Since the announcement about Google ending support for Universal Analytics, it is required to shift to Google Analytics 4 and more opportunities to learn from the reports. This article will summarize the data aggregation methods that Google Analytics 4 is said to have changed significantly from Universal Analytics.

Introduction

App + Web Properties, which allows tracking across apps and the web, was released as a beta version and is now official as Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

The main reasons raised for GA4 are as follows:

1. To respond to major changes in consumer behavior.
2. to respond to the world’s growing emphasis on privacy

In recent years, with the rapid increase in the number of smartphone users, the medium used by users has expanded from the Web to mobile applications. With the current UA, access analysis for apps is difficult, and there is a problem of not being able to identify users across devices.
GA4 appeared in response to these changing times, and in order to grasp users who use all kinds of devices such as smartphones and apps and go through multiple platforms, it has become necessary to conduct access analysis across analysis of the complex consumption behavior and trends of users who move around websites and apps in all directions. This is because it has become necessary to analyze the complex consumption behavior and trends of users who move across websites, apps, and other platforms.
Therefore, GA4 offers the following advantages over traditional universal analytics.

• Users who browse the Web on a PC and then purchase from an mobile application can now be recognized as the same customer, even if they are using different devices.
• Now that we can measure on an event-by-event basis, more events can be measured automatically.
• BigQuery can be linked for free
• Enhanced machine learning analysis and insights to predict future behavior

As you can see from the above benefits, UA and GA4 have fundamentally changed the way data is measured: while UA converted data received in hits to session-based data, GA4 now collects it in events as user basis.

GA4 enables user-oriented analysis, so that after a user visits a website or application, it is possible to understand the behavior of the user up to the point of conversion through repeat visits.

Acquisition: Are the users leading to conversions and revenue?
Conversion: Are users who made conversion actions leading to revenue?
Revenue: What are the behaviors of revenue-generating users on the website and app?
User retention: What are the behaviors of users who continue to use the website?

Before starting analysis with GA4, it is necessary to organize the purpose of the website, the purpose of using the data, and the target figures as a basic premise.

For example, for an e-commerce site, the objective is to sell products and services, and the target figures should include which products were purchased the most, which users made the most purchases, and the monthly purchase amount, etc. For a BtoB site, the objective is to collect user information that can be used by sales and find potential customers. For a BtoB website, the objective is to collect user information that can be used by sales and to discover potential customers, which may include the number of inquiries received, the number of documents downloaded, and the number of e-mail magazine subscriptions.

It is very important to have a purpose for the website, the purpose of using the data, and the target values, so that the values measured by GA4 can be evaluated and improved.

In order to analyze GA4 data, reporting functions in the following 3 aggregation methods can be utilized.

1. Aggregate by GA4 report
・Standard report: Finding out a hypothesis
・Exploration report: Dig deeper into the issue based on the hypothesis

2.Aggregate in GA4x Looker studio
・Direct linkage with GA4: Check KPI and monitoring dimensions and metrics

3. Aggregation with GA4xBigQuery
・Link to BigQuery: Dig deeper into issues on a per-user basis

Here are the specifications and characteristics of each.

1. Aggregate by GA4 report

There are two types of report screens in GA4.
There are “Standard Reports” in a standardized format and “Exploration Reports” that users can create by recombining dimensions and indicators as they wish. The “Custom Report” in the traditional Universal Analytics (hereinafter referred to as UA) functionality becomes the “Exploration Report” in GA4.

Standard Report Aggregation Methods

GA4 standard reports are often used to formulate hypotheses to analyze. For example, we have an SEO strategy, but are repeat users looking at certain pages the most? Do users who lead to conversions tend to occur at certain events? We make hypotheses by looking at indicator figures such as the following.

The aggregation method of the standard report has an underlying database table, which displays aggregated data measured by GA4.

About some specifications:

If the result of multiplying the radix of each dimension in the report exceeds the maximum number of rows, “(other)” rows will appear in the Analytics.

※Reference:
https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/13208658?visit_id=638127301129422574-1591277467&rd=1&hl=en

In addition, dimensions with more than 500 unique values per day are considered high base numbers and are more likely to reach the report line limit (50,000 lines) and display “(other)” lines.

This does not only affect reports containing custom dimensions with more than 500 types of data, but all standard reports are affected.

Note that if the maximum number of rows is exceeded, (Other) rows will appear in all standard reports, increasing the likelihood of inaccurate measurements.

Additional reference 1：About radix

The radix is the number of unique values assigned to a dimension.
It is a combination of all dimensions in the property.
Some dimensions have a fixed number of unique values. For example, “device” has 3 (PC, tablet, mobile). On the other hand, a dimension with more than 500 unique values in a day is considered a High-Property Dimension.
In a high-likelihood dimension, the number of rows in the report will increase, increasing the likelihood that the upper limit will be reached. Data that exceeds the limit will be aggregated into “(other)” rows.

