Improve your social media marketing strategy to establish a distinguishable and beautiful brand voice

We’re entering the age of technological revolutions and massive diffusion of technologies connecting people around the globe.

The constant development of mobile devices gave birth to new forms of communication and 24/7 connectivity in social networks. They play a significant role in changing human consciousness and shaping new customer behaviour patterns. 

In other words, they are making our society more “digital”. So, it’s crucial for business success to understand the hidden influences of user’s decision-making process in the modern digital space.

The influence of Generation Z—the first generation of true digital natives—is expanding and influencing the social media trends too.

According to McKinsey, members of Gen Z are people born from 1995 to 2010 who from their earliest youth have been exposed to the internet, social networks, and mobile systems. 

There is no chance to increase ROI for your business success if you don’t spread your voice in the digital world and social networks, in particular.

Businesses should adjust their marketing strategies to the needs and requirements of Gen Z since this fast-growing society is dictating the future trends of the digital space and, therefore, new marketing trends too. 

Mistake #1. Underestimating the power of social networks

Social media penetration is ever-increasing worldwide. According to Statista, the pervasiveness of social media will increase to over 3.02 billion users worldwide by 2021.

Considering all other pieces of the marketing pie, social media marketing is a big slice today. The right content published in the right moment will help you build customer loyalty and bring plenty of other benefits to the business. You should learn how to optimise your content to the customer’s needs.

Social networks are a powerful tool of engagement able to spread the word of your brand around the globe within minutes. Social media are also helpful in user experience research.

Mistake #1 is underestimating the power of social networks and not making enough effort in producing high-quality content.

Mistake #2. Not understanding your target audience

Explore your target audience as you’d like to explore the mind of your loved one. Discover their wants and habits. 

Google Analytics can give you a good insight into your target audience peculiarities. Consequently, you’ll get a better understanding of people you’re creating social media content for. 

Also Read: The A,B, and C of startup branding

Moreover, you shouldn’t stop your customer persona research after investigating the cold data. Stats are a good old friend; however, don’t fully trust them. Sometimes, you should act like a marketer from the 19th century: check information “manually”.

Exploring your random follower’s profile “manually”, not by using any analytics tool, you will gain a new view at your customer persona.

You will get a specific kind of information, which you wouldn’t get from any automatically generated stats. It’s almost transparent, but it is still essential for effective marketing. It feels like your customer’s mood

On the fans’ profiles, you can learn about their lifestyles, tastes, habits, and even food preferences.

That will help you adjust your content to the needs and peculiarities of these people. You might be surprised, but such data can give birth to the unique marketing idea that will be understood by your target audience.

Mistake #3. Not offering real value to people

Don’t underestimate people. They understand if your content is good or not. No matter who your prospective clients are, be it, skateboarders, housewives, or entrepreneurs, individuals always feel the quality intuitively. Be interested in producing great content offering value to people.

The content bringing value doesn’t mean only tips, news, or talks about new product features. You can post user-generated content.

It shows appreciation for fans that reached out and connected with you. The “value” we’re talking about is the brand’s attention to a customer.

Also Read: These 5 growth-stage startups bucked the trend to create own brand in Malaysia

Let people feel that a company cares about how they feel using a product or service. The more you engage with your fans, the more likely they are to share new photos with you. 

User-generated content will enrich the brand’s social media page with the fresh visuals, give more engagement, and start the interaction chain between a company and its customers.

One more tip on the social media content: dear entrepreneurs, don’t try to produce visuals for the cheapest price.

Bad product images are almost equal to the brand’s fail on social networks. The better your product “looks”, the more likely your brand’s voice will be heard by others on the social channels.

Mistake #4. Not adding a pinch of novelty 

Life means dynamics. Your marketing should reflect the changes your customers are experiencing. Thus, a marketing strategy needs to be timely injected by a dose of changes. Otherwise, you will not survive in the market. If you do not accept changes, the changes will not accept you.

Experiment with the new approaches, try to constantly add a pinch of novelty into your social media content. 

To be wrong is human; all of us make mistakes. Don’t be afraid of doing them. You should take risks if you want to develop the unique and memorable ‘voice’ of your brand. 

Mistake #5. Not being aware of “malicious tags” on Instagram 

Since Instagram is the giant among other social networks, let’s pay special attention to it. We want to share with you genuinely new information on the Instagram system, which we’ve crystallised after providing marketing services for companies across different industries.

Don’t use any hashtags that contain words like “porn”, “addicted”, “sex”, “fetish”, “sexy”, or something similar.

Even if your post is not related to any of these topics, but it has the hashtags like “#foodporn”, “#heelfashionfetish”, “#addicted-to-food”, “#sexy_dress”, etc., your profile may get to a blacklist generated by Instagram bots. 

There are different scenarios of what may happen further. The worst scenario: your profile will be banned entirely.

The better scenario: you’ll be able to post on Instagram, but you’ll not be able not to add new hashtags for some period ranging from 1-2 weeks to 3-4 months. You will not be able also to edit the recently published posts anymore.

Consequently, you may lose the chance to get new followers that could come through new hashtags. Moreover, Instagram may start sending less traffic to your profile, because it’s blacklisted. 

