The Philippines is one of the most dynamic e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia. With a population of more than 116.5 million, 73.1% of which are internet users in January 2023, the country offers an immense opportunity for online businesses to grow and expand. 

Make the most out of this growing market! There are 2023 social commerce trends that businesses should be aware of. Here are some expected to shape Philippine brands’ strategies over the next few years. 

Harnessing the power of collaborations to increase brand awareness and visibility

Collaboration with other brands and influencers is quickly becoming one of the most popular marketing trends. This channel allows brands to put themselves before their market, gain a stronger following, and expand their customer base. 

How brand-to-brand collaborations work

Free Vector | Free vector partnership concept illustration (freepik.com)   

Social commerce has become a powerful tool for brands to collaborate and engage with customers. Through social media, businesses can create relationships with their target audiences that are more meaningful than ever before. 

One way that brands are leveraging this new technology is through brand-to-brand collaborations. By working together on campaigns and initiatives, brands can expand their reach while providing unique experiences to customers. 

These collaborations can range from product launches and joint contests to simply cross-promoting each other’s content. The opportunities are endless and can be tailored to fit the goals of both brands.

Tips on brand collaborations or co-branding

1. Focus on creating an experience that is mutually beneficial for both parties. 

This can be done by targeting a key demographic that both brands wish to reach or by creating content that resonates with their audiences. 

2. Put processes in place to ensure the collaboration runs smoothly. 

Clearly define roles and expectations for each party and ensure everyone involved is on board with the collaboration. 

3. Leverage technology to make the most of your campaign. 

From using analytics tools to track performance to utilizing social media platforms as a launchpad for content, there are many ways to ensure you’re making the most of your collaborations.

Focus on creating meaningful experiences for customers through brand-to-brand collaborations, so you can maximize your reach, tap into new markets, and grow your customer base. In today’s digital world, social commerce has opened up an opportunity for brands to engage with customers in a more personalized way, and brand-to-brand collaborations are a great way to do so. 

How to select brands to collaborate with

Collaborating with the right brands can help you tap into new audiences, increase engagement, and drive sales. But how do you know which brands best fit your social commerce efforts? 

1. Look for partners with a similar target audience or values to your business. 

2. Consider any existing relationships they may have with influencers or other businesses in your niche that could benefit both parties. 

3. Evaluate whether the potential partner has a strong presence on social media platforms and if they regularly engage with their followers.

By considering these factors when selecting brands to collaborate with, you can ensure that your partnership will be successful and mutually beneficial. 

A good example of effective collaboration is co-branding with credit cards. Co-branding with credit cards is an effective way for businesses to leverage their brand value and increase customer loyalty. 

This strategy involves partnering with a financial institution such as a bank or credit card company, allowing customers to use their cards to purchase products from the business and earn rewards. The rewards can be anything from cash back, airline miles, discounts on purchases, or points that can be used in future purchases. 

By offering these incentives, businesses can attract new customers while increasing brand recognition and loyalty among existing customers. In addition, co-branding with credit cards helps businesses better manage their finances by providing them access to additional capital at lower interest rates than traditional loans. 

Collaborations with influencers

Image by Freepik 

Another social commerce trend involves collaborating with influencers on social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Influencer marketing allows businesses to leverage existing relationships between influencers and their followers to create more meaningful connections with potential customers. 

Moreover, product discovery is no longer limited to traditional advertising and marketing campaigns. Today, brands are leveraging the power of influencers to get their products in front of more potential customers. Influencer marketing has become an effective way for businesses to reach a wider audience. 

By partnering with influential individuals in their niche, your brand can tap into the power of word-of-mouth recommendations from people that already have an established influence over a target demographic. This helps you gain visibility for your products and build trust among potential buyers who may be hesitant about making purchases online due to security concerns or lack of product information. 

With influencers driving more engagement around products than ever before, it is clear why this strategy is quickly becoming a preferred method for product discovery among leading brands today. Collaborating with influencers in social commerce is a powerful tool that can help businesses exponentially grow while building customer loyalty over time. 

Influencers provide authentic content

Brands recognize the potential value of working with influencers as they believe it will lead to more effective customer engagement than traditional forms of advertising. Influencer content is seen by many as more authentic than content by the brands themselves. 

Influencers tend to be more relatable and trustworthy than brands due to their authentic self-expression and connection with followers. Their content is often created in a way that resonates with the audience on an emotional level, making it easier for them to relate to the message being conveyed. 

Furthermore, influencers are typically more in tune with their followers’ needs, interests, and lifestyles than brands. This means the content created is more likely to appeal to a specific audience, effectively engaging customers. 