Aggregation Methods for Exploration Reports

GA4 exploratory reports are used to verify hypotheses made using standard reports. Unlike standard reports, exploratory reports cannot be created unless you have a clear idea of what you want to analyze, since it is necessary to customize the axis of analysis and indicators by yourself.

・Free-form
Graphs and tables can be created by combining indicators such as the number of accesses, users, and events with dimensions such as country, age, and day of the week.

・Funnel exploration
In this report is it possible for to visualize the percentage of the flow. For example, total number of visitors who made final conversion in the flow of TOP page → Column page → Contact form → Inquiry completed. We are able to find out how many users left the site during the steps or how many users lead to final step.

・Path exploration
It is possible to visualize where a user came from to visit the site, and the sequence of movements through the site and the application.

・Segment overlap
User segments can be compared to see the overlap between indicators.

For example, by looking at how many users satisfy the two segments of “visited from Bangkok” and “visited more than twice”, we can find the best customers.

・User explorer
A list of users can be displayed and detailed individual behavioral data can be viewed.

・Cohort exploration
You can visually see the number of repeat visits by users with common attributes. You can see, for example, “how many times the same user accessed the Web site.

・User lifetime
You can check the Lifetime Value (customer lifetime value), which includes the main referral sources that lead to conversions, the behavior of the first visit, and subsequent actions.

The aggregation method of the exploratory report is to set the items to be displayed in the report from the unprocessed data and refer to the report to be displayed by query.

About some specifications:

GA4 is designed for user privacy and thresholds are easily applied.
Selecting a high radix dimension will not produce an “other” line, but sampling and data thresholds are more likely to be applied.

※Reference：About data sampling https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2637192
※Reference：[GA4] About data thresholds https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9383630

Additional reference 1：Differences in data between standard and exploration reports

Report type	GA4 Data table ・Data that will be shown	Sampling	Viewing “(other)”
Standart report	Data Tables: Aggregated Referenced only from aggregated data tables	None	Yes If the combination of all dimensions in a property exceeds 50,000 rows
Exploration report	Data table: Unprocessed (not pre-aggregated) Include and reference unprocessed data tables	Yes Free version:10 Million Events 360 (Paid version):Billion Events	None

Additional reference 2：Indication of the presence or absence of data thresholds

In some cases, events measured with thresholds applied may not be displayed in Settings (or Management) > Events. Also, the threshold may be applied even if there is no indication in the indicator that the threshold is applied.

• How to avoid getting data thresholds
  • Change the reporting identifier to “device-based” and check again
  • Create a report that does not apply thresholds such as “event name by number of events” in the exploration report
  • Increase the time period covered by the report
  • In the “Explore” report, remove dimension related to users

Additional reference 3：Indication of sampling availability

Introducing measures that B2B companies have succeeded in increasing the number of inquiries.

In recent years, the number of inquiries from B2B companies has increased, all facing the same problem such as “I want to increase the number of inquiries.” Most of the B2B companies used sales methods of exhibitions, seminars, telephone calls, and face to face appointments. However, due to the epidemic of the COVID-19 and the Thai government announced and encouraged all the citizens to work from home, all of those main sources became difficult. Under this restriction, many B2B companies in Thailand are shifting the focus of their sales activities to online. This time, we will introduce specific online measures that B2B companies should adopt.

Introduction

The spread of the new COVID-19 was also a trigger, but many B2B companies have said for several years that “although we have created websites in the past, it can only be used for online product catalogs.” We have received inquiries such as “I didn’t expect much results that could be achievable from a website” and “I don’t know how to shift to online”.
Since “Customer acquisition” is the starting point of the business cycle, each company has developed a sales strategy suitable for each company, but for some time in Thailand, it has become difficult to approach face-to-face, therefore the first key measure should be focus on “customer acquisition”. The core of attracting customers online is the “website,” which is the face of the company. First, we will review the marketing measures of outbound and inbound, and introduce the flow of how B2B companies can obtain inquiries from potential customers.

What is Outbound Marketing?

Outbound marketing is a marketing measure in which a company takes an outward direct approach to existing customers and potential customers, such as by calling or visiting. Before COVID-19, the sales activities that B2B companies generally performed are this outbound marketing.

What is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing, on the other hand, is a marketing method in which potential customers contact companies for the products and services they need. By providing information and services to potential customers, creating relationships, concluding contracts, and nurturing them into customers, we will increase customer value and lead to corporate growth.
Many executives still misunderstand that “If you launch a website, automatically there will be access from potential customers”, but just launching a website without any marketing strategies will not help for website access.
In order for inbound marketing to be successful, it is necessary to enhance the “website” that is the point of contact and implement measures to gain access.
In Thailand, users (potential customers) use Google search engine in order to find information, therefore how to make Google recognize and evaluate your website and to display it at the top of the search results will be the first goal. You will be asked to access the company’s website displayed in Google’s search results, and while you will be wandering around and browsing the information you are looking for, it will eventually lead to conversions (inquiries, membership registration, etc.).