Also Read: Vietnam payment startups Vimo and mPOS merge, rebranded as NextPay

What to do? The only thing is to wait until the Instagram system will update a ‘blacklist’ after some period of time and give the blacklisted profiles another chance to function as previously. 

If you’ve faced such a situation, we recommend not to stop your activity on Instagram, just be careful using the hashtags.

Conclusion

As we’ve mentioned before, err is human. But, to make mistakes and learn from them is the privilege of a smart human.

We hope our experience gained from making these mistakes will help you improve your social media marketing strategy and establish the distinguishable and beautiful voice of your brand.

The voice that will give pleasure to the target audience interacting with your content. 

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Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

 

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Fail often, so you can succeed sooner

Some statistics say that over 90% of startups fail within the first five years. Some put this number at 70% over two years. However, I know for sure that my startup 100% failed. I created an app that allowed backpackers to connect with each other and chat. It was designed to help solo travelers find other solo travelers and locals around the world. However, it did not go well with travelers or anyone for that matter. It was a big blow to my ego but — what do you know? — there were lessons to be learned.

When I told my colleagues and friends that I was quitting my business, everyone asked me why that was the case. I find the phrasing of this question wrong. They should instead ask me what this failure taught me. One belief that got me through all that was that in failure too lies success. So I sat down multiple times and looked back at my journey to find out what I did wrong.

Instead of giving up, I started researching about other startup failures. I read stories about Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn. It was incredible to know how they too struggled immensely in the beginning and rose back from their failures. I found valuable lessons from the Paolo MacCallum, CEO of NamoBOT, a name generating tool. The founder, after messing up several startups, used all the knowledge from previous experiences to bounce back with a new idea.

Here is what I had to learn from these individuals and my own experience:

1. Have Enough Capital

Apparently, I am not the only one who did not have enough money to successfully start a business. According to an analysis by CB Insights, the second biggest reason for startups to fail was running out of cash. Your finances should be well figured out before going into business.

When I first came up with my startup idea, I did not think my finances through. Fundamentally, I was my own sponsor from the very beginning. I thought the savings I had would be enough to launch my startup and they were. However, a few months down the road I was struggling with money.

Owing to the lack of cash, there was only one thing left for me to do, and that was to compromise on the most essential things. I had to lay off two people from my already small team. It was super hard to pay the rent for the workspace.

MacCallum suggested that I should have arranged money for at least a year of operations. There are avenues for startups to find money thanks to lending organizations and crowdfunding. This is how he got his funding for his startup.

Also read: What is venture debt financing? How can startups use it to their advantage?

2. Keep it Cheap, and Offer Discounts

It is super hard to make any profits during the first few months of any business. Same was the case for me. However, I wanted to make money, so I kept the prices at a level that would make me a profit faster. Consumers, on the other hand, are always looking for the cheapest stuff.

High prices are not really helpful when you are a startup, especially in a saturated industry. What I needed to do instead was offer my service at cheaper rates and give out coupons. Introductory discounts can help bring in more customers. I realize that when it was too late.

According to MacCallum, instead of worrying about making profits, I should have been more concerned about getting the word out there and just sell.

3. Not Every Advice is the Right Advice

When it comes to startups, many people think they are experts. They throw a few numbers at you, cite some successful examples and bam, they are experts. On the contrary, what my experience taught me is that you need to filter out all those advices and recommendations. It is crucial to consult people and pick their brains but carrying it out is on you.

Think carefully before you change your mind because someone said something. In the end, it is equally important to listen to your gut. After all, startups are all about defying the odds. If you are just going to play safe, it is not going to cut it.

4. You Cannot Do Everything on Your Own

At first, my startup was a one-man team. I was my finance guy. I was the developer. I was the tester. I was the business developer. I was the one who picked the lunch. Needless to say, it was too much to take on. This is directly related to the fact that I had little money. I was afraid to hire anyone because I simply could not afford it. I did not seek much help from my friends either.

When you want to build something big, you need a lot of hands. I am sure Taj Mahal was not built by one person. Unlike my startup, Taj Mahal to this day gets millions of visitors. The problem was that I took on tasks that I was not even great at. That was a big mistake.

When meeting potential investors, it was me, myself and I. Paolo MacCallum, said that instead of doing it all on your own, there should have been someone with more experience and a knack for communication to better explain the product. And I realized that he was right since it did not work out great for me as I had too much on my plate.

Also read: Why failing your startup does not mean you are a failure

5. Accept When Your Startup is Failing

It takes courage to accept failure and I, for one, lacked that courage. For the longest time ever, I was not even convinced that my startup is just not picking up. This had a domino effect, and things only got worse from there. Clients dropped out, money stopped flowing in, and there was a serious dearth of good ideas.

It took me some time to realize that things are not working out. But when it did occur to me, it got easier to wrap things up and move on to the next great adventure. (What did you think? I was going to give up?).

According to Herman Melville:

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

Staying optimistic is one thing, and staying away from reality is another. The latter just leads you to a downward spiral. Be realistic enough to know when the ship is sinking and obviously, get out of it.

Conclusion

The fact is that startups do fail all around the world. Many times it is because of your own mistakes, while other times it is circumstances that are beyond your control. Regardless, one should never give up and look back to learn valuable lessons. You only learn from experience and the things you learn yourself from failure stay with you for life. Once you know enough, there is no one stopping you from finally succeeding.

