Source: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-thailand

New exciting opportunities prevail in Southeast Asia, and Thailand is one of the most potential players among all countries in the region. In this article, we’re going to walk you through the underlying possibilities you can ever explore in the edge-bursting Thailand digital market.

Thailand’s evolving digital marketing era

Digital advertising in Thailand has expanded rapidly in recent few decades. Of the 69+million population in Thailand, the “Land of the Free” has a critical internet penetration rate of 75%, up 1 million than last year to 52 million users in total. Believe it or not, 97% of these internet users are driven by mobile device, meaning people are getting online primarily via their smartphones, with an average daily time spent of nearly 5 hours!

Thailand’s general internet use

Thailand’s mobile internet use

Another interesting phenomenon worth mentioning is the active social media users in Thailand, which surprisingly, equals to 52 million people – yes, same number as internet users in the country, with an average time spent of nearly 3 hours a day. That’s 2.3 million more than last year!

Thailand’s social media use

Another good news is, given the Thailand 4.0 program which supports digitalization of businesses and payments, Thailand is very strong in ecommerce (esp mobile commerce), with the online shopping sector valued at $26.2 billion+, according to JP Morgan. Travel and electronics & physical media remain to be the strongest online shopping categories, with the former sector reaching $6.12 billion for total spending amount.

Thailand’s ecommerce spend by category

Insight: We can’t emphasize how important it is to make your website mobile-responsive if you’re shooting for success in Thailand’s ecommerce. You may want to increase ad spend in Q4 because it’s the peak shopping time in Thailand. Also, make sure you’re managing your social media – such as Facebook – actively to maintain your brand.

Top digital marketing platforms in Thailand

With Bangkok once named as the ‘capital of Facebook’, there’s no surprise that Facebook and YouTube are the most-used social media platforms in Thailand. But specific attention should also be given to Line, the popular social app originated in Japan and is shaped as the ‘ultimate life infrastructure’ for the fellow Thai netizens. Closely following are Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Twitter.

Thailand’s most popular social media platforms

Mobile app rankings in Thailand is similar to that of social media platforms, with Line, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram being widely used. However, when we look at the download data throughout 2019, it’s interesting to see that the Chinese-owned TikTok ranks 4th in Thailand.

Thailand’s mobile app download rankings

Insight: Line is the champion of Thailand’s messaging apps, let alone its functions such as booking accommodation and transportations. Besides Facebook, do study and invest on its digital marketing services, e.g. Line Point ads and exclusive offers. TikTok is another Thailand trend for marketers to work on, for great content and influencer marketing in the country.

Digital Marketing Opportunities in Thailand 2020

1. Mobile and social media commerce

As said, mobile commerce market is huge in Thailand, but let’s take steps further by combining efforts with the penetrative social media platforms. In addition to simply selling them on your social media marketplaces, create good content and do live-streaming on channels like Facebook, Instagram, Line, TikTok, and even Shopee and Lazada. This especially works for limited time offers. Our social media marketing service helps get what you want.

2. Social group marketing

We understand that it may not be easy for brands to infiltrate the existing Thailand consumer groups through ads, but we can all build our own groups to increase customer engagement by sharing knowledge, product and service promotions and interact with the customer base. Make use of the huge social media market in Thailand and cut loose the boundary between your business and customers so as to establish brand connection.

3. Personalized marketing

Make Thai customers feel special with personalized messages and offers and discounts to retain their brand trust and loyalty. Target them with ads by using carefully curated ad copies and creatives so products and services are shown to the most relevant target audiences with no time wasted. Don’t forget to remarket to maximize actions in Thailand. Click here for a well-formulated personalized marketing campaign.

About AsiaPac Net Media

With an extensive digital marketing experience of serving more than 2,500 clients across Asia in sectors such as education, travel and hospitality, finance, Government and others, AsiaPac’s expert team is highly recognized for the excellence in providing performance-driven services to businesses across Asia, and global corporates targeting Asia markets. If you’d like to learn more about AsiaPac and the work we’ve done, visit our Work page. For more information on AsiaPac/ AdTech and our services, please contact us at info@asiapac.com.hk/ info@adtechinno.com.