Furthermore, nowadays, even if you can contact potential customers and connect to business negotiations with outbound marketing methods, it is rare that you reach a contract on the spot, and usually these potential clients will search again on Google about your company and make comparisons with other companies. This is normal behaviour.
In addition, the need for outbound marketing is gradually diminishing because the process of corporate recognition, product recognition, and even purchasing decisions can be completed on the website without face-to-face negotiations.
Some of our client companies also requested from their main existing customers, “Don’t bother to visit the sales staff with the catalog anymore. I want you to be able to do the final examination on the website because we will consider it internally.” There is also a case where it was done.
In this way, how to enhance the website and provide useful information to browsing users while trying to differentiate it is the most important point for acquiring potential customers.

Importance of the website

The basic flow of inbound marketing that B2B companies aim for is to have potential customers access the website, circulate the information content provided on the site, and finally connect to inquiries, make contracts, and lead to sales.

I explained that the role of the website is very important for achieving this. For what purpose users discovered and accessed your site, how they wandered around the site, what pages they visited for a long time, and whether they left the site after getting the information they were looking for. By properly grasping and analyzing user behavior such as, the conversion (CV) values ​​such as “inquiry”, “request for materials”, and “member registration” will change significantly in the end.
Therefore, the website should be easy to access, design and layout, ease of use, visibility, whether the lead to the desired information is properly drawn, and whether the information required by the prospective customer can be provided accurately. It is necessary to make it while holding down one by one, and grasping what should be improved and how to improve it with data is an important point to lead to business results.

Specific measures to connect to business with the website at the core

Introducing how B2B companies actually create businesses with their websites at the core.
First, grasp user behavior. In order to connect to the business with the website as the core, each measure will be implemented in the following phases.

Phase 1 ：Acquisition
Phase 2：Lead Generation/ Remarketing
Phase 3：Inquiry

In Phase 1, “Acquisition,” we will talk about “how to improve access” and “how to make contact with potential customers.” There are three main measures to create customer contact points.

1. SEO

This is a necessary measure to display it at the top of Google’s search result page. By taking SEO measures and displaying the website at the top of the search result page, we are able to increase the number of customers and eventually lead to the achievement of conversions such as “inquiries” and “requests for materials”, which are the main goal of utilizing the website. The users are always looking for the “answer” on the internet that can solve the problem that they are facing. Therefore, it is necessary to provide the information that the user will be looking for on the site while estimating the search intention of the user who has flowed in from the search.
It is also important that the content is easy for users to find and that it is easy to read. In the case of B2B companies, service content and business content tend to be provided in the form of an online catalog, but users leave the page without being very satisfied with “I do not know what to do from here”. There are many other possible cases. It’s difficult to be ranked high in search results unless you can grasp the search intent of your target user and provide useful information that is satisfying to that user.

2. Social Media Management

This is a measure to continuously operate social network media (Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, etc.) used by 80% of the Thai population as customer contact points to attract customers. In addition to the role of disseminating corporate information, it is possible to carry out activities to strengthen engagement (relationship with users) through communication with users. It’s easy to misunderstand that social media is different from your target, but since it is also the most used medium for collecting business information in Thailand, even B2B products and services are effective. While utilizing social media, it will lead to an influx of “more details” to the website. By linking the website and social media well, it will be possible to connect to inquiries.

3. Online Advertisement

This is a measure to display advertisements for products and solutions on the websites that the target browses, and to inflow from there to the company’s website.
Of course, there are other inflow measures that combine events that are held offline, but while there are restrictions on events that attract customers, the main focus is on measures that can be completed online.
The details of the measures differ depending on the services and products of the company, but we mainly implement the above three measures in an appropriate combination to get users to access the website. This is because in order to connect to inquiries, it is necessary to first make people aware of the existence of the website and to access as many potential customers as possible. After that, as shown in the flowchart above, we will develop efficiently while separating the measures to be applied to each user behavior.

Importance of access analysis after “Acquisition” on website

Website access analysis is important at the same time as increasing the number of site visitors. By utilizing access analysis tools we are able to analyse in depth for,

• User behaviour
• Most popular page the user viewed
• Where and how the user come to the page
• What page did the user viewed before coming to the contact us page

Etc.
It is possible to visualize various dimensions.
There are many access analysis tools, but at our company, a team of experts will analyze users behavior while utilizing “Google Analytics (GA)” which is provided by Google.
By properly grasping the number of accesses and users of the entire site, user behavior of a specific page, etc., it is possible to clearly understand the current state of the site, how the site is migrating and browsing by users, and based on the hypothesis that could be visualized based on the analysing, we are able to find out the solutions for improvements.

For example,
If you can understand the particular behaviour such as “Many users who visited the top page have transitioned to the company profile page and immediately left”, you can enrich the information on the company profile page or other details in the page. Improvement measures such as creating a lead to the page can be considered. If in the other case, that the behaviour was found as “there is a number of website access, but it does not lead to inquiries or material requests at all”, we could collect the user behaviour flow data and investigate which page has become the bottleneck for user to leave the page before visiting the contact us page. Possible that there is not much information on the service page that users were looking for, or maybe the contact us page was too much of a hassle for user to fill in all the columns before submitting.
Furthermore, if data such as “Users from Facebook ads spends longer time on blogs and column pages and they tend to go to the service details page after” is shown, while increasing the advertising budget for Facebook ads and increasing the number of inflows we can think of measures such as increasing the number of articles on blogs and column pages as well. For many B2B companies, increasing the “number of inquiries” and “request for materials” can be mentioned, but since the index of site access analysis differs and the improvement measures also change depending on each purpose, setting the goal in the beginning becomes very important.