Someone has said it right:

The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.”

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This article was first published on e27, on November 28, 2018.

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

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Novelship is looking to quickly expand to additional markets outside of Singapore, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia

Novelship, a limited-edition sneaker and streetwear online marketplace in Singapore, has secured US$2.05 million in funding, led by Global Founders Capital (GFC).

With this round, the startup’s total funding raised to date has touched US$2.3 million from a host of angel investors and organisations. The partnership with GFC marks its first collaboration with an institutional investor.

Novelship is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers specialising in limited-edition sneakers and streetwear from popular brands including Nike, Air Jordan, Yeezy, and Supreme. The startup professionally authenticates every product bought and sold on its online platform and guarantees legitimacy in the marketplace.

The firm says since launch in October 2018, over 1,500 limited edition sneakers and luxury streetwear products have been transacted on Novelship by users located mainly in the APAC region.

The company is looking to quickly expand to additional markets outside of Singapore, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia.

Also Read: Our hyper-local approach sets us apart from competitors: Amit Saberwal of RedDoorz

“Over the past six months, we’ve seen a steady increase in demand across the region for luxury, limited-release sneakers and streetwear products. With the additional capital from GFC, we will fuel our rapid expansion into key, high-growth markets and become a leader across the Asia-Pacific region,” said Novelship CEO and Co-founder Richard Xia.

GFC is an international seed-to-lifecycle venture capital firm founded by Oliver Samwer, Co-founder of Berlin-based Rocket Internet. It has invested in numerous, high-profile startups including Slack, Facebook, Traveloka, and Lazada.

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With digital advancement comes advancement in email marketing tools for great results in conversion rates

Email marketing is the old that remains trendy. Today, both new and old businesses stand a greater chance of increasing your blog traffic, using email marketing than ever before.

The presence and seeming dominance of social media makes email marketing look obsolete. It is a common assumption that people no longer read emails; nothing is further than the truth as a lot of people are addicted to their emails.

With digital advancement comes advancement in email marketing tools. The key is to understand what works and how it works.

According to Email Marketing Stats, [first name] emails with a  subject line are 26 per cent more likely to be opened while automated emails generate 320 per cent more revenue than non-automated emails. Email marketing works and would continue to work; below are five infallible email marketing tips your start-up needs.

1. Clarify your email marketing objectives

The first step to success in any field or pursuit is to set clear cut objectives. Even the best of business tools need to be aimed properly if they are to lead to any business accomplishment.

Email marketing can be adapted to meet a variety of business goals. Whether it is to keep your existing customers informed about progress on recurring inquiries, new offers, and updates on your business or just keeping in touch, email marketing works just fine.

Also Read: An effective email gives a distinct reminder of your brand, delivers the intended message, and compels you to click

It can also be adapted to nurture and convert new leads or all of the above. But the key to making the most of any business advertising tool is to clarify your objectives.

2. Create excellent email newsletters

An email newsletter allows you to send updates, news, tips, promotional offers and sales copies about your product to clients – existing and prospective. Usually sent at regular intervals, these newsletters help your business retain customers.

Not every visitor to your website or social media pages would stay. A couple of them might never even come across your business again, but if you can get them hooked on to your newsletter, you increase your chances of converting and retaining them.

Like every other business tool, creating an email newsletter requires a process flow. The logical first step is to select your preferred email marketing provider, build an email list, adjust some settings and start pushing out mails.

Set the ball rolling with a welcome message that speaks well of your business. The success of your entire email marketing is hinged on how effective your newsletters are.

3. Craft a compelling welcome message

First impressions might not be last impressions, but the experience from a first time can be the thing that converts a lead to not just a paying client but an unpaid brand ambassador.

‘Bury them as they arrive’ with your very compelling welcome message. Welcome messages have the highest average open rate, so you want to make it count.

However, people get into your mailing list, make sure you create a welcome experience for them. Hire a professional content creator if you need to do.

But make sure you are always leaving a lasting impression. This has the power to determine who unsubscribes from your list and who becomes eager to read every mail you send.

4. Display expertise focus on educating

Every reader is looking to learn. If not, why take the pain to read anything. Every reader expects to learn something new or be reminded of something they already know in a way that makes it an experience.

There are a lot of things competing for your clients’ time and attention. If they open your mail, it is because they want to hear what you have to say.

Also Read: 7 ways to supercharge your startup’s email marketing campaign

What you have to say has to be both relevant and educating. Reading is for learning. Don’t make every mail sent solely about your product or service. If you teach them long enough, they will volunteer their school fees.

Compose your words carefully. You want to showcase your business as an authority in your chosen industry. Understand the problem you are trying to solve and always communicate your solution in the best way possible.

The chances are that some people don’t know what they want until someone tells. Make your emails educational, whether you are selling or not. When people know what your product or service does, it helps them figure out how your product helps them and in what quantity.

5. Be responsive and offer discounts

Everyone loves a giveaway; discounts inspire sales.

You must understand just how important your email marketing effort is. You must run it as a fully functional business process.

Every client inquiry and request must be attended to and promptly so.

Also Read: 5 steps to write an appealing first email to a potential client

Don’t wait for your clients to request for a discount before you give one. Treat your online customers as well as you would treat your physical clients. Such giveaways and discounts must be well planned and executed.

