Need to boost your sales and bring more revenue to your e-commerce business? Facebook ad is something you should be looking into. Facebook offers a variety of ad types that can help you position your products to the right audience at the right time. The Facebook ad types range from a single photo to a collection ad format.

For e-commerce businesses, however, there are top 3 ad types that can have the most astounding results compared to the others, namely Slideshow, Single Video, and Carousel ad formats. In this article, we are going to tackle the most widely-used one for showing off multiple products – the Carousel Ad format.

What is a Carousel Ad format?

Facebook’s Carousel Ad is an interactive format that allows you to showcase up to ten images or videos of products in a single ad, each with its own link. With this, you can use your existing e-commerce website or online store (like Lazada) as your landing page when the products on the ad are clicked.

By using this ad type you will have more creative space within a single ad. You’ll be able to feature different products, services, or promotions and highlight specific details about it. Moreover, you can make a creative sequential story that develops across each carousel card to tell more about the brand and your offers.

Carousel Ads Success Stories

Discount offers on e-commerce platforms are prevalent during the shopping season. How can you make your promotions stand out amongst other advertisers?

For their 11.11 and 12.12 sales, Bosch Singapore tapped into paid media campaigns in order to drive traffic to their Lazada store for purchase of Bosch power tools. And with the help of the Carousel Ad format, they are able to feature different exclusive offers in a single ad and direct customers to their e-commerce site conveniently.

Standout from your competitors today!

Start expanding your e-commerce business reach by tapping into Facebook ads. Let IH Digital, a SEA digital marketing agency headquartered in Singapore, help you plan your e-commerce marketing strategy. Get in touch with us here to learn more.

Social media is now more important than ever to avid online shoppers now that e-commerce started penetrating the channel through targeted ads. With so many products instantly presented online, consumers are spoilt for choice when it comes to the goods available online. In fact, consumers are given so many options that they tend to be somehow overwhelmed with it and end up deciding not to buy at all.

This makes advertisements all the more significant in social media marketing, especially when it’s done the right way. Did you know that a single button on a Facebook ad has the power to move your consumer further along the decision process and towards the eventual purchase? Many food brands like Sanitarium has successfully used this strategy in order to boost their online sales, particularly in Singapore. Your brand, too, can attract more online buyers by harnessing the power of e-commerce ads on Facebook. Simply follow these 2 easy steps and see the astounding results for yourself.

2 Easy but Effective Ways to Elevate your E-commerce Marketing on Facebook

Step 1: Add a Call-To-Action Button to your Facebook Ad

While a simple Call-To-Action button of ‘Shop Now’ may seem too minute a detail in the grand scheme of social media marketing, this goes a long way in nudging your consumers towards their decision to purchase! 

With an appealing visual, you have caught the attention of your consumer. Be it price or taste or convenience, the next step to persuade the consumer would be to add a Call-To-Action button.

As shown in the example below, the Call-To-Action button stands by itself and can be easily spotted. Without this button, the consumer will either continue scrolling or head to the web to find out more. With the first scenario, the opportunity for the consumer to progress to purchase is lost. With the latter scenario, there is great hassle involved. Hence, it is more likely that you have lost the customer’s interest.

A Call-To-Action button greatly helps to increase awareness of products online. In the case of Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company–an Australian food brand known for its dairy milk, spreads, cereals and yogurt–, not all their products are available in physical stores. Hence, this brings consumers a more convenient way to shop for their desired goods online.

Step 2: Boost Your Page Posts

Why the need to boost page posts? Truth is, quality content is great but it all boils down to whether they are even reaching your audience in the first place. No matter how broad your fanbase, organic reach will never be able to extend to all your fans, not to mention people who might be potential customers but do not know about your brand yet.

Reach out to your audience by boosting your page posts, especially those with a Call-To-Action button. Sanitarium, for instance, boosted two of their Facebook page posts: one for Weet-Bix Hot Chocolate and Date Porridge and another for So Good™ Almond Milk. Both are available on RedMart.

What are you waiting for? Get your brand seen on Facebook A.S.A.P.!

Sure, it sounds easy but if you’ve got tons of products to promote and you have no time or manpower to manage your Facebook page, a digital marketing agency can help deal with this labour-intensive job for you.

IH Digital is a Singapore social media agency that provides social media marketing campaigns specialised in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. Many food & beverage (F&B) brands have chosen to work with us towards achieving their business goals. Know more about our social media and e-commerce marketing services by dropping a quick message here.