As described above, we will build relationships after understanding the behavior within the website for each user group. In some cases, you make an inquiry immediately after visiting the site and have a business talk at once, but in many cases, the user will visit the site as a repeater for returning several times while comparing with other companies. We will encourage inquiries without interrupting the relationship with such users who are “interested but have not yet made a decision”. It develops users into leads.
These include retargeting ads based on behavioral data (ads that follow you with ads for products and services that interest you even after you leave the site) and download white papers (instead of providing the data you want). You can register your contact information), invite you to a webinar, distribute product videos, etc. to keep your interests and interests, and lead to conversion.
Of course, some users will completely leave the process, but it depends on business creation and sales contribution to get as many conversions as possible.
This time, we introduced the marketing strategies that could be used for “Acquisition” in Phase 1. In the next article, we would like to explain Phase 2 of “Lead Generation/ Remarketing”

With about 70 million population in Thailand, there are currently 51 million users using Facebook in 2021. Many companies in both B2C and B2B raise awareness of their products and services, disseminate information to users and generate leads. In this article, let me introduce the most effective Facebook management method for approaching Thai people.

What is effective Facebook management?

Compared to Japan, where Facebook users are low, Facebook in Thailand is used not only by individuals but by many B2B and B2C companies. Thai people are always looking for interesting content, so if it is a B2B product or service, we can deliver content not specifically about the product details, but to provide useful content to grab people’s interest and help get reach. For B2C products on the other hand, it is common to engage with users through promotions and campaigns. When operating Facebook for Thai targets, it is important to set up the persona of your potential target in order to promote your products and services. If your targeted fans of your company, the person who actually becomes a fan, and the people who got engaged to your post are all different, you might end up not getting the expected results as you initially set. You can achieve results by being aware of the consistency of whether you want to distribute information to the right target.

Also, Thai people have a tendency to “see” rather than “read”. Rather than giving information by texts, delivering information by visual leads more impression and engagement in the Thailand market. Let’s take a look at the key points below in order to make your Facebook operation effective.

1. Set the objective and KPI of your Facebook page
2. Post frequency and tone and manners consistency
3. Analysing posts performance
4. Operation continuity
5. Understand Facebook algorithm

1. Set the objective and KPI of your Facebook page

First of all, when deciding to operate Facebook, it is natural, but it is important to clarify the “objective” and “KPI which is specific numerical value to be targeted”. If you start it simply because you can expect an effect in Thailand, you may not know what you are doing as you continue to operate it.

Example objective of Facebook operation:

• Improving brand awareness, attracting customers, developing fans, increasing the number of inflows to the site, increasing the number of inquiries, increasing sales, hiring, etc.

Facebook-operated KPI example:

• Number of page followers
• Engagement rate (number of likes, number of shares, number of comments)
• Number of link clicks
• Reach / Impressions

2. Post frequency and tone and manners consistency

Consistency of “posting frequency” and “tone & manners” is important for Facebook operation. If the posting frequency is unstable, users may lose interest and it may be difficult to obtain the set KPI. In addition, by setting the tone and manners of the page according to the target, you can get more sympathy from the target user from the narrative tone and design atmosphere of the post, which will lead to the understanding and recognition of the brand. For example, if your target is a B2B company for the manufacturing industry, maybe create a post design in a serious manner or content that gives a strong impression, and if your target is a student, create a post with or without emoji, cute soft wording and design. Engage while approaching effectively. Previously, we had a B2C client targeting students that posted consistently with high use of emoji in the content on Facebook operations, but due to the strong request of clients, emoji were temporarily removed for some months. At first glance, it seems that there was not any obvious difference as just the emoji in the content was removed. However, the performance was completely different between the months when the post with emoji was delivered and the months when the post without emoji was delivered. So after we reported the differences to the client, they immediately requested us to change it back to its original tone and manner. In posting, if you set the tone and manners based on the purpose of Facebook operation and the brand image of the company, it is necessary to keep in mind not to fall out of it.

3. Analysing posts performance

In Facebook operation, PDCA is rotated while posting and measuring the effect. We will constantly verify whether posts that meet the set purpose can be planned and produced, and whether the posts have achieved the set KPI, and we will operate with more results. It is desirable to be able to measure the effect based on data of at least 6 months or more rather than measuring the effect in a short period of time. This is because I used to deliver the posted content in a similar manner with relatively good results for 5 months, but before the results from 6 months onwards were delivered to the same target setting. In some cases, the result was not so good. The more data there is, the more results can be analyzed, hypotheses such as which part is the bottleneck, and actions to produce more effective results can be taken.