Email marketing remains a viable marketing option, with these tips in mind you are better positioned to succeed at it whether you are an old business or starting your business.

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Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

Image Credit: Damian Zaleski

 

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The Philippines may still need to catch up in creating a startup ecosystem that truly flourishes, but in the health sector, these names are ready to take part in changing that

Often being compared with Indonesia due to its similar geographical condition and population, the Philippines are where all eyes are looking at now. It stores many potentials, but somehow it has not lived up to the expectation of producing startups in the scale of Indonesia’s unicorns.

According to a report released by e27, active startups in the Philippines only raised a combined value of US$304 million in 2018, compared to Indonesia’s staggering US$4.07 billion worth of deals overall. In the Philippines, startups that progress well are those in the fintech, gaming, and media advertising sectors.

So what about healthtech, with the country tries to catch up by facilitating more players this year?

A recent article published by Dymon Asia Ventures highlighted how in healthcare, traditional players are investing in real-estate based plays (clinics, hospitals) rather than in technology. However, these nine names are here to change that.

Medifi

Medifi is a cloud-based web app that allows remote doctor and patient consultation through its set of telehealth features, such as video conferencing, chat messaging, a personal medical profile and journal, and medical image management.

Medifi, led by Freddy Gonzalez as the CEO, aims to make pre-visit evaluation and post-treatment follow-ups more convenient. Medifi therefore wants to minimise unnecessary clinic visits by enabling users to consult using telemedicine technology.

With Medifi, patients can have access to video consultations, messaging, medical imaging, and a personal health profile at home.

Also Read: Natali Ardianto on his newfound passion for the healthtech sector

The startup also partners with e-pharma startup MedGrocer to allow patients to fill digital prescriptions with a click or tap.

Konsulta.MD

KonsultaMD is a 24/7 health hotline service that is managed by trained, experienced, and licensed doctors providing a medical assessment. KonsultaMD offers health and wellness counselling, ambulance referrals, and professional medical advice under one platform.

In 2017, KonsultaMD joined forces with several other local healthtech providers such as MedGrocer and Lifeline that are accessible through both subscription and hotline number.

MariaHealth

Although it leans more towards insurtech, MariaHealth definitely deserves a mention in this list. Focussing on providing accessible healthcare for all, MariaHealth was started in 2015 to raise the number of Filipinos with healthcare that accounted for only four per cent at that time.

MariaHealth aimed to simplify of the process of getting information from providers by allowing users to compare what the top healthcare brands, primary care clinics, and ambulatory service providers have to offer –and shop right after.

Back in May, MariaHealth received seed investment from tryb Group alongside Gobi Partners, Wavemaker, Hustle Fund, and Grand Metro Holdings. The seed round was continued from January when Gobi Partners invested with Core Capital JV in the company.

Stash.PH

Stash prides itself on the proprietary dashboard (SaaS) that it builds, aimed at connecting healthcare professionals with customers. Stash said that its primary focus is to work on claims management platform for health insurance companies and doctors in the Philippines.

Stash replaces paper-pushing with digital documentation that it believes can effectively prevent fraud and abuse along the way. It does so by linking patients, doctors, and health maintenance organisations under its platform. It leverages on its “expertise in information technology and domain knowledge in healthcare,” cutting through complicated systems that make healthcare administration difficult.

Arooga Health

Arooga Health is a tech-based emotional and mental healthcare platform that matches employees with the appropriate care providers based on their objective of seeking help, financial budget, available schedule, and preferred medium of virtual interaction.

Targeting employees, Arooga campaigns the importance of mental health to avoid unnecessary medical expenses. By addressing mental health concerns, Arooga believes it could help boost employees’ overall work productivity, as well as help care providers get new customers.

Also Read: Prevention is better than cure, and these 2 healthtech startups use AI to ensure a healthier you

Arooga Health was founded by Dominique De Leon and Niña Samantha Sanchez.

As learned on their site, Arooga Health is currently in the development stage of Andrea, an AI-guided solution for employees to learn more about mental health 24/7, get personalised wellness modules, and schedule a consultation to a licensed care provider.

MedCheck

MedCheck is a clinical data analytics company that specialises in non-communicable disease.
It means MedCheck provides physicians and data contributors with cloud-based EMR software to study trends of diseases and treatments, and share these statistics with healthcare providers to help improve treatment methods and patient outcomes.

Under WellBridge Health, an FDA-licensed drug delivery service, MedGrocer runs its ordering and delivery service arm.

MedGrocer

MedGrocer‘s technology platform optimises the medicine purchase experience by letting users upload their prescriptions, do a search, and communicate directly with the available pharmacist. Then the pharmacist will text to verify users’ order, request details, and provide advice on how to manage the medicines, right before it is being delivered.

MedGrocer also offers a corporate-service-type of delivery, in which corporations can have vaccinations with online signups, integrated communications, and on-site administration. It also builds integrated analytics, patient care programmes, and company clinic augmentation.

Aide

Aide allows users to book a home appointment with doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and a masseuse as well as medical technicians.

In 2017, Paolo and Pamela Bugayong-Donato, Patricia Bugayong-Reyes and her brother Patrick introduced Aide, a home visit booking app for professional health care services.

Aide also offers appointment booking for veterinarian service.

