engaging content with, again, bold graphics, that rake in a lot of shares and reactions on social media.
Ready to Blend? Get shared personalized playlists with % match scores 🤝 pic.twitter.com/Z2jC4B2Os5
— Spotify (@Spotify) August 31, 2021
Headspace
Headspace is a good example of a brand pushing inspirational content while being both amusing and uplifting. As a meditation and mindfulness brand, they make use of cute characters and pale hues to convey calmness and positivity. Their posts will surely give you a head start on your day.
GoPro
Since we’re talking about images, this action camera company posts some of the most thrilling photographs taken. They outsource their content from amazing adventurers around the world and make videos out of it, making a compelling visual story. Some of the photos and videos are spine-chilling if you’re not used to seeing some adventure-driven imagery. They cover a lot of extreme sports-related content, but what I love are the stunning landscapes they feature.
Magdas hotel
This Hotel was able to make the most of Tiktok emerging as one of the bigger social media platforms. They used a trendy sound, and tied it into a lockdown context. Although they only have 8 videos, each video has a unique take on the same idea, while showcasing some of the amenities and services the hotel offers. On top of that, each video is short and fun which fits the platform well.
Sweet N Nice Ice cream
This Ice cream brand is a good example of how a brand can thrive on the platform without a big budget. Growing steadily from 10k to 160k followers over the past year, there’s no production team behind the tiktok videos, each video is simply funny, enganing, or uses a trend. They are a great follow to see how they execute their ideas and turn it into a fun video.
@sweetnniceicecream Ok what’s better for marketing? IG or Tiktok? 🍦 #familyrunbusiness ♬ original sound - Matthew Rincon
Introducing the Galaxy Z Flip3 5G. Fits in your pocket, tucks into your purse. It’s the first phone to flex with any lifestyle.
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) August 30, 2021
Unfold your world.
Learn more: https://t.co/flcrBzywut#GalaxyZFlip3 pic.twitter.com/wpbYg3GZce
Samsung
Samsung is a great brand to follow on social media, because as a tech brand, they are always looking for the next big thing. They take their new products’ unique selling point and incorporate it into their ads. From a better camera to a more economic design phone, Samsung has a variety of features they build their content around and that makes it a great source of inspiration.
Burger King
Burger King is a particularly fun brand to follow. As a fast food brand they constantly post about new products. It’s fun to see how they introduce new items, or build hype for it. With their recent rebrand, they are also playing with more nostalgic visual elements which makes them stand out from fast food brands.
Mcdonald’s Tiktok
The golden arches have always had a good grasp on what makes them appealing. We’re looking at their tiktok specifically,because that platform works differently. As a brand, making a challenge trend is one way to boost your presence. Mcdonalds has been doing that with their different efforts like making a catchy beat users can create content with, or a call to action to duet a video about chicken sandwiches. McDonalds is being more experimental and off beat with their tiktok but it’s great to see such an iconic brand try new things.
If you want to know more about digital marketing, you can go to our blog section and go through our content materials. And if you are interested in working with top notch digital marketing experts, you can send us an email today
Technology has changed the way we do things. Back when I first entered the workforce, I was one of the few employees who had Friendster, Multiply, Facebook, and Instagram accounts while still in school. As a millennial, it was easy to understand what these platforms are, and how to use them. As a marketer, it was quite observable how these platforms and technologies shaped user behavior. But in an office with more Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers, shifting to the digital age caused a lot of confusion. Suddenly, marketing and advertising changed. Ads were skipped. Content was consumed on-demand. Content creation was no longer exclusive to brands and publishers. Data-gathering and analysis became faster and more complex.
The democratization of technology caused a disruption in marketing. But it was not just marketing; the internal processes, employee hiring and management, and other aspects of the business up to how we communicate with colleagues, were all affected by the fast-changing digital landscape. The social impact to the organization was further fueled by the growing number of millennials, or digital natives, in the workforce. At a BusinessWorld Economic Forum a few years ago, organized by Businessworld Xiklab Digital Founder, Arthur Policarpio discussed three trends that are changing the workplace.
1. The Rise of the Virtual Company
Alongside the increasing cost of having a physical office space, the rapid rise of collaborative software and cloud computing have given rise to virtual offices. For a knowledge worker, being physically in the office every day from 9 am to 5 pm is no longer necessary as certain tasks can already be done virtually. Now, some companies have changed their work set-up, allowing workers to have at least once a week work-at-home option. This has helped increase employee satisfaction as it allowed them to save a few hours that could have been spent commuting.