4. Operation continuity

Continuity is extremely important not only in Thailand, not only in Facebook, it can be applied to any medium that serves as a point of contact for customers to deliver their information to users. Social media, where a lot of information flows every day, demands the latest information and trends, so if the update of posts is delayed, the image of the company may deteriorate. It takes a certain amount of time to actively distribute, including reminders, to communicate with users who have become fans of the company, users who have responded to posts, and those users. Posts delivered by companies are accumulated and become their assets, and it is important to continue in order to gain the trust of the brand and the empathy of

5. Understand Facebook algorithm

Facebook’s algorithm (the mechanism for determining the display order of posts) is updated daily. Therefore, it is necessary to have a solid understanding of how Facebook works and to keep track of the latest features and mechanisms in order for Facebook to operate successfully.

In January 2021, Facebook announced new details about the algorithm.

（Source：Facebook ）

To briefly explain

1. First, Facebook gets all the posts available on your network (also known as “inventory”) and rates them according to a predetermined ranking, such as post type, up-to-date, and so on.
2. Then, based on the user’s past behavior, discard posts that are unlikely to involve the user. In addition, content that users do not want to see (in online advertisements, etc., click guidance of the method of intentionally listing an article title that is not related to the content of the page in order to attract the user’s interest and click, incorrect information , Or content that the user says they don’t like) is demoted.
3. Then run a “stronger network” on the rest of the posts and evaluate them in your own way. (Example: User A has a 20% chance of watching a video of a system solution, but has a 95% chance of responding to a photo of a family puppy, ranked in descending order of value)
4. And finally, we’ll place a good cross-section of the media type and source to display on Facebook so that users can view a variety of interesting posts.

In other words, Facebook ranks the posts that users want to display with their own interests first. Facebook evaluates countless items, sometimes even the speed of the user’s Internet environment. Facebook, which is updated daily, is an algorithm that displays posts at the top, but the four that are still the most important are the following.

Relationship: Whether users respond frequently (send messages, follow, tag) posts to users, businesses, news pages, or not.

Content types: Content types include video content, image content, links, etc., but which type of media do users prefer most?

Popularity: How do users who see the post react (share, comment, reaction)?

New: Whether new posts are updated regularly, as new posts are ranked high.

In this way, Facebook puts the user first and continues to focus on giving the information that the user wants most.

Importance of Facebook ads

I explained the Facebook algorithm, but you need to understand the Facebook algorithm for both organic posts (natural reach without ads) and paid posts. Here, I will explain why paid posting using advertising expenses is effective. The purpose of Facebook operation of B2B / B2C companies is usually to raise awareness of their own brand / product and acquire prospective customers, but it is very difficult to reach the target without using advertisements. Because Facebook is now commonplace to be used as a business, the reason Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2014 is to online a network of family and friends. It was to connect with. That policy hasn’t changed, and Facebook, whose mission is to strengthen connections between people, prioritizes displaying friends’ posts on the timeline first and foremost. Therefore, promotional posts delivered from business pages have a lower priority than friends’ posts, and it is said that about 5% are displayed on the timeline. A page with 10,000 followers can only be seen by about 500 of them. In addition, the average engagement rate for posts (likes, comments, shares, etc.) was 0.25% in 2020 data. If you have 10,000 followers, only about 25 will engage your post. Furthermore, when the number of followers exceeds 100,000, the number is even lower at 0.08%.This is an algorithm created by Facebook with the user experience first. So how can you display a business page post on the user’s timeline?

The answer is advertising.

Summary

Facebook operation using Facebook, which has the highest usage rate in Thailand, is a marketing method that promotes products, services, businesses, etc. on Facebook, promotes brand recognition and revitalizes communication with users, and leads to inquiries. .. This time, we have introduced the following five points in order to use the effective operation method.

1. Set the objective and KPI of your Facebook page
2. Post frequency and tone and manners consistency
3. Analysing posts performance
4. Operation continuity
5. Understand Facebook algorithm

You also understand that Facebook ads are also important for getting your information to reach your target audience.

Facebook’s algorithm (the mechanism for determining the ranking order of posts) is updated daily. Therefore, it is necessary to have a solid understanding of how Facebook works and to keep track of the latest features and mechanisms in order for Facebook to operate successfully. At our company, we will properly understand the products and services that you want to appeal, and we will lead to results while conducting planning, content planning / proposal, content production, execution, and effect measurement. If you want to start a Facebook operation but don’t know what to start with, or if you are feeling the limits of your own operation, please feel free to contact us first!

More than a year has passed since COVID-19 had a major impact on the world’s economies. In 2021, online is inevitably increasing, forcing many companies to rethink and restructure their marketing strategies. I would like to introduce how the Internet is currently being used in Thailand, where the development of Internet infrastructure is progressing rapidly, and what kind of online measures are effective in Thailand based on these.