With Aide, a regular check-up or laboratory test can be done at home in the patient’s most convenient state.

Also Read: Beyond the hospital: Challenges and opportunities in Indonesian healthtech scene

Aide raised funding from Ayala Healthcare Holdings (AC Health) in October 2018, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippines-based Ayala Corporation, a conglomerate with multiple business interests in real estate, banking, and telecom.

Zennya

Zennya’s approach is to let users take control of their health by choosing services through a mobile app, and order the services they need on their time and schedule.

Zennya uses machine learning system that is combined with trained and continuously assessed care providers through its mobile professional education platform. Using Zennya, healthcare providers can put treatment notes and diagnostics data to be captured through providers’ mobile exam room system. It will also be reviewed by automated expert systems.

Currently, Zennya said that it is developing a personalised mobile digital health network that connects users to a range of health and wellness services, laboratories, and diagnostic services. Its system will integrate data from mobile-connected diagnostics devices and wearables to provide a 360-degree view of users’ vital health and wellness information.

Some startups mentioned above, such as Arooga Health and MedCheck, offer a different aspect of healthtech that is both uncommon and necessary. With the sector set on innovation and gradual progress, healthtech is looking at a bright future in the country –opening doors for the first unicorn the country could ever see.

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Image Credit: jesse orrico on Unsplash

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Med247 manages to secure its seed funding round prior to its business launch

Med247, an offline-to-online (O2O) healthtech startup that facilitates app-based post-treatment after offline visit to its clinic in Vietnam, announces an undisclosed amount of investment from KK Fund, a venture capital (VC) firm that mainly invests in seed-stage internet and mobile startups in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Joining KK Fund is a former senior executive in Singapore’s Parkway Healthcare Group, Dr Goh Jin Hian.

Med247 co-founder Tuan Truong explained to e27 that the funding will be used to focus on launching Med247’s physical clinics, and further develop its clinics’ management platform.

It also plans to scale up to more locations to widen users reach.

Koichi Saito, KK Fund’s founding partner stated that the investment in Med247 is a “no brainer.”

“Med247 is one of the very few pre-launched startups KK Fund has invested in. I was amazed by the business concept and the founders involved, especially because one of the co-founders, Dr Phong, is a practising doctor,” said Saito.

Also Read: Hanoi TOP100 winner shows the best Vietnam has to offer

“The founder also got a doctor network and a following of more than 16,000 young parents that will greatly contribute to the growth of Med247,” Saito noted.

Med247 Clinics was founded by Tuan Truong with Bobby Liu and Dr Phong, in hopes to help improving healthcare delivery in fast-growing Vietnam.

Commenting on the investment, Truong said that KK Fund shared Med247 vision.

“KK Fund’s deep understanding of the Japanese healthcare system is a huge plus, and along with Dr Goh’s experience in leading Parkway’s primary care clinics and hospitals, we have significant advantages when scaling Med247,” he emphasised.

Healthcare in Vietnam

According to KPMG, Vietnam’s healthcare spending is estimated to increase from US$16.1 Billion in 2017 to almost US$20 Billion in 2020. Even with the numbers telling so, according to a 2016 report by the World Bank, Vietnam has only 72 doctors per 100,000 citizens, compared to Singapore’s 230.

About 80 per cent of Vietnam’s primary care clinics are situated in homes and waiting time for medical consultation at hospitals is nearly an hour at best, which leaves the country in dire need of basic healthcare delivery.

At the other hand, Vietnam is also experiencing four times increase of per capita GDP in 10 years, making the foray into healthtech even more timely for the startups.

Also Read: A sneak peek into healthtech startups operating in Vietnam

“The medical practice in Vietnam follows the traditional model where it’s doctor and hospital-centric. We want to reimagine healthcare whereby it becomes patient-centric, empowering our patients with our technology platform, helping them to always be connected with our medical professionals,” Truong explained.

Med247 clinics have four specialities offered under one roof, with each clinic specially designed to be “spacious, comfortable, and efficient”. It also ensures that it is insurance companies-compliant on the backend.

Med247 also has an app available for patients to make appointments on-site which help cut down waiting time, facilitate online consultation, medical records and lab results access, and later on, facilitate e-prescriptions, all on the app.

When being asked about what makes Med247 ahead of its competition, Truong explained that Med247 has a strong clinic management system optimised with best practices for treatments.

“Having an experienced doctor as a co-founder, we are able to build the SOP, or Standard Operating Procedures, that put us ahead of the game and enhance our ability to scale. We focus on both online to offline and offline to online conversions at the early stages in order to create a seamless experience for our customers,” said Truong.

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Image Credit: Med247

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In addition to Astra International, we also have updates from Grab, LivePerson, and FreshToHome

Astra International seeks to acquire seed, pre-seed stage startups – DealStreet Asia

Astra International Director Paulus Bambang WS announced that the company is “actively looking” to acquire seed and pre-seed stage startups that are in line with one of its diversified business, Dealstreet Asia reported.

He also announced that the company is close to acquiring a local startup in the logistics startup, though he did not disclose any name.

“We are not seeking for unicorn startups [to acquire]. We are hoping [to find] such [smaller] startups that could find us solutions that are related to our business,” the director said.

Grab plans major investment in Vietnam – Reuters

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Grab President Ming Maa said that the company is set to invest “several hundred million dollars” in Vietnam where the company sees its next major growth market.