Global e-commerce is growing at breakneck speed. According to a report, global e-commerce sales are expected to hit $4.5 trillion by 2021. With that, is your business riding the social media e-commerce wave? If building your own e-commerce website is not in your immediate digital marketing strategy, there’s no need to look far for other options because you can easily turn to social media powerhouse Facebook’s Shop Section for support.

ADVANTAGES OF A FACEBOOK SHOP

If the bulk of your social media marketing efforts is on Facebook, setting up a Facebook store gives your customers the ability to stay within Facebook while learning more about your product. It also lends a helping hand in your content marketing efforts. Products can be tagged on a visual post or promoted on its own when you set up Facebook Shop. It’s also beneficial at capturing impulse buyers who purchase products as soon as they see them.

For brands with a multi-platform approach to e-commerce, you can also link Facebook Shop to a marketplace such as Lazada. Such is the case for Suisai Singapore, a skincare brand known for their powder facial cleansers. Customers viewing a product on their Facebook Shop can check out via their Lazada store.

Facebook Shop also doesn’t discriminate from small businesses who do not have a third-party e-commerce store such as Lazada yet. During the setup process, businesses can opt for two check-out settings: check out on a website or send a message. The latter is what De’Longhi Philippines utilizes, allowing customers to show their interest in a product via private message. For this method, businesses still have the ability to continue the purchase process by getting in touch with customers directly.

LET AN EXPERIENCED DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCY SET UP YOUR FACEBOOK SHOP

With 2.27 active billions of users on Facebook globally, businesses enjoy increased exposure and extra visibility via the platform. Moreover, it doesn’t cost anything to set up a Facebook Shop.

Are you ready to include a Facebook shop or an e-commerce website in your digital marketing strategy? IH Digital is a digital marketing agency in Singapore that can help your business. Get in touch with us today and let us help you win the digital marketing game.

There are many myths about e-commerce that have surfaced with the ever-increasing popularity of transactions over the internet. With that, let us break down the 5 common myths and discover what goes behind these unproven beliefs.

Myth #1: It will all go well after you’ve established your e-commerce website

Some business owners think that running an e-commerce website is just a piece of cake. In fact, some of them think that after setting up an e-commerce site, their online traffic is assured, not knowing that there are key factors for success (e.g. data protection, sales strategies, and online marketing strategies) that must be looked into.

There are plenty of e-commerce platforms that will help you build your store like Lazada and Qoo10 to take the complex stuff off your shoulder. But, if you’re really keen on hosting your own website, we suggest that you invest well and let the experts build your website, and help you with digital marketing to improve sales.

Myth #2: A great product alone is sufficient to bring you a lot of customers.

There is no doubt that having a good product is one of the key success factors for your business, but without effective marketing efforts, it will be hard for your business to take off to success. One thing that every e-commerce seller must keep in mind is, he must offer good customer service and have an effective marketing strategy (such as SEO and a strong social media presence) alongside their great products.

Myth #3: Lower price attracts more customers

Certainly, the price of a product is a big factor to catch the buyers’ attention. For this reason, most sellers think that if they lower the price of their product, they will gain more buyers. However, this is not necessarily the case. Lower pricing can leave unwanted impressions on potential customers regarding the credibility of the products and of the seller. For instance, if an item has a price tag substantially lower than that of a similar product sold by another vendor, customers might believe that the cheaper product was of inferior quality.

Myth #4: It is not worth investing into a mobile-friendly website/platform.

If some business owners still think that there is no need for mobile-friendly websites, they are mistaken. E-commerce web traffic today is actually higher on mobile devices than on desktops (Source: The Telegraph).  If an e-commerce website is not mobile-friendly, it will be missing out on the bulk of e-commerce traffic!

Myth #5: Tracking revenue as the sole measure of performance is sufficient

It is true that every e-commerce business must understand their revenue and know that it plays a big part as a key performance indicator (KPI). Nevertheless, to understand how they can improve their marketing strategies, they must also keep track of, and study other performance metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and website bounce rates – these metrics help signal which are the areas that need to be improved.

If you are interested in the opportunities e-commerce has to offer, message IH Digital now. IH Digital is a digital marketing agency headquartered in Singapore and has a presence across multiple countries in the region and in Greater China. We can help you reach your e-commerce and online marketing initiatives. Message us here.

