Boost the visibility of your business with these Halloween specific marketing ideas.

Halloween has become one of the popular events in Singapore. It offers fun and thrill with creepy decorations, tasty treats and, of course, horrible costumes.

As a marketer or a business, have you ever thought Halloween could be a great opportunity to boost the visibility of your brand?

In other words, this scary holiday is the right time to market your business.

All you need to imply clever campaigning that could go well with the theme and mood of the halloween festival.

Here’s how…

1. Add Halloween Themed Elements and Content:

From your website to social media pages, you can jazz up your online presence with Halloween themed content or elements. For example, you can use Halloween themed banner, spooky fonts, spider webs and animated features on your website. This way, you can paint your website in the Halloween spirit.

Create content according to the people’s requirements regarding Halloween. For example, art, crafts, and stationery supply stores can share mini-tutorials on how to make Halloween decorations. Restaurants can give Halloween twist to their cocktails or recipes. A financial planner can share how to budget for Halloween holidays. Security services can share how to stay safe while playing trick-or-treating.

All you need to think about what customers are likely to do in the weeks before Halloween.

You can dress up your social media profiles in a similar way. Change the cover image to something spooky. And it is a great opportunity to sell in an engaging way to your customers.

2. Run Contests on Social Media:

Halloween is a great opportunity to engage the users with your content over social media. For example, you can invite them to share photos of their Halloween decorations or their recipes. Make sure to run these contests on your top social media outlets, and make entry conditional to use of particular hashtags, and contestants liking and sharing the post. It will help you expose your brand to a new audience, which shared posts have a better chance of achieving. You can either reward the top contestants, or have one main prize, but it is better if you offer all contestants a discount voucher or a coupon.

3. Sponsor a Local Event:

Sponsoring a local event is a great way to earn exposure. From a haunted house, fall festival, costumes, Zombie run to trick or treating, there are many occasions or events you can advertise your business at. Even you can drive the attendees to your booth with a giveaway or treat if you are not selling a product on the spot. For example, you can create a themed beverage or props for people watching the event.

4. Pick the Right Timing:

When to run your Halloween themed marketing campaign?

Well, it should be neither too earlier nor too late. Simply put, the campaign shouldn’t be run months before Halloween or on the exact day. According to Google Trends data, the searches for the term Halloween is on the rise during the week leading up to Halloween. On the basis of this data, here are things helping you pick the right timing for Halloween online campaign.

Run promotional offers and special discounts for Halloween in the last week of October.
Publish blog posts, social media content and email marketing throughout October.
Google Ads campaign can be run throughout October.

So these are the ideas helping your business get a great exposure this Halloween. Want to share your own ideas with us? Please let us know by commenting below!!!

Blog, KVR Singapore

8 No-Nonsense Tips to Start Your Business in Singapore

October 20, 2018 Varun Sharma Leave a comment

Here are the things you should do to make your business venture successful in Singapore.

Want to start your business?

With attractive tax laws, business friendly economy, close proximity to big markets like China and India and sophisticated technology, Singapore is the world’s best place for doing business.

Ironically, 50-70 percents start-ups fail within the first 18 months! Or you can say that surviving the initial period is tough. The key reasons of failure are poor financial management, lack of effective business plan, faulty business model and poor marketing.

So you need to be careful at the every phase of your business developing.

With effective business practices, planning and marketing, you can minimize the chances of failures and thrive as well.

Here Are the Tips to Introduce Your New Business

1. Research Your Market:

You cannot just start a business without doing the research first. Otherwise, your business won’t get traction as it wasn’t built to serve the customers.

Therefore, market research is the first and foremost thing to do. It is all about understanding customers, their concerns and how your business can help them. It helps you develop a product or service that is well received by your customers.

Market research is important to determine the viability of your idea before you invest your hard earned money on the venture. With a thorough research, you get the information you need to carry on with your idea, fine tune it, take it back to the drawing board or ditch it. In short, it is a process of creating a realistic working plan of action for your business.

Here to points to be covered in your market research plan:

What are you selling? What are features and benefits of your products and services?
Who need your products and services?
How will you reach out to them?
What does it cost to operate your start up?
Your revenues and profits?
Who are your competitors?
How to price your product or service?
Do you have a strategy to aim the customers in a crowded marketplace?

