Janette Toral
Digital Filipino

THE Filipino Internet user is getting younger and yet his or her usage of technology is maturing.

There are so many things that can be done online but what does this mean to product creators and marketers? To be able to come up with Internet strategies, we need to understand the habits and demographics of our target markets and their habits, such as:

Online surfing. Find out what are the websites that the market is visiting and how do individuals search for information, especially teenagers as a lot of them have turned to the In-ternet for friendship, information and entertainment resource.

This is in addition to their use of the mobile phone and the value-added services accessible to it.

Generation X. These are from 25 to 44 years old. It will be interesting to know their current Internet use and reaction to online marketing strategy.

As this age bloc is so used to ads in traditional media and earlier forms of Internet advertising, they tend to be passive to campaigns.

Online shopping. Various products and services are purchased online. Be able to spot what new product areas are moving forward.

Women and their habits. The Filipina Internet user is partly a slow adapter of service in 2003. It would be interesting to see how much has changed in their Internet habits since then.

Connectivity. With wireless Internet connection now possible through mobile phones and prepaid subscription, it would be interesting to see its adoption.

Communities. With the popularity of social networks, photo sharing and blogs, where do users converge to exchange information? How much time do they spend there?

Online entrepreneurship. What are the various ways the Internet has helped a user achieve his or her business objectives online? This includes being able to buy and sell products.

All this and more are intended to be captured in the upcoming Filipino Internet User 2009 report to be released on the second quarter of next year. We are in talks on how this can be achieved from face-to-face to online surveys. Taking off from our experience in the 2002 to 2003 report, I hope to be able to come up with this report that marketers, big and small, can use as a reference.

(http://digitalfilipino.com)

(November 20, 2008 issue)