The announcement came just “weeks” after it announced a US$2 billion investment plan for Indonesia.

Ranking third or fourth in the company’s top markets, Ming Maa said that the Vietnam market has “very similar” characteristics with Indonesia.

Also Read: GOJEK, Astra launch all-in vehicle maintenance service GOFLEET

Indian e-commerce startup FreshToHome raises US$20M – TechCrunch

Indian e-commerce platform for fresh produces FreshToHome announced a US$20 million funding round led by Iron Pillar, TechCrunch reported.

Japan’s ZIGExn founder Joe Hirao also participated in the funding round.

Closing its US$11 million Series A funding round three months ago, the startup has raised a total of US$33 million.

Currently available in Bangalore, Mumbai, and Pune, the startup wants to use the funding to expand its service nationwide.

LivePerson opens office in Singapore, names regional sales director – Press Release

Live chat pioneer LivePerson today announced the launch of its new office in Singapore, that will serve as a central hub for its Southeast Asian operations.

The company also named Lim Wee Tee as Regional Sales Director of Southeast Asia in July 2019.

He will be responsible for spearheading sales and customer success operations in ASEAN, with a focus on expanding the business into the region.

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Image Credit: Muhammad Rizki on Unsplash

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HashKey Capital is the affiliate of Hong Kong-based fintech company HashKey Group that mainly invests in blockchain assets traded on exchanges

Singapore-based blockchain startup Terra announced that it had secured an undisclosed sum from HashKey Capital, which is an affiliate of HashKey Group, DealStreetAsia reported.

HashKey Group is a Hong Kong-based fintech company that focusses on investments in blockchain assets traded on exchanges, fundamental research, and technical analysis.

Terra stated that it plans to use the funding to expand its e-commerce and retail alliance across Asia.

Terra is cryptocurrency that is price-stable and seeks to boost payment network and grow the real GDP of the blockchain economy. It does so by partnering with e-commerce firms such as South Korea’s Ticket Monster (TMON), Singapore’s Carousell, and Vietnam’s Tiki.

In an interview with e27, the company explained that its cryptocurrency was conceived in response to the need for a stable digital currency, that is immune to the price volatility that comes with speculation and manipulation.

It also aims to bridge between digital currencies and real-world applications by becoming an open platform where financial apps can be built upon its promised stability.

Also Read: How Terra aims to get people to use its price-stable cryptocurrency

To keep the price stable, Terra is backed by a decentralised asset called Luna, that derives its value from transaction fees collected on the Terra network.

As for HashKey Capital, the company released a statement regarding its decision to invest in the startup.

“We have decided to invest so that we can grow our portfolio of promising fintech companies in Korea/Asia, as well as diversify it with up-and-coming startups in the blockchain space,” said Deng Chao from HashKey Capital.

In terms of partnership, Terra has sparked several integrations with prominent fintech companies especially in Korea, such as mobile payments app Chai, in which Terra’s Alliance’s two e-commerce partners power its online transactions with blockchain technology.

Another blockchain-empowered partnership in Korea that it has seen is with music streaming Bugs and B2B fashion platform Sinsang Market.

Before this round of funding, Terra secured another undisclosed amount from LuneX Ventures, the blockchain-focussed investment arm of Golden Gate Ventures in May. Kakao Ventures, the investment arm of South Korean internet provider Kakao, has also invested in the company.

Also Read: Blockchain firm Terra to launch instant remittance, lending services in Mongolia’s capital city

In January 2019, e27 reported that Terra announced a partnership with Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar, to launch instant money transfer and lending services in the city’s Nalaikh District through a pilot programme, with plans to expand citywide.

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Image Credit: Terra

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‘Even as a highly-fragmented landscape, we use data and learnings to better understand the social and cultural nuances as well as behaviour patterns’, he says

It is no mean task to succeed in a highly fragmented market like Southeast Asia and a highly competitive atmosphere — unless you have a great understanding of the customer behaviour and cultural requirements of each market. RedDoorz had realised this early on and adopted a hyper-local approach to win customers and partnerships with hotels.

The startup, headed by Founder and CEO Amit Saberwal, has just bagged US$70 million to make the first close of its Series C funding led by Asia Partners, with the participation of Rakuten Capital, Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, existing investors Qiming Venture Partners and IFC. It is now set to expand its footprint in the region.

In this email interview with e27, Saberwal shares more details about the competition and the company’s plans.

You have just secured US$70M from a set of prominent investors to expand in Asia. Can you share the details of your expansion plans? 

The US$70 million is the first close of our larger Series C funding. We will be focusing our efforts to grow in the markets we operate in across Southeast Asia (Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam), where we intend to penetrate deeper in our quest to increase market share and solidify our position as the market leader in the affordable travel and hospitality industry. 

We are also opening up new markets within the next 12- 18 months. We also plan to enhance our data and tech capabilities and solutions, where we plan to set up a second technology and development centre in Vietnam, following our first in Delhi, India.

How did you convince your new as well as existing investors to keep investing in RedDoorz even as your close competitor with a much deeper pocket is fast gaining market share in India and offers more investment opportunities?

We have a well-thought-out and prudent business plan that we are steadily executing. To date, we have been very successful, having attained 500,000 room bookings — an industry-first in Southeast Asia’s travel and hospitality segment.