Internet situation in Thailand

First of all, the big difference between Thailand and Japan is the internet usage time of internet users. 70% (about 50million) of Thailand’s population of about 70 million uses the Internet, an increase of 3.4 million compared to last year, but what we would like to focus on is its spending time. Thailand spends an average of 8 hours and 44 minutes a day on the Internet. That is double the spending time of Japan.

（Source：https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-thailand）

(Source：https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-japan）

There are many cases that we actually had from our clients that when we proposed the marketing strategies to meet the Thailand market,  client’s headquarters in Japan rejected the whole concept as they could not imagine it would work or understand the behaviour of Thai people in the Thailand market as they only know the Japanese trends or behaviours. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand and create a strategy based on the actual datas.

Social media situation in Thailand

Here is the 2021 Thailand’s latest social media stats. The most used social media platform in Thailand is Facebook, which has 51 million users (more than 70% of the population). Next is Youtube of 37.3 million people followed with Facebook’s chat function messenger of 37 million users.

Thailand

On the other hand, the data for Japan is as follows.
In Japan, Youtube is the overwhelming number one. On the other hand, Facebook, which has the highest number of users in Thailand, has extremely small users in Japan.

Japan

The way social media is used is also quite different compared to Japan. First is the time that users spend on social media, which the average daily spending time in Thailand is 2 hours and 48 minutes, while that for Japan is only 51 minutes.

n Thailand, it is common to use social media such as LINE and Facebook to communicate with customers and business partners in business scenes. In Japan, normally Yahoo or Google is used when searching, but in Thailand, there is a tendency to search using social media such as Facebook and Instagram as well as with Google. This applies to both B2C and B2B products or services.
Based on these facts, many B2B and B2C companies are using Facebook as their website as a contact point to target users. B2B companies actively distribute their own exhibitions and seminars using Facebook as well as to introduce their products and services. B2C companies are also achieving results while gaining engagement with users through campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. It will be possible to create strategies for each segment, such as grouping users who follow Facebook pages or take some action on posts and send advance information and VIP information to the target. Facebook has become one of the most effective platforms in Thailand.
On the other hand, this situation is very different from the Japanese market, where the number of Facebook users is as small as 18% of the population, even if the Thai branch office of a Japanese company explains its importance, the understanding and approval from the Japanese head office can be obtained. However, many people are worried that they cannot take measures that utilize social media. Applying the same strategy with Japan to the Thailand market will sometimes not be effective and there are cases where the results are not achieved and the performance is disappointing. Understanding the current situation of the Thai local market is of utmost importance.

Current status of advertising in Thailand

Thailand’s digital advertising spending increased 16% from 2018 to 2019, and Thailand has continued to grow rapidly in the last few years, but due to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically slowed down the rate of growth from previous double-digit numbers to now just +0.3% by the end of 2020. 2020 saw a significant slowdown of + 0.3% year-on-year. The total is about 19.6 billion baht, which is 58.8 billion yen in Japanese yen (calculated at 1THB = 3 yen).

(Source: DAAT-Mid-Year-2020-Press-Report)

Let’s take a look at the five most advertised industries spenders in the latest data for 2020. Although it has decreased by 200 million baht from the previous year of 2019, the industry that has been investing advertising expenses from 2017 to 2020 is the motor vehicles industry. As banks shrank by 350 million baht, the beverage industry, which was previously 4th to 5th, ranked into 3rd place, and the dairy and dairy substitute products industry showed record-high growth rates of 39%. It can be inferred that this was the result of the declaration of self-restraint in 2020, which forced the nesting.

In addition, Facebook, YouTube, and creative are still key areas for advertising spending by the media, with minimal spending declines since 2019. As of the end of 2020, Google Search Advertising and social media are leading growth rates of + 32% and + 26%, respectively. Google Display Network (banner ads), Instagram, and affiliate marketing spending was the lowest at -30%, -13%, and -13%, respectively.

While the number of advertisements is decreasing due to the influence of COVID-19, we will further educate the company about the importance and necessity of digital, accelerate digital transformation (DX), and change the current way of working to adapt to the new normal. It is becoming more important to reexamine and rebuild.
We have more than 20 years of experience and provide business support to Thailand, Malaysia and Asian countries. We provide thorough support from problem extraction for B2C / B2B companies to action design, strategy creation, and execution. If you have any concern about marketing measures or current issues, please feel free to contact us!

Have you ever experienced that your website does not appear on the top search engine even if you create content and upload it on the website? That is because the content is not written properly. The purpose of content articles posted on a website is to increase the ability of the site to attract customers, and ultimately to achieve results such as attracting prospects, increasing sales, and branding. Even if you launch a website with much effort, no one will access it just by launching it. If the website does not appear at the top of the search result page on Google, it will not be accessed and will not be known or lead to inquiries. This time, I would like to explain the points of how to write content that you should know in order to be displayed at the top of the search results.

Introduction

As of 2021, there are approximately 55 million Internet users in Thailand. Currently, Thailand has a population of about 70 million, so we know that 75% of the population uses the Internet every day. In addition, the number is increasing year by year, and it is predicted that the number will reach about 62 million by 2025.

