We get it. You are looking to hire an agency because you are willing to pay for the agency's expertise in helping you with marketing your company's product/service. From the agency perspective though, we have no idea what a client wants unless they tell us. Think of it as you would when you are choosing what to eat at a restaurant.

Bad brief:
You tell the agency that you want an online marketing campaign in a particular market, i.e Thailand, but you don't know your budget, you don't know your target audience, you don't know the duration of your campaign, you don't know what you are aiming to achieve. It's like going to a restaurant and only telling the server that you want to have dinner.

Good brief:
You tell the agency what service you want, the market, the target audience, the budget, the duration and what you hope to achieve with the campaign. Then the agency has enough information to ask good questions and to help propose a strategy to achieve the goals. It's like telling the server at a restaurant that you want a light vegetarian appetizer, followed by fish for the main, and a sorbet as dessert. For drinks you would like white wine with the main. In this case the server can ask good questions to ensure you receive what you want. In the bad brief, the server has nowhere to start.

Given the analogy of a restaurant, you are right in thinking that a restaurant has a menu, thus if an agency had a menu it would be easier to be able to tell the agency what you want to order. But like in a restaurant, too much choice can lead to confusion and indecision. Thus it is best if before contacting an agency, you know what you want and then let the agency help with detailed specifics.

Here is a list of questions that you can answer to help you brief an agency:

1. Company name and industry
2. What service do you need?
3. By when do you want to begin working with an agency?
4. What is your expectation for results?
5. For how long do you need the services?
6. Who is your target audience?
7. How will you evaluate success?
8. What is your budget for this project?
9. How many other agencies are you talking to?
10. What is the most important factor in choosing an agency for your project?

If you can answer these 10 questions then it helps the agency come back to you with more detailed questions to fill in any gaps in building a proposal. This is how you will get the highest value out of working with an agency. Keep in mind that an agency fields dozens of inquiries every month and needs to be judicious in choosing which inquiries to respond to. The better the brief, the more interested the agency will be in preparing a proposal.

In its infinite wisdom, Facebook launched a new post composer. The post composer interface is similar to what you see in Facebook Ads during the final step of adding creative to the ad. There is space for text, media upload and a few options. One option that did not make the cut from the legacy composer to the new composer is the Language option.

In the legacy composer, once "Post in Multiple Languages" is activated from Page Settings, the composer displays an option to post in another language. There was an option for a primary language and more languages. We are in Thailand, so for many of our clients the primary language may be either Thai or English with the secondary language being English or Thai respectively.

Well, the option to compose and post in more than one language is now gone from Facebook. Back to including two languages in one post and stating "English Below", or "Thai Below". Facebook's take on this?

Facebook, really, sometimes, just don't.

User Rating: 5 / 5

Neat Interactive was founded in Phuket, Thailand in 2012. In 2020, we are returning to Phuket with our fourth branch outside of Bangkok (Hong Kong and Singapore being the other two). With the current COVID-19 situation, Phuket hotels are hurting. According to Jasper Palmqvist of STR, Phuket hotel occupancy is -90% Y-O-Y, yes that is minus ninety-percent. According to Nikhom Jensiriratanakorn from Horwath HTL, July 2020 hotel occupancy was 8%. Tourism in Thailand is now completely dependent on the domestic Thai and Expat market and they are not going to Phuket. The main source of domestic tourism is from Bangkok, and Bangkokians are traveling driving distance, meaning that markets like Pattaya and Hua Hin are benefiting much more than island destinations requiring flights from Bangkok.

What does this mean for Phuket Hotels?

It means that Phuket hotels need to increase their outreach to Thais and Expats. The 56th Thai Tiew Thai this weekend (3-6 Sep) in Bangkok will be a good start. But beyond TTT, Phuket hotels will need to reach out to the domestic market, directly.

What do we think?

Email Marketing: We think that hotels need to reach out to the domestic market directly, making use of their email database through e-mail marketing and social media marketing. The better organized a hotel's email database, the more effective it can be. If it is segmented between domestic stays and international stays, then even better. If a hotel has neglected its CRM, now is better than never in addressing it.

LINE Marketing: With almost everyone in Thailand having a personal LINE account (or two), a LINE official account can go a long way in building a domestic audience for the hotel. Phuket hotels can promote special LINE-only packages, local events that could be a draw for domestic tourists, Spa and F&B offerings and more.

Social Media Marketing: Use of Facebook and Instagram remains extremely high in Thailand. Continuing to actively and professionally maintain social media channels for the domestic market is important. Not only with content, but making use of the tools available in Facebook Ads for targeting specific audiences who have engaged with your hotels in the past, visited your website, watched your videos or sent an inquiry.

About Neat Interactive

Since 2012 we have worked with dozens of hotels in Phuket and Phang Nga. Phuket and Phang Nga clients have included Banyan Tree Phuket, The Surin Phuket, Andara, The Naka Phuket, Four Points by Sheraton Phuket Patong, The Nai Harn, Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach, Casa de La Flora, La Flora Khao Lak and many others. We not only offer domestic marketing services, we are also specialists in Chinese digital marketing as well as Fliggy's first Taobao Partner. For inquiries, please contact us directly at info(at)neatinteractive(dot)com (written so to avoid spam) or fill in the contact form here.