Also Read: RedDoorz bags US$45M as its competitor OYO is fast expanding in Southeast Asia

We’ve successfully developed a business model focused on Southeast Asia, a model that works for us. We’ve grown at a rapid pace to scale in a disciplined and sustainable manner. This approach has attracted investors to trust us and continue to back RedDoorz with high ambitions of growth. 

Trump Hotel’s Indonesia partner Qiming is also an investor in your latest round. How did this investment come about? How do you complement each other?

We have an excellent relationship with Qiming, who sees the value in what we are trying to achieve, and have supported our mission to become the leading service in Southeast Asia’s highly competitive travel and accommodation sector.

Do you think the budget hotels market in ASEAN is not tapped to its potential yet? Is there more room for new players? Where is this industry heading for? 

While competition is rife, the budget hotel market in Southeast Asia still has ample space to grow. We are building a business around consumers and their evolving needs. 

According to Roshan Raj Behera, business partner at consulting firm RedSeer, Southeast Asia has more than 120,000 budget hotels in the three-star or below segment as of 2018, providing RedDoorz with the right environment to grow even more. The industry is also driven by a growing middle class that will be 350 million strong by 2022, based on Bain & Company’s Understanding Southeast Asia’s Emerging Middle-Class report.

The Phocuswright Travel 3.0: Mobile Rising in Southeast Asia study has also revealed that Southeast Asians are prioritising their discretionary spend on travel and tourism.

There is a lot of headroom for growth and room for new players to enter the market. 

With competition intensifying, how do you look to differentiate yourself? Do you aim to leverage technology to further improve the customer experience? What is your USP? 

At our very core, we are a tech company. We have developed our innovative tech solutions such as RedFox, our dynamic pricing system, and RedEagle, our proprietary supply management solution, that support our partners in better understanding supply and demand patterns, as well as recognise trends and patterns using advanced Machine Learning and AI technologies. 

Our USP is our deep understanding of the consumer in Southeast Asia at a granular level, from country-to-country, city-by-city. Even as a highly-fragmented landscape, we use data and learnings to better understand the social and cultural nuances as well as behaviour patterns. 

As we have built a sustainable and rapidly growing business on consumer data, we also deep dive on our understanding of the consumer to make improvements to customer experience — whether it’s to the properties or overall experience following a stay at a RedDoorz property. 

RedDoorz is built upon a strong tech solution. We see the future of our business as technology-enabled and technology-driven, in order to sustain future growth.

Can you walk me through the AI features you introduced for your hotel partners? Do you have more such innovations in the pipeline? Do you think new-age technologies like AI and IoT have big roles to play here?

We have introduced RedFox, a dynamic pricing and inventory management tool for revenue optimisation and operational excellence, to our hotel partners. It is a data-driven system that can identify trends by incorporating multiple indicators on user interactions, marketing, and transactional datasets. RedFox also helps in price forecasting by applying a large volume of distributed data, including geography, occupancy rates, profitability, type of day and general seasonal factors, which are related to the time of the day. 

There is a broader scope for AI and IoT, which we’ve been utilising and will continue to invest in to improve our service offering for our hotel partners and consumers alike.

We plan to build our second technology hub in Vietnam to complement the current regional tech hub in India, to further develop technology that can drive business strategies. 

Do you plan to venture into uncharted territories, in terms of introducing new products and solutions to generate more revenue and to remain distinct?

We are looking at penetrating the markets we cover even further, as well as entering new markets in Southeast Asia — a primary focus area for us. We are building upon our deep understanding of the Southeast Asian consumer, to test new product lines and services that will cater to their immediate needs and desires – based on our own data and insights. 

Our main focus is to grow our customer base while retaining their loyalty. Our hotels and rooms offer excellent value-for-money for our customers and we will expand upon the different options available in order to meet their accommodation needs and requirements — this is why we have introduced RedDoorz Plus and RedDoorz Premium

While Oyo has taken an aggressive growth strategy, RedDoorz has always taken a slow and steady approach. Is it a conscious decision to go slow?

What sets us apart is our deep understanding of the Southeast Asian landscape, especially the markets we operate in. Southeast Asia is a highly-fragmented market that takes time to understand. We don’t look at Southeast Asia from a purely macro perspective, but also on a much more “hyper-local” one. Our hyper-local approach sets us apart from our competitors.

We are always looking to expand upon our learnings around social and cultural norms in each of the markets we operate in.

We see it paying off, given that we have attracted new investors while retaining existing investors. Our results of achieving 500,000 occupied room nights in July 2019, and growing five times year-on-year, also show that our approach has been successful. 

In some Southeast Asian markets like Indonesia, you are taking Oyo head-on. How do you plan to sustain growth in these markets? What are your customer acquisition strategies, given Oyo has committed US$200M for Indonesia?

We see competition as a positive thing; it pushes us to grow and offer an added and improved value to win our customers’ hearts and thus sets us apart from them. 

At RedDoorz, we will continue to build a strong relationship with local hospitality owners to refine not only the quality of their properties but also elevate the skills of their on-ground staff through our training and development programs.

What are your inorganic growth plans? Do you see yourself merging with any company or acquiring small players in the future? What are your ultimate aims?