(Source：https://www.statista.com)

（Source：https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-thailand）

As the number of Internet users is increasing, the most used Internet medium in Thailand is the Google search engine.

What this means is that on a daily basis, Internet users are looking for information that they want to search on Google. As a result, many companies create and post content on their websites that users may be looking for in an attempt to get them into their websites. By activating communication through the website, we can secure a route to inquiries and business negotiations.
To do so, Google must first display your website at the top of Google’s search page for users to access your page. Being displayed at the top of the search results means that the content is evaluated by Google.  The content must be useful to users as Google focuses on user experience as the business goal and Google aims to provide the best to users.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the purpose of the content posted on the website is to increase the ability to attract customers and ultimately lead to the acquisition of potential customers, inquiries, and contracts. Therefore, getting the user to access and for them to feel satisfied after reading it without leaving the page is very critical. In order to display it at the top of the search results, the key is how to effectively create content that can be read to the end.

This article has summarized the points of how to write high quality content, so it would be great if you could refer to it.

Things to keep in mind when creating content

The most important point to keep in mind when writing content is the “user’s perspective”.
This user perspective is one of the key factors that Google evaluates.

Google also states the following:

According to the above statements by Google, creating content from the user’s perspective is an extremely important factor.
In order to create high-quality content with that in mind, the following three elements must be needed.

1. Content details match with the user’s search intent
2. Content is structured to make you want to read until the end
3. Content is easy to understand for the users

It is important to write content that provides the information that users want, has an easy-to-read structure, and has easy-to-understand language and explanations.

We will explain each in detail.

1.Content details match with user’s search intent

What exactly is search intent? This is the user’s goal or intention when entering a keyword into Google search engine; why did you search by that keyword?, what do you want to know? If a keyword is usually searched for with the intention of finding out more about it, then this search must be informational.Same with me, users always have a goal or intention when they type keywords into search engines. In order to create content that can be read by the user, it is important to understand the “search intent = purpose” of this user.

For example, if the keyword that the user key is on a search engine is “improve access count”, we could assume this user may want to increase the number of visitors on their website. Moreover, if we try to dig deeper into why do users want to know?, we could assume that this user has a problem of gaining access numbers on their website and do not have the solutions to the problem, or they are already doing something to increase access numbers but not doing it properly and want to know how to improve. By understanding what the user really wants to know, we will naturally understand what kind of content should be included and what content satisfies the search intent.

It is also important to set goals for what actions you want users to take after reading the content. By setting goals and back-calculating what information should be included to meet those goals, it is possible to create content that is more user-satisfying.

Let me give you a concrete example.

Keyword: “improve website access”

User search intent (purpose)：
“I want to increase the number of visitors to the site”

What users really want to know：
I already have a website but the number of accesses does not increase easily, so I would like to know the solution

User action (goal) after reading the content：
Example1 : Will try to do it based on the content
Example2 : I will consider outsourcing to the company

Content example that satisfies the search intent (purpose)：

• The current issue that the number of accesses does not increase
• Provide solutions and ways to increase the number of accesses

Content example that guides user action (goal) after reading the content：

• Procedures and methods to be practiced
• Approach your company’s strengths
• Lead them to inquiries, etc.

In this way, it is possible to embody the information and content to be conveyed by deeply grasping the search intention and setting goals as to what kind of consciousness the user wants to have after reading the content.

2.Content is structured to make you want to read until the end

The purpose of SEO content creation is to raise awareness of your company’s products, services and brands, and to make inquiries to prospective customers, which ultimately leads to contracts. Therefore, it is important how you structure the content to indicate users to read until the end without leaving the page. First, let’s look at the composition of the entire content.

Title

The title is the biggest factor in deciding whether a user will read or not read the article.

Title should be:

• Able to understand “what you can get” and “what you can solve”
• Able to imagine the contents at a glance
• Able to attract interest

This is because even when the content displayed on Google’s search result, user might not click and see your content as it’s judged as not interesting.That is why choose a title that users feel “this content is for me. I should read it”

The following examples would be a good attention grabbing title:

• 5 points of xxx
• Three reasons that xxx
• 20 years of professional states xxx
• How to increase 40% for xxx
• 6 items you want to check about xxx
• Eight elements to be aware of xxx

Introductory sentence

Like the title, the introductory sentence is an important factor in deciding to read the content. The purpose is to write an introductory sentence that attracts users and tells them that “there is useful information as you read on.” To do this, it is important that the wording is used to guide the text to satisfy the user’s search intent. You can write an easy-to-understand introductory sentence if you are aware of how you can solve the search intent (purpose) (content that satisfies the search intent).

In fact, the introductory sentence of this content article that I’m writing says, “Many people who create content are not writing it properly.” I have written this sentence to grab attention and interest from the readers so the reader will feel “OH! How so? Am i not writing it correctly? What should I do differently?”

The fact that the user does not leave the page in the middle of the page and reads it firmly to the end means they are satisfied, and the user’s evaluation increases. As the user’s evaluation goes up, Google will judge it as “useful information for the user” and display it at the top page of the search results.