The demand for online purchasing has been burgeoning, and users from Southeast Asia are a substantial part of this massive movement. This is not surprising since 50% percent of the Southeast Asian population is online (Source: wearesocial). In 2017, internet economy revenues in Southeast Asia surpassed growth expectations by 35%, and e-commerce managed to garner US$10.9 billion, and is expected to reach US$88.1 billion by 2025 (Source: Google). Get a glimpse into Southeast Asia’s e-commerce industry below.

More Payment Options

Compared to western countries, Southeast Asia (other than Singapore) has low credit card penetration. For this reason, e-commerce in SEA offers a wide range of payment options other than credit card payment (e.g. Cash on delivery, bank transfer, offline points of sales and instalment). Consequently, payment trends in the countries of Southeast Asia vary, which some businesses find as a hurdle for expanding their reach for its inconsistency (Source: TheStartup).

Mobile Awakening

In 2017, the total number of mobile internet users in the SEA was 302.3 million, and they spent an average of 3.6 hours online every single day. Whether these users use their time online on a social media or an e-commerce site, every online merchant must consider switching to a mobile-friendlier platform since the number of mobile users is perpetually increasing.

Higher Conversion Rates on Desktop

Though the use of mobile is continuously growing, e-commerce companies noticed that conversion rate is nonetheless still higher on desktop-use than on mobile (Source: TechWireAsia). Experts explain that while users use mobile devices for browsing through e-commerce websites to find out more about their purchase options,  they still go to their desktop more often to carry out their actual purchases.

Southeast Asians Love to Spend Time Shopping Online

Users in Southeast Asia, are reportedly spending 140 minutes shopping online every month. That is twice as much as the amount of time spent by Americans. Southeast Asian users usually shop online on weekdays and spend their time browsing products on their phones during the weekends.

Take on all the e-commerce opportunities Southeast Asia has to offer! IH Digital is a digital marketing agency headquartered in Singapore and has a presence across multiple countries in the region and in Greater China. We can help you reach your e-commerce and digital marketing initiatives. Message us here.

Worldwide sales in e-commerce have been taking off. In 2014, sales went up to US$1.3 trillion and currently, it is anticipated to reach US$4.5 trillion in 2021 (Source: shopify). If you are thinking that B2B is too complex for E-commerce, then you would be mistaken. E-commerce has been game-changing for many B2C organisations, and B2B organisations are also increasingly finding that e-commerce opens up new sales and marketing opportunities. Here are some reasons why you should take on e-commerce for your B2B organisation:

Embrace E-Commerce or Risk Falling Behind Your Competitors

In this world where millennials account for 50% or more of corporate buyers (Source: Google), businesses that sell B2B should not miss out on moving buying solutions onto digital platforms. There’s a big chance that your clients are the same retail consumers in e-commerce in their private lives, and they are wondering why your B2B transactions are not yet shifted online.

Moreover, having or joining an e-commerce online market platforms like Lazada and Qoo10 can create advantages like higher productivity and lower costs for both you and your buyers. Your competitors are switching to e-commerce and they will not wait for you to take on the same path. Avoid falling behind of the game by shifting your B2B transactions online!

Have an Insight to Buyers’ Purchasing Behaviour

By moving to e-commerce you’ll have the benefit of a data stream of your customers’ buying behaviours. This means that your B2B organisation will be better at anticipating the needs and purchasing patterns of your customers, to be able to customise solutions for them.

Online Presence Will Reach New Customers

When your B2B organisation gets involved in e-commerce, you are bringing your business a step closer to your current and new potential buyers with your online presence. And by incorporating all e-commerce, digital marketing, and social media efforts together, search engines will likely improve your search results rank, making it easier for potential customers to find you.

If you are interested in the opportunities e-commerce has to offer, message IH Digital now. IH Digital is a digital marketing agency headquartered in Singapore and has a presence across multiple countries in the region and in Greater China. We can help you reach your e-commerce and online marketing initiatives. Message us here.

The internet has opened up opportunities and created new paradigms for how business has to operate to remain competitive. One of the new possibilities made possible by the internet is e-commerce.

What is E-commerce?

E-commerce, short for “electronic commerce”, refers to buying and selling of products and services over the internet.

E-commerce arguably began in 1994 with the sale of a music CD between two friends over the internet.  Today, it is growing at an annual rate of 23% (Source: BigCommerce). In 2017, electronic sales worldwide went up to US$2.3 trillion and are expected to reach up to US$4.88 trillion in 2021, (Source: Statista).