As you answer the above questions, you will identify your areas of improvement, avoid problems and ultimately get a realistic business plan that can work.

2. What is Your Business Structure?

Once you done with your market research, think about the structure of your business. The business structure you choose will determine the legal identity, personal liability for business debts, ownership, registration, funding and taxation.

Some of the major business structures in Singapore are…

Sole proprietorship:

In this business entity, there is only owner who is the absolute authority and responsible for all assets and liabilities related to the business. You will be personally liable for the business’s debts and finances.

Partnership:

More than one individual are involved in ownership and liabilities of the business. When things go wrong, one partner can be held liable for the deeds of other partners and be sued to recover outstanding money or other compensation from his or her personal property.

Limited Partnership:

It consists of a General Partner and any number of limited partners. General partner has more responsibilities than limited partners.

Private Limited Company:

In this business structure, the maximum number of shareholders can be up to 50. Such business entities are mandated to have the suffix “Private Limited”, “Ltd” or “Pte Ltd” in their company name. Shareholders are not personally bound to pay off company’s debts.

3. Limited Liability Partnership:

It is an ideal combination of a Partnership with a Private Limited Company structure. This structure is great for the professionals engaging in the services like architects, accountants, lawyers and management consultant.

(Note: The list of business structures in not detailed. To know more, please click here.)

4. Develop a Business Plan:

A business plan is a blueprint of your business operations and development. It includes the organizational structure of your business and your business’s goals as well. Besides, a business plan is required by banks and investors when you approach them for funding. They will need to know about the organizational structure and how you plan to be successful and your financial projections.

Here are the things to be included in your business plan:

Overview of your Business Plan
Company Description
Products and Services
Market Research
Organizational Structure
Financial Requirements and Plans

5. Choose a Funding Type:

From personal finances to an investor, there are many sources you can use to fund your business. Each source has its own pros and cons.

If you put personal money, you will get the full rewards of your startup being successful. Otherwise the failed business may lead to the loss of your personal assets.

Crowdfunding is also popular among many entrepreneurs. It is generally done online where you present your business ideato get donations. The supporters will get incentive for their investment in return for their donations. It is a quick route to get funding, but you have to pay back to a lot of people once you start getting money.

Angel investors are also a similar type of funding where investors put money in a business in exchange for ownership equity or convertible debt.

Bank loan is a traditional source of financing a business. However, banks have their process which may be strenuous and frustrating. If you choose this type, you are required to put up your personal belongings as collateral as your startup has no cash flow or assets.

6. Get it Registered:

Make sure to get it registered with ACRA. When it is officially registered with ACRA, your business will get a UEN or Unique Entity Number. It will give you an official identity and rights to operate as a business. Once you are registered, you are subject to various government obligations like accounting and taxation. Besides, you have an opportunity to get startup funding.

7. Create a Great Team:

You need a great team to move your business forward. The people you hire should believe in your vision and possess the necessary skill sets. Beyond looking at their resume, here the points to keep in mind while hiring…

Look for a career oriented person
Focus on their practical experience
Assess their skills by giving them a test or situation
Determine if the candidate can stay motivated to cope up with pressure and tight deadlines.
Check out their social media pages to learn more about the candidates.

8. Find an Office Space:

If you have a little budget, you can rent an office in a sharing space where different companies work alongside each other in open floor plans.

However, only get office space if it is required. There are many businesses in Singapore which are run online, while their employees working from the remote locations.

9. Run Marketing Campaigns:

Marketing takes your business to the customers. So you need to be equally focused on business marketing. From digital, outdoor to print, there are many options to market your business in Singapore.

Traditional advertising media like radio, TV and print are still popular and efficient. Since Singapore has the highest Internet penetration rate in the world, investing on online marketing services like SEO, PPC and SMO would be beneficial. So you should combine both form of marketing to see the maximum benefits.

And make sure to incorporate these things in your marketing campaigns

Sell the “benefits” of your products instead of just displaying them.
Listen to your customer’s feedback to make improvements
Market your product before its ready (awareness campaigning to let the potential customers know your products is coming.)
Approach the press or a media house

One more important thing—keep monitoring your marketing campaigns to see if they are benefiting you.