Actual content

Obviously, the text is a part that greatly affects user satisfaction. You should also try to include content related to the title in the text. Users who visit the page because they expect the content to be related to their keyword that they key in to the search engine. At this time, even if you click on a title that matches your search intention and visit it, if the actual content does not match the title, the user will feel disappointed and will leave without satisfaction. The value to the user is determined by how credible the content that matches the search intent can be sympathized with the user.
As a result, it will be evaluated by Google and will be easily displayed at the top of the search.

Ways to increase credibility include describing specific data, introducing use cases, quoting words from experts and famous official websites, and introducing both advantages and disadvantages.

Below are the bad and good examples when creating the actual content details:

When you see the good examples, it can be stated that by writing the specific numbers in the details, it could increase the credibility of the actual content. Also by including not only general information but also one’s unique ideas or opinions, company’s strengths and appeal points that are different from other companies, content originality will be enhanced and could increase credibility that will lead to content efficiency.
In addition, it may be difficult to convey the content by just text alone, it is kind to the users to compose with some images, graphs, and charts. By visualizing the content, users’ understanding will be deepened and it will lead to satisfaction.

Summary

Summary content is a very important part as a sentence that reviews the entire article and guides the users to the next action. By including words such as “Please contact us directly” at the end of the article after introducing your company’s products or services, you can encourage the user’s behaviours and actions to the next step.

3.Content is easy to understand for the users

What is often neglected when creating content is whether it is written “easily” for the users to understand. For this, it is important to be aware for the below 2 elements.

Content matches the literacy level of users

When the writers who are familiar with their services and products create the content, they tend to use “terminology terms” such as technical terms and industry terms, which often gives the impression that it is difficult for the users to read. This kind of hard-to-read content causes users to leave the page and affects their evaluation criteria with Google.
However, it is not always the case. It is very important to know who you are delivering the content to, and grasping the literacy level of the target users, so the usage of terminology terms could be adjusted depending on the target audience. For example, in the case of “digital marketing”, when creating content for the users who are in this field, it is not necessary to avoid any difficult terms so much, compared to the users completely different fields. As from our experience, many clients who are mostly not in the digital marketing industry, often question “what is digital?” so it is necessary to explain what digital marketing is as a start. In that case, we can compose the word “digital marketing” for a better understandable phrase. By setting the target and assuming the users literacy, you should be able to see how you can write the content using preferable words and phrases.

Content is easy to read

Article that is not read until the end could conclude it is not a very good content. Users tend to wander around search engines and sites for useful information that they are looking for, so if the details in the article were considered not related, they will exit the page immediately. To solve this problem from happening, the PREP method is the most highly evaluated method for structuring the content.

Point：Conclusion is xxx
Reason (Supporting the point)：Because~ xxx
Example（case studies or actual problems）：For example、xxx
Point（conclusion/summary）：Therefore, it is concluded that xxxx

Here is an example of using the PREP method for structuring.

Keyword topic example:「Digital Marketing」

Point ”Digital marketing has become very important in Thailand, where face-to-face sales are restricted due to the influence of COVID-19.”
Reason ”This is because the number of corporate personnel who collect information online is increasing, and the number of cases where inquiries through the website lead to business negotiations without visiting directly is increasing.”
Example “For example, xxx has been the most issues and problems that many companies in Thailand are facing.“
Point ”Therefore, digital marketing is very important.”

Keyword topic example:「Production Management System (solution)」

Point”In the Thai manufacturing industry, where improving operational efficiency is an urgent issue, digitization such as the introduction of production management systems is progressing.”
Reason”The reason is that by utilizing the production control system, the production process can be visualized and it will lead to the elimination of personalization.“
Example”For example in Thailand recently, xxxx has been the most issues that causing the problem of xxxx”
Point”Therefore, digitization such as the introduction of production management systems is important.”

In this way, if you come to the conclusion of what you want to convey first, and if the content that supports are written, you can create very easy-to-read content that is easy for the user to understand.

Summary

This time, I explained three points of how to write content that you should know in order to be displayed at the top of the search results by Google.

1. Does it match the user’s search intent?
2. Is it structured to make users want to read on?
3. Is it made easy to understand?

The key to creating good content is to always remember the “user’s perspective.” This user perspective is an important factor in Google’s evaluation, as Google’s primary goal is to provide useful information to users in search results. If you create content with the user’s perspective in mind, it will be evaluated by Google and will be displayed at the top of the search results.
If the site is displayed at the top of the search results, we believe that it will eventually lead to an increase in the number of site visits and inquiries.
I would be grateful if you could refer to the contents introduced this time.

If you have any problems such as launching websites in Thailand, Malaysia, or Asian countries, but the number of accesses does not increase, or you do not get inquiries, we recommend that you start content SEO. We also provide consultation on content proposals from keyword analysis, which is important for starting content SEO, and support digital marketing in Thailand, Malaysia, and Asian countries. First of all, if you have any concerns about the current situation, please feel free to contact us!