Thrissanat Phansawat
April 2023
Nowadays, the change in communication technology (IT) is happening rapidly. Thai people, therefore, widely use mobile phones that are smartphones. Meanwhile, the epidemic situation of COVID-19 for about 3 consecutive years between 2020-2022, have been introduced travel restrictions and social distancing. Thus, online trading has played an important role in the life of Thai people, especially those who live in urban areas.
The group of 5,000 home-based workers, both own account workers and homeworkers, which are members of the Homenet Thailand Association (HNTA), of which about 70 percent are women and at least 25 percent are older than 60 years old. Even though these members have received online marketing training from HNTA, but, with ages, knowledge, language barrier, and old fashion devices, it created lots of limitations for them to engage in trading online. They cannot compete with the younger generation who gain more knowledge, better language, and own modern equipment.
In 2017, about 1,000 homebased workers from 25 groups of producers, members of HNTA, have collaborated to establish a social enterprise called “Homenet Thailand Brand (HNTB)”. Its aims are to increase the competitiveness of members to earn stable income as well as stable livelihood.
HNTB operates by adhering to the principles of a Social Solidarity Economy that focuses on the interdependence between members, promote ownership and collective management. Likewise, promoting production that considers environmental protection which will bring sustainable development to community and society. HNTB members invested as shareholders. There are elected representatives as HNTB board to take response in planning and managing its marketing and business.
HNTB as a social enterprise became a positive factor helping individual members to overcome limitations trading through online market. HNTB staff equipped with communication technology knowledge take responsibility for marketing members’ products online. Since 2021, these staff have created online marketing platform and closely coordinated with members’ groups for effectively adapt themselves to comply with this new technology.
In 2022, HNTB’s online marketing shared about 20% of the total sales. The remaining 80% of the sale will be sold through a small booth at various activities that HNTA and other civil society organizations conducted. Currently, HNTB has been supported by Fondation Chanel to hire marketing staff. There are marketing experiences through 5 online platforms, Facebook, Instagram, Line Official, Mail-group, and Website which can be summarized as follows:
HNTB uses a Facebook page called HomeNetThailandBrand. The platform is intended to share news, member stories, and selling products. As of February 28, 2023, there are 1,230 likes and 1,302 followers. Through this platform, members’ products will be posted at least once a week.
There is also a Market Place on Facebook called HOME CARFT by HomeNet Thailand for members to post and sell various products and services. In this Market Place on Facebook, there are a total of 269 members.
From the operation in 2021-2022. It found out that Facebook is the easiest channel for customers to reach, especially for individual customers. However, there are limitations because customers often buy products in a small quantity and consequently, it contributed only 1 percent of the sales through all online marketing channels. In contrast, it takes lots of time and management from the marketing team. In the future, HNTB expects to develop this Facebook marketing channel to reach more organizational customers.
The Instagram platform is another platform that HNTB uses to sell products and share producers’ news by using the name homenet.th.brand. Anyhow, this platform is a new platform that HNTB just developed at the beginning of 2022, there are currently only 37 followers. HNTB found that this online channel is suited to be used to promote shop and products rather than selling products.
Website
For website, HomeNet Thailand Brand uses https://www.homenetthailand.org/products
as a full marketing channel from the producers’ groups. Customers can buy HNTB products from anywhere around the world. The development of this website is supported by Homenet International, which was first launched at the CSW66 Forum, Virtual Artisan Fair from March 13-25, 2022. HNTB found that most users of the website often come to the main page to study HNTA’s work rather than visiting the product page to buy products. This channel, therefore, serves to disseminate the stories of homebased workers’ group more than selling products.
Mail-Group
HNTB has developed a group mail as homenetthailandbrand@gmail.com through the MailChimp program since late 2021. Members of this group are friends, acquaintances, and members of networks that HNTA and Foundation for Labour and Employment (FLEP) have worked with. There are 200 people in the group. HNTB will send the product’s catalog at least once a month and during special festivals. It found out that the emails sent out have been read by 31% from the group and 3% of total members of the group visiting the product’s catalog. Mostly, the viewers are interested in the products and placing orders in a big lot. So, this platform shared up to 19% of the total sales which can be considered that this platform is the best HNTB’s online marketing channel.
Line Official
Line Official is the new HNTB’s online marketing platform. It developed in September 2022 under the name “HomeNetThailandBrand”. Due to it is a new platform, HNTB uses this Line official to promote the shop and products more than selling. Currently, there are 105 followers, 90 are active and 15 are non-active. Mostly, the followers will use this platform to ask about HNTB information more than purchasing products.
Based on 2 years experiences in online marketing, HNTB found out that apart from the sales result, online marketing can help to promote and share HNTB and producers’ stories to society. All online marketing channels need continuously developed. Notices and lessons learned that HNTB gained form online marketing are.
- Study characteristics of different online marketing platforms to be consistent with the platform’s uniqueness. It will help increase products’ attraction and boost sales such as paying more attention to photos than captions on Instagram or using easier and concise content to communicate in group mail as well as giving easy instructions to placing orders.
- Different platforms have different algorithms. So, advertising to reach more customers is another way to help increase sales.
- Presentation of products to attract more customers’ attention, photo shooting, video clips, and interesting captions need to be further developed.
- If we can connect producers’ issues with social trends such as climate change, gender equality, elderly workers as well as decent work, it will attract more customers.
- Trading through self-developed online marketing platforms will have limited groups of customers because most of them are interested in social movement, not general customers. Therefore, it must put our shop in popular online marketing platforms such as Lazada and Shopee which diverse groups of customers visited.