But Rome Was Not Built in a Day….

So these are the ideas to start and grow your business in Singapore. However, overnight success is not guaranteed as it takes years to turn a startup into a successful business. Stick to commitment, value, quality, marketing and changes. All the best!!!

Blog, KVR Singapore, SEO

The Importance of Influencer Marketing in Singapore

October 11, 2018 Varun Sharma Leave a comment

Learn here how influencer marketing can help your business reach new heights.

Imagine that you run a clothing store somewhere in Singapore. And someone like Victoria Loke, who has 11.3 followers on Instagram, says something nice about your products. Or what if your cookery products are endorsed by Willin Low, who has 38.6 k followers on Instagram?

It simply means that their Instagram followers will be curious about your brand. Eventually, they may like to buy it. They do it because their role model is using the brand or recommending it.

Leveraging the influence of celebrity to promote your brands over the Internet is called influencer marketing.

As the name suggests, influencer marketing is a type of digital marketing that capitalizes on the influence of opinion leaders. By doing this, businesses get access to even larger market in the form of their followers or fans.

In short, influencer marketing is one of the effective ways to quickly build your brand online and raise awareness among your audience.

Here is how influencer marketing can take your business to the next level.

Giving Your Brand a Wide Range of Exposure. This is a key benefit of Influencer marketing.

Influencers are instrumental in the rise of new trends and movements. They expose their audience to new brands and products.

The case study how Zafferano, a restaurant chain in Singapore, saw benefit with Influencer marketing is inspiring.

The restaurant company invited 11 Instagram influencers for a special meal. They were asked to describe their dishes and dining experiences as well. And those influencers did so. Afterwards, Zafferano saw a swelling number of customers to their hotel.

1. Builds Credibility and Trust:

Why do people follow influencers over social media? They are inspired by them and follow their opinions. It shows that the brand is reliable and is of trustworthy company when they recommend it. Needless to say it evokes the curiosity in that brand. This way, influencer marketing has the ability to build trust and credibility about a brand.

2. It Prompts Purchasing Decisions:

Most Singaporeans are risk adverse, it means that they believe in taking calculated risk or avoid it at all. This is also true when it comes to making a purchase. This is why they are increasingly relying on influencers or word of mouth to make a buying decision. In this scenario, consider using an online influencer to provide a form of assurance for the consumers.

3. It Doesn’t Force Customers. It Just Inspires Them:

Influencer marketing also works because it is not pushy, unlike other forms of online marketing like PPC.

An influencer just uses or recommends the brand to the audience, rather than imposing it. Since it is used or recommends by their role models, people are likely to be interested in the product. So when you send message via an influencer, it doesn’t appear as pushy.

4. It is Affordable:

Influencer marketing shouldn’t be expensive in Singapore, unless you are interested to work only with celebrities. There are many influencers in Singapore who have a good number of followers, though they are not celebrity. Or you can go for micro-influencers who have fewer followers than that of celebrities. Most of them charge less for sponsored posts. Or they can even work for free products or services, or even as affiliates.

Conclusion:

Influencer marketing takes your brand to a larger number of followers on social media. It helps connect your brand to people and drives their purchasing decision, creating a possibility for extremely high ROI. This form of marketing is really important for startups, small businesses or those who are struggling to get traction in their digital marketing.

Blog, KVR Singapore

Best Food Discount Apps For Foodies in Singapore

October 9, 2018 Varun Sharma Leave a comment

Looking to save money on your dining bills? That doesn’t mean you settle for a cheap or try a few things! Use these apps to save money and go home with a little more full wallet than before.)

Singapore is a paradise for foodies. In fact, we Singaporeans are obsessed with food (an average Singaporean takes five meals a day).

The country is dotted with various national and international restaurants. Then, we have the popular street food joints. From Malay, Thai, Chinese, Indian to other fusion dishes, the country delivers amazing gastronomical experiences.

Icing on the cake is that you can save on your dining bills using food discount apps.

