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Q and A with Zoho Corp VP:  Marketers need to upskill to meet needs of increasing PH online consumer base

Q and A with Zoho Corp VP: Marketers need to upskill to meet needs of increasing PH online consumer base

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The increasing eCommerce consumer base in the Philippines needs a new kind of marketer, one who does not just master the digital platforms and tools but who can agilely shift and upskill themselves at short notice. In an interview with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Gibu Mathew, VP and GM APAC of technology company Zoho Corp., discusses the opportunities opening up in the country, as well the needed training of the workforce in order to convert them into opportunities.

MI:  What are the marketing challenges that PH companies who have to transition into eCommerce are facing?

A: The pervasiveness of technology today has enabled a more connected and tech-savvy society, fueling and changing the way consumers buy and consume. The Philippines experienced an increase of 12 million new digital consumers in 2021, and 99 percent of them intend to continue using digital platforms even during the endemic phase. The future of eCommerce in the country is promising even as the Southeast Asia region is gearing up for a digital economy worth USD 360 billion by 2025. There is no doubt that digitization has helped Filipino businesses find a better foothold to leverage technology to achieve better business outcomes.

Despite rampant digitization, Filipino companies face challenges in talent retention and higher turnover rates, as well as skills mismatch, labor poaching, and labor shortages. There is understandably a shortage of talents who understand digital marketing; this increases the cost of hiring and training for companies, making it harder for businesses to strategize and form a more holistic digital approach.

In addition, for many companies who are transitioning into eCommerce, the existence of global eCommerce marketplaces creates a separate channel challenge. Smaller companies are unable to compete with the reach and traffic on these marketplace platforms, and often find themselves selling both on the marketplaces as well as developing their own eCommerce sites. The challenge is for brands to build a strong customer experience on their platform channels and strengthen demand in their own channels in the long-term.

All these have consequently caused companies in the Philippines to struggle to fully harness their data insights for more decisive business impact, and even slowing the automation of key processes for marketing success on eCommerce platforms. The challenge is also for marketers to look for the relevant insights in data to build the business and provide the right dashboards to decision-makers. Reskilling efforts help mitigate these issues, providing employees with new skills and capabilities to utilize new tools and technologies that are crucial to the business.

MI: What are the trends that consumer shopping behavior is displaying and how tech can solve that?

Al Consumer behavior is rapidly shifting to the eCommerce space. According to a survey by Coleman Parkes,  as many as 75% of consumers in the Philippines are happy to share more personal data for personalized experiences. This is an opportunity for businesses to relook at their data, extract insights, and automate processes that are central to delivering the level of customer satisfaction consumers demand.

This increased competition in 'hyper-personalized experiences'  will drive a gap between businesses that can stay relevant and delight the customer, versus businesses that eventually fall behind. It is only through the automation of marketing efforts that brands can go the distance to anticipate customer behavior and provide experiences that surprise, convert and satisfy the customer in the way ordinary digitization cannot. 'Unified marketing platform' helps the brand deliver on these expectations and challenges, resulting in seamless experiences that engage and better results for the bottom line.

The ubiquity of eCommerce marketplaces also means that brands cannot be picky with their technology and integration, but seek digital solutions that provide the enterprise with an upper hand. With 80% of Filipino consumers dropping brand loyalty in favor of new products and services, the need for omnichannel solutions to help reach the customer is an unmistakable imperative. With customers becoming more fragmented in the places they shop, the business with an all-in-one marketing platform with omnichannel reach will succeed.

Customers are not just shopping online, but are going omnichannel; showrooming, and webrooming extensively before making a purchase decision. Having a unified marketing platform that engages the customer across various touchpoint provides more opportunities to engage and convert at a physical store or online. This win-win scenario for both the customer and brand can only be achieved through technology.

MI:  What are the in-demand marketing skills that professionals in all companies need today, especially those working in tech?

A:  As the role of the digital marketer continues to evolve, key marketing skillsets range from the ability to identify buyer personas, good content presentation, understanding of social media content delivery mechanisms and digital marketing tools, understanding of the digital landscape, and analytics.

Philippines businesses are struggling with the present digital era,  with only 10% of businesses currently using advanced digital tools like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools, or data analysis as part of their business strategy. As such, the urgency and need to reskill and upskill the workforce has never been more pressing. A major leap in knowledge and skillset is required for businesses to close the gap, and strengthen their business position.

Unlike other skills, expertise in marketing is evergreen to many sectors, including eCommerce. However, it is important for businesses to adapt continually and future proof their workforce with new skills in artificial intelligence, data analysis, and cloud technology. The eCommerce job outlook by the Department of Trade and Industries found that 52% of Philippine companies are looking for talents in Digital Marketing, followed by 38% hiring Social Media Specialists, and 20% focused on Intelligence/Data Analysis.

Digital marketers who are already adept with platforms need to also be reskilled towards traditional retail, allowing the business to provide a more engaging experience across both retail and digital spaces. At the end of the day, marketers who are one-trick-ponies would need to grow leap and bounds, and be able to harness the full spectrum of marketing capabilities for both retail and digital to optimize business revenue.

MIWhat kind of training would these digital marketers need to “harness the full spectrum of market capabilities” and optimize business revenue? 

 AWhile most businesses may not know where to start, the Philippine government has launched a Skill Framework (PSF) initiative that guides businesses to prepare the human capital in the country, and improve competitiveness as a result. This approach allows industries and learning institutions in the Philippines to shape the skillset of the current workforce as well as generations to come. The framework focuses on building the talent to meet the needs of the fourth industrial revolution. It also encourages continuous collaboration between both private and public industries to take employee skills to the next level.

Learning a new way of working can be intimidating. Often it even be a source of frustration for employees. Business may consider the onboarding process in their solution selection as well. Tools with a great onboarding experience will greatly increase user adoption. For example, Zoho CRM has a guided onboarding tour that functions as a comprehensive training session during the onboarding. This is available even in the forever-free version of the software.

Unlike any other unified platforms, Zoho features a comprehensive knowledge hub, 24/7 customer support, and Zoho Academy to guide new users in their digital adoption journey, and enables employees to learn at their own pace. At Zoho, we believe and have invested more in product development and customer support to enable more businesses to have the right start to digital business productivity.

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