Another reason why influencers are viewed as more authentic than brands is due to their independence from marketing teams. Influencers can be independent and unbiased as opposed to content created by a brand’s marketing team. 

Influencers can create content that is not always influenced by corporate objectives but reflects their experiences, beliefs, and opinions. This can be especially powerful in building trust between influencers and their followers.

Overall, influencer content is seen as more authentic than a brand’s own created content. By leveraging their independence, relatability, and reach, influencers can help brands connect with customers in a way that traditional forms of advertising cannot do. As such, it’s easy to understand why many brands are turning to this form of marketing to reach their target audiences in a more effective and engaging way.

Find influencers that fit your brand

Influencers can be powerful allies in helping you reach new audiences, build brand awareness, and drive sales. But it is essential to find influencers that fit your brand and genuinely connect with your products or services. 

You need to understand your target audience and the type of content that resonates with them. For example, among the top influencers in the Philippines, you can find one who can talk about streetwear fashion, beauty products, or food. You must work with an influencer based on whether their followers and audience could be your next customer base, not their popularity.

Influencers and social media

Influencers can create hype around a product and get customers interested in purchasing through tactics such as unboxing videos, product and service reviews, how-tos, and actual usage clips on channels like YouTube or Instagram. 

This type of marketing has proven highly successful for many businesses, allowing them to reach out to large audiences with minimal effort and cost. Given the number of social media users in the Philippines (84.45 million or 72.5% of the total population), influencers have an extensive reach than ever. 

Milk social media opportunities to drive business growth

Free Vector | Free vector gradient affiliate marketing illustration (freepik.com)

Simply having a presence on social media is not enough—you need to know how to use it effectively to maximize the opportunities available.

In the previous sections, you have learned collaboration with brands and influencers is an effective strategy for boosting sales, increasing brand awareness, and engaging customers meaningfully. 

On top of that, there are still more strategies to explore for using social media as a business tool.

Create content that resonates with your target audience

Understanding who your customers are and what information they would be interested in reading or watching is essential. Content can come in many forms—from blog posts and videos to infographics and podcasts—so it’s critical to identify which type works best for your target audience. Once you have created the content, share it across all your social media channels and networks.

Engage with customers on social media in real-time

Social media provides an ideal platform for customer service activities, such as responding to inquiries or complaints in a timely manner. It is also important to monitor mentions of your brand, both positive and negative, so that you can address any issues quickly. Engaging with customers on social media helps build relationships and drive repeat business. 

Customers expect instant responses to their queries and demands. Chatbots can be a great solution if you cannot have customer service agents online 24/7. With the help of AI technology, these automated bots can understand customer intent and respond accordingly, making them an invaluable tool for businesses looking to improve customer experience and increase efficiency.

Have shoppable content across your online channels

Integrate shopping experiences into your social media platforms through “shoppable content,” which can be posts, videos, or featured images with a button or a link that leads users to your website where they can make a purchase. For example, Google and Shopify’s integration with YouTube allows Shopify merchants to put a “Buy Now” button on their YouTube channels. 

“Video on social media is the fastest-growing source for online discovery in [Southeast Asia],” says Gitanjali Das, Head of Business Development, SEA Shopify. “So leverage that trend and build shoppable videos to lower barriers to conversion.”

By integrating product links directly into social media, shoppers can quickly access the information they need without leaving the page. This makes for a more convenient shopping experience and gives brands an easy way to drive traffic and conversion rates, especially since product searches are done more often on social media than on Google.

Additionally, shoppable content helps build trust in your brand by providing potential customers with detailed product information that can help inform their purchasing decisions. 

In Southeast Asia, social media is the top online activity, followed by video streaming. Be where your customers are and integrate your online store to where they can find a way to it. 

The key takeaway is that your business should invest time and resources into its social media strategy to reap the rewards of increased customer engagement, brand awareness, and sales. With the right approach and a little effort, your brand can benefit from the significant opportunities social media provides. 

Collabs with brands and influencers are always a win-win

While brands benefit from collaborations, users benefit just the same. They get more relevant and personalized content and are better informed when making decisions & purchasing. It also gives them access to exclusive items they cannot find anywhere else.

Users also have the opportunity to purchase quality goods at competitive prices and discover new brands and products they may have yet to be aware of before. Ultimately, brand collaborations offer customers an enjoyable shopping experience while providing value for both parties. 

Win the marketing competition

By understanding social commerce trends, building an effective social commerce strategy, leveraging collaborations with brands and influencers, and implementing practices that make the most of social media, you can win the marketing competition. 

Learn more ways to achieve these and more when you get your FREE copy of Commerce Trends 2023. Download it today!