This is really important as the cost of your dining out can eat out a big part of your budget. Singaporeans spend an average S$248 a month dining out. Dinner at a restaurant can be more expensive when you add in the cost of drinks and dessert. This is why we insist you to use food discount apps to get great deal on that next meal. Some apps even help explore new places to try.

Here we have listed such apps to save you money on food wherever you go in Singapore.

1. Chope:

One of the popular food apps in Singapore, Chope helps busy Singaporeans make dining reservations easily and quickly. The app lets you choose from over 1100 restaurants across Singapore.

The user can earn rewards points, known as Chope-Dollars, for each reservation made and fulfilled. You can exchange these points for restaurant vouchers. The minimum exchange rate is $2.50 per reservation. You can get up to 50% off.

You can check out their exciting deals on their website.

Download Chope for iOS
DownloadChope for Android

2. Perx:

If you have Perx, you don’t need to carry the burden of loyalty cards with you. It is an all-in-one loyalty card app. Perx gets you reward or points when used at more than 200 merchants across the nation. These points are exchangeable with free add-ons, toppings and upsize. One more benefit—link your EZ-link card to Perx to get additional savings for your tour across Singapore. You can find merchants based on your location, explore new rewards and share them with your near and dear ones. You can contact the merchant and visit their page all from Perx.

Download Perx for iOS
Download Perx for Android

3. The Entertainer:

This virtual coupon is your gateway to savings on dining, fitness, lifestyle and beauty. You name it and the app has it!

The catch is that the app has 1-for-1 offers on dining deals, meaning that you are required to bring someone along to enjoy the discounts.

Nevertheless, the app doesn’t disappoint if you are looking to save. You can save up to 50% with the Entertainer. Although $85 are required to kick start your coupon game, you can save much money quickly. As an added bonus, you can have more coupons utilizing the in-app currency, Smiles points.

Download The Entertainer for iOS
Download The Entertainer for Android

4. Eatigo

Eatigo is perfect combo of reservation bookings and big discounts for the foodies. After all, it is counted among Singapore’s top food and beverages apps. The best thing is that there are no restrictions like minimum number of persons, or paying for the pile of coupons to get the desired one.

With Eatigo, you can enjoy discounts from 10% up to 50%. However, the actual discounts may vary based on the time schedule of a restaurant. You can choose from over 4000 plus restaurants, that’s too without pre-payments or hidden cost.

With the app’s large stable of partner merchants, you are just as likely to find discounts on popular haunts, as you are to enjoy hefty savings during off-peak hours.

Download Eatigo for iOS
Download Eatigofor Android

5. Offpeak

Offpeak not only helps Singaporeans save time and money by reserving tables in restaurants online, it also offers lucrative discounts. Offpeak has partnered with a large number of restaurants across Singapore, providing you a plenty of choices. You can get the best dining discounts and save up to 50% at top restaurants. Offpeak also get you the list of nearby restaurants as you use your GPS location. The app won’t charge when you want to avail discounts.

Download Offpeak for iOS
Download Offpeak for Android

6. Grabz:

The experience with Grabz is as exciting as what it name says. The app is known for offering the freebies and discounts. The simple app lets you easily scroll through the promos according to your interests and preference. You can get exclusive promotions and rewards. On choosing a restaurant, you will instantly get access to the discounts. The basic membership is free while premium membership takes you to more benefits and rebates.

Download Grabz for iOS

7. Fave:

While it is not a primarily a food app, it has a large numbers of restaurants on its list. The app brings you the best deals and promotions at all your favorite eating outlets in Singapore. Formerly known as Groupon, you can save up to 70% on dining along with gyms, fitness studios, manicures and holidays. Another exciting thing is that you get up to 50% cash back by paying with the Fave app at restaurants or retail stores.

Download Fave for iOS
Download Fave for Android

8. Hungrygowhere:

Hungrygowhere is a complete food app with videos, culinary guides, reviews of restaurants and dishes. The app not only helps you decide where to make a reservation for your next meal, but also lists the discounts and deals. With Hungrygowhere, you get an instant access to exclusive deals to save big at restaurants. Singtel subscribers enjoy additional exclusive dining deals.Singtel subscribers get to enjoy additional exclusive dining deals.