We will remain focused on growing our business within Southeast Asia. We want to the preferred option for affordable hotel accommodation in Southeast Asia by offering high-quality rooms with clean linen and bathrooms, free Wi-Fi, satellite TV, bottled mineral water and the essential toiletries — all as standard — to ensure that those who stay at a RedDoorz property receive best-in-class customer experience. 

What are the current trends in the budget hotels segment in Southeast Asia?

The budget travel and hotel segment in Southeast Asia has seen incredible growth over the past decade and continues to grow.

According to e-Conomy SEA 2018 study by Google-Temasek, online travel is the largest and most established of the four verticals of the internet economy in Southeast Asia, reaching US$30 billion in gross bookings value (GBV) in 2018 and heading towards US$78 billion GBV by 2025.

There will be a surge in independent travel as younger Asians grow more affluent and desire to go on solo trips.

Furthermore, the demand will be driven by a rising middle class that will be 350 million strong by 2022, according to Bain & Co.

Have you ever considered a merge with Oyo? 

No comments.

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5 tools that can be used to obtain a holistic view of a business

Starting up a company is never easy. Many factors can affect the survival of a company – be it those within an entrepreneur’s control or outside of it.

Fortunately, there are plenty of analytical tools that can be used, which help to make informed decisions. Here we present the top five business tools that help you to obtain thorough analysis and make actionable decisions.

SWOT analysis

Knowing the company’s strengths and, even more importantly, weaknesses is the key to creating greater value while mitigating possible losses.

Also Read: Top 3 underused business tools for entrepreneurs that can help improve your business

The SWOT analysis is useful in analysing the company as well as your competitors. With the understanding of internal competencies and weaknesses, you can carve a sustainable niche in their market, uncover opportunities to exploit and eliminate threats.

To gain further insights, entrepreneurs can analyse the strategic choices of the company by using the TOWS Matrix.

This tool helps you to identify strategic alternatives while addressing the following questions:

Strengths and opportunities – How can you leverage the opportunities using your strengths?

Strengths and threats – How can you manage your threats using your strengths?

Weaknesses and opportunities – How can you circumvent your weaknesses by using the opportunities?

Weaknesses and threats: How can you minimise the impacts of your weaknesses and defend against threats?

PESTLED

PESTLED is an acronym that stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental and Demographic factors. It is an analytical tool to analyse the environment that the company works in or wants to enter.

By monitoring the macro-environmental factors, you will be able to see if how these factors will impact your company’s performance.

PESTLED is often used in collaboration with SWOT analysis and Porter’s Five Forces (as shown below) to provide a clear and thorough understanding of the related internal and external environmental factors.

To use this tool, you will have to create a list of existing environmental conditions in each of the seven factors that will impact the environment. The list can be classified into opportunities and threats using SWOT framework (as shown above).

Ansoff’s Product Matrix

Ansoff’s Product Matrix is a tool that provides you with four different strategies that help your company grow. At the same time, you will be able to analyse the risks that are associated with each strategy.

Also Read: 8 reasons to check out this Hong Kong fintech analysis

The safest strategy out of the four would be Market Penetration (lower left quadrant), which targets the existing markets using the existing products and services.

The risk increases diagonally to the riskiest strategy of Diversification that uses a new product and service in a new market.

As an entrepreneur of a new start-up, Market Penetration and Product Development will be more relevant. Once you have obtained success in the first two strategies, you will then shift to Market Development and finally Diversification.

Porter’s Five Forces

Porter’s Five Forces is a framework often used to analyse the attractiveness of a particular industry.

This model identifies and analyses the five main competitive forces that shape every industry, helping you to determine the strengths and weaknesses of an industry.

By making use of this framework, you will be able to understand an industry’s structure clearly. As a result, determine the optimal corporate strategy that ensures high profitability.

Porter’s Five Forces allows you to identify threats and determine the level of bargaining power your company have.

The threats of substitute products and new entrants will affect your company’s market shares while the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers helps you to determine the price that you can set for your product.

BCG Model (Growth Market Share Matrix)

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Model can help you make long-term strategic decisions regarding your product portfolio. It allows entrepreneurs to decide if to further invest in, eliminate or further develop a particular product in a portfolio.

Also Read: How analysis paralysis can ruin your productivity and how to stop it

BCG categorises products based on the market share and the potential market growth. The following is how one can interpret the quadrants:

Dogs: Although Dogs hold low market share and have limited market growth, they may be profitable in the long-term or provide synergies to other brands within the company. However, in general, they are not worth investing and usually will be eliminated from the portfolio

Cash Cows: Cash generated from Cash Cows should be invested in Stars for overall growth. Usually, Cash Cows will not be invested to promote further growth, but mainly to maintain their current market shares

Stars : Stars should be the primary units in which the company invests in as they operate in high growth industries and are likely the cash generators. Typically, Stars will become Cash Cows unless they have been outcompeted by new technological advancements, which turn them into a Dog

Question Marks: Question Marks tend to consume a large amount of cash and incur losses. They can become a Star or become a Dog, which makes it harder for you to decide if they are worth investing their money and time

As with all startups, speed is the key factor to determine the success of a company.

With the five business tools, you will be able to obtain a holistic view of your company and take decisive actions that allow your business to stay ahead of your competition.

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