Entrepreneurs are advised to utilize digital marketing tools, including social media, to capture more mature and digital savvy customers and thrive in the new normal amid the pandemic.

Jonas de los Reyes, vice president and head of Digital Marketing and Omnichannel Design of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank), said more brands have established their presence on social media as more customers buy online.

“Live selling so trends like that you have that so definitely, you move away from purely information sharing to an experience sharing to not very transactional also like buying and selling goods and services via social channel,” he said in a webinar.

De los Reyes believes there are a lot of opportunities to utilize digital audio platforms like spotify, podcast, and Clubhouse app.

“For me, audio as a medium, I think we need to start revisiting it,” he said. “Your marketing should not all go to Facebook, it should be platform agnostic.”

De los Reyes said companies should plan for mature and digital savvy clients as they rush online and utilize digital channels amid the coronavirus lockdown.

“The landscape was very different 10 years ago and even two years ago and we are dealing with (a) more mature client base… It means it’s not really a trend but more of like directionally, we are like 80 percent online penetration the whole country,” he said.

“What opportunity does that catalyst (pandemic) presents because if we will just be affected by it, and not look at the change in (consumer) behavior, you start with that, you look at the consumer, and how does the consumer change and how does that impact you and what is the opportunity there because if you don’t respond that, then nothing will happen,” he added.

De los Reyes said it is also imperative for them to redefine the role of the brands.

“If more and more people would be banking online, so what would be the role of the brands? It’s not going anywhere but it would probably not open new branches anytime soon,” he said. He added firms likewise need to have programs upskilling or retraining people into “new roles that are future-proof”.