Download Hungrygowhere for iOS
Download Hungrygowhere for Android

9. Quandoo:

Launched in 2012, Quandoo is one of the popular restaurant reservation apps in Singapore. It lets you choose the best restaurants in Singapore with a table reservation system that’s always personalized. With Qunadoo, you can discover new places to eat, make a quick reservation, and get luring deals and promotions.

As an added bonus, you can get loyalty points to be used to redeem your cashback.

No wonder that over 50 million diners use Quandoo to book restaurants online. You can also check out exclusive deals and offers on restaurants at its official site.

Download Quandoo for iOS
Download Quandoo for Android

Conclusion:

So these are the best food discounts apps for foodies in Singapore. These apps not only show you discounts, but also help when you can’t decide where to eat. A great opportunity for those who want to try a variety of dishes at cheap prices!

Blog, KVR Singapore, Popular

How E-Wallets Apps Are Useful For The People of Singapore

October 4, 2018 Varun Sharma Leave a comment

What are e-wallets? How they can benefit you? What are the best e-wallets in Singapore? We have covered your all queries regarding e-wallets.

Carrying a bundle of cash or pile of credit cards is going to be history in Singapore.

Thanks to the introduction of e-wallets which have made the transaction easier and convenient like never before.

Paying in cash has been a part of Singaporean culture. Then, it is easy and familiar to most Singaporeans, especially elders.

However, it can’t be denied that Singapore presents a bright landscape for e-payment. 8 in 10 Singaporeans use e-payments while three in five merchants accept e-payments.

The nation was primary Southeast Asia’s launch pad for the popular digital wallets like Samsung Pay, Apple Pay and Android Pay.

The government is aiming to make Singapore a “cash free nation” by 2025.

So, What are E-Wallets?

E-Wallets, also known as digital wallets, lets you securely store credit cards, debit cards and other payment methods in one digital purse to be used through an app or online. With e-wallet, you can pay or transfer funds using your smartphone without requiring credit cards.

Generally, it is available as a mobile app you can download. Unlike cash or wallet, there is no risk of misplacing or pick-pocketing with e-wallet.

It is a digital way to make payments and send/receive funds.

How Having E-Wallets Can Benefit You

1. Easy to Use:

It is easy to use an e-wallet. Just download the app and follow onscreen instructions to set your account and add your payment details. When you are ready to make your first payment at most retailers, you just have to hold your phone near the point or scan the QR code. The payment will be made. Besides, you can transfer the fund or pay via feeding the amount. Simple like that!

2. Easy to Load Money:

Add money to your wallet easily via credit card, debit card and net banking. You can connect all your cards and mobile money account to an e-wallet. This way, you can avoid the hassle of entering the card details every time you make a transaction. And there is no need to fill your actual wallet with plenty of credit cards.

3. Variety of Uses:

From paying dinner bills, data recharge to buying air or bus tickets, e-wallet can be used for a variety of transactions. It means that the power of making payment is just at a few swipes and taps. The reach of digital wallets has gone far and wide across Singapore.

Also Read: 5 Trending Food Apps for Foodies in Singapore

4. Fast:

With an e-wallet, you can make payment in a simple wave of a phone. It is fast and easy! Modern days’ digital wallet apps store your card details to process your payment in a few and easy steps. There is no need to go through lengthy payment details forms every time you make payment. Once the payment is done, you can view the recorded transactions.

5. Incentives:

Most of the wallets offer a set of incentives like discounts, cash back, offers and rewards. For example, you can get reward or cashback on shopping via the wallet.

Which E-Wallet App to Start With….

After exploring the benefits of e-wallets, you must be eager to download the one right now. Isn’t it?

There are plenty of e-wallet apps to choose from. Here we have handpicked the best e-wallet apps in Singapore for you…

Apple Pay
Samsung Pay
Dash
mWalletSingtel
LoopPay
Google Wallet

E-Wallet is the Future of Transactions. Are You Ready?

With the rising popularity of e-wallets and government’s initiative for a cashless economy, Singapore is on the way to become a cashless nation. Therefore, to adopt the later changes and make the most of digital payment landscape, turning to e-wallets is a wise and nice thing to do.

How’s been your experience with e-wallet? Or you want to know more about e-wallets? Please let us know by commenting below…