But aside from the work from home set-up, the concept of a virtual office also includes the outsourcing of freelancers online. In the U.S., 35% of the workforce are freelancers, mostly driven by millennials who crave for freedom and flexibility. Online freelance marketplaces, mostly in the form of websites, have made this bigger as they bridge companies who look for project-based employees and individuals who have the needed skills. This allowed companies to partner with talented individuals regardless of location.
2. The Internet-fueled Sharing Economy
Jumping off from the concept of a freelance marketplace, the digital age has enabled the growth of a sharing economy. According to Merriam-Webster, sharing economy is defined as an economic activity that involves individuals buying or selling usually temporary access to goods or services especially as arranged through an online company or organization.
The growth of the millennial workforce who wants freedom and flexibility, but grew up in a world that has higher living costs, led us to prefer sharing than owning. Transport Network Vehicle Services or TNVS are now common in urban areas, headed by brands like Grab. The company with the highest valuation in the Hotel Industry is AirBnb, and the company doesn’t even own a single bed. The world’s largest marketplace of advertisers and consumers, Facebook, is 32x more valuable than the largest advertising group, with 175,000 less employees. And all these businesses have transactions done globally and 24/7 online.
The internet-fueled sharing economy has enabled businesses to earn and become relevant without much investment on real assets. Companies who can capitalize on this have an advantage over the companies who are clinging on outdated processes.
3. Leaders have become Students Again
Parents are learning about the latest technology from their kids. It’s now common to see a Gen-Z or Baby Boomer parent asking their kids, how does this work? The same has been observed in offices. I have talked to a few executives who, once they find out working for a digital agency, would say Digital. That’s something I need to learn more about.
This kind of humility and curiosity from the leaders of today allows them to become business-model engineers and maneuver their company to adapt to the fast-changing business landscape.
Among the three trends, virtual offices and the sharing economy can end up being the norm or outdated. Who’s to say? With how fast the landscape is changing, new trends will surely come up. But the last trend, in my opinion, is an important trait that we all need to have, whether or not we’re leaders.
New trends and technologies will always be a challenge to grasp, but as long as we are willing to become students again, we have a better chance of staying relevant and thriving in the Digital Age.
This has never been so true than in my line of work. All of us in our organization, from our founder down to our new hires, are always learning new ways of doing things to be able cater to the ever-changing market — we have monthly learning sessions, we regularly publish thought leadership materials, among others. Our work, which was focused on mobile & digital media in the past, has expanded to not just digital advertising, but in creating digital solutions for businesses and organizations. This allowed our organization to differentiate itself among other digital agencies and to stay relevant by providing what is really needed by our clients.
Technology has changed the way we do things and it will continue to do so. That’s why we all must continue to learn to learn what’s new and what works. It’s a good way to move forward.
As of 2021, there are over 4.66 billion internet users in the world. Now, how can you ensure that your ad is optimal for your target audiences?
A/B Test campaigns, also known as split testing, is one of the key features of Facebook that advertisers can use. This is the process of changing different variables of the ad to determine the better performing strategy that can help improve future campaigns. It helps media practitioners optimize their campaigns – whether in the form of audience optimization or placement optimization.
But for brands, one of the key things that can be considered, and can give impact for the campaigns, would be creative testing.
Creative testing refers to anything related to the ad itself such as having different copies, angle or approach to the material, ad formats, and even the call to action that will be used.
Ideally, there is a single differentiating variable between two materials. It can be the same image with different copy, or the same copy with different visual elements showing a product focus versus a lifestyle approach, or maybe even the same creative but in different formats such as image versus video.
However, the tests can still vary greatly from testing one single variable to two completely different approaches. To demonstrate, here is a sample from pharma company Pharex, where Xiklab tested two completely different materials.
While gamified content works, the product push post generated better results and resonated more with the audience. So, the product push post wins the A/B Testing campaign.
Through these types of tests, we can identify what type of content or communication can actually generate better results. Since there are a lot of options, combinations, and even ad formats that can be tried out on an A/B Testing campaign, Xiklab prepared a Facebook Creative Playbook itemizing all the different ad units for different optimizations.
Through this document, you’ll be able to see what types of specs should be considered and what types of formats or optimizations can be tried out in an A/B Testing.
If you wish to try A/B Testing campaigns on your brand storytelling, contact us at [email protected] or fill out the form below.