There are 4 types of e-commerce models:

Business to consumer (B2C)

B2C is the process of a business selling goods or services to a consumer.

Business to business (B2B)

B2B is the selling of products and services between two businesses.

Consumer to business (C2B)

C2B is the process of a consumer selling goods to a business or an institution.

Consumer to consumer (C2C)

This model refers to transactions between two consumers.

Top Reasons Why E-commerce is Important to Your Business

 

Customers are now making their purchasing decisions online

45% of the customers start reviewing and looking for what to shop online (Source: Nielsen). Therefore, it is time to showcase your products just a few clicks away from your customers by making use of e-commerce!

It exposes your brand to a bigger audience

Your potential customers have an easy access to your products and services all over the world because of the internet. Especially, by utilizing e-commerce together with digital marketing strategies such as SEO and social media, your online presence is inevitable.

It is convenient and easy for your customers

Certainly, the convenience of electronic commerce for your customers cannot be overstated. In fact, with e-commerce, your products and services are accessible 24/7 and can be viewed and be paid from anywhere and anytime through the internet, unlike any physical storefronts.

It will continue to grow

Electronic sales are expected to continually grow in the future and nothing can stop it! In particular, in  South East Asia, an average user currently spends US$622 online per year and this is expected to grow to US$738 in 2021 (Source: eshopworld). Surely, that is a lot of consumers you’ll be missing out on if e-commerce is not a part of your business strategy.

Indeed, e-commerce is a great sales strategy as it opens up opportunities for your business and offers you an increase in online visibility, sales, and brand exposure. If you are interested in the opportunities it has to offer, message IH Digital now. IH Digital is a digital marketing agency in Singapore and has a presence across multiple countries in the region and in Greater China. We can help you build up your e-commerce and online marketing initiatives. Message us here.

Content is key to success in online marketing

Many of us have been familiar with the statement “Content is King.” Apparently, in today’s online marketing campaigns, strong content is still highly significant in brands’ sales performance. Savvy marketers are aware that their content must invite trust and establish credibility. This in turn will build better customer relationship, brand identity and brand value.

 

Offering valuable content can give your brand numerous digital media marketing benefits. However, the road to great content is often underestimated. As a digital marketing agency, our experience in brands is wide and often different from one brand to another. But there are valuable tips we can share with you to help in your digital marketing efforts.

 

Know your content strategy

While it might seem like a no-brainer that a content strategy is necessary, creating a plan is the crucial part. Set your goals, know your audience and filter out the content that are less likely to contribute to your goal. Most of the time, we will be left puzzled if our content idea is a good shot or not. To help you gauge better, think about the goal. Even if you think that a post is designed and structured well, if the content bears no weight to your audience, then you might want to rethink about skipping it or not.

 

Bear in mind that your ultimate aim for your brand is to effectively convert your readers or viewers into e-commerce sales.

 

Your product or service is valuable? Why?

It takes time to prove if a brand is valuable. Most of the time, feedback plays a role in this. And while working on good feedback, present the value of your brand, provide good details on your e-commerce store and on social media. Let your audience know why your product is “the product” that deserves a try among the long list of products in any e-commerce website. Later on, when good reviews are available, the users will tell the good stories about your brand. This is gaining good e-commerce credibility through good value!

 

Collaborate—it’s a good opportunity and exposure

Build your assets and expand your network. Either pair with a good influencer or another business, make your worth amplified through good mediums. Welcome opportunities to become part of online marketing campaigns. With a good partnership, you can contribute to your partner and create a good portfolio for your brand at the same time. Activities, promotions and online marketing events are great strategy for good content!

 

Make use of social media

People want “real” information. When we say real, we mean unfiltered experiences. Once in a while, show behind-the-scene images and videos about your product in action. Lately, a social media strategy on Facebook and Instagram called “Stories” are becoming a hit as it shows real and recent activities including video clips that are at least close to live. Make use of these kinds of features to present your product’s use and you can even link your e-commerce store from any social media platform. This way, you can gain more visits towards your e-commerce store page.

 

If you are keen to know more about pushing for successful e-commerce activities and online marketing campaigns, IH Digital can help you devise your digital marketing efforts to gain the best results. We are passionate in taking our clients’ e-commerce efforts to the next through content and reliable social media strategy.