The number of internet users is currently increasing in the last a few years but not big amount is going up like neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. At the moment, I read some articles from Cambodian bloggers raised about the internet marketing in Cambodia by saying that most of private companies are not interested in advertising online.
Ijaja chose topic on Cambodia almost no online marketing “Unlike its neighboring countries, Cambodia could be considered as a country which almost has not internet marketing on internet.â€
Piseth also raised the topic on Cambodian Internet Marketing Trend 2009 “Until year 2007, I just realized about internet marketing and I noticed some business from Cambodia do their advertising on the internet where most of those are in hotel and tourism industry. I think the hotel can benefit from this online advertising more than other sector because their service is not only for local people but seeking out to reach the international travelers.â€
It is different from the developed and developing countries which private companies are focusing on the online marketing and selling their products online. Looking at the current situation in Cambodia, the process of internet usage is so far from those countries. There are less people to access internet, most of them are students and private staff in provincial town and capital. For my thoughts, I think that why the internet marketing in Cambodia is not popular and not interested from private companies as following:
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Some companies that use internet marketing like hotels and tours, it is because their target groups are foreigners, not Cambodian people.
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Private companies do not advertise online it is because that their advertising is not reaching their target group and their customers will not able to access internet.
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Less Cambodian people can access internet because of the high internet price, lack of electricity in rural areas, and most of Cambodians have no knowledge of English language. At the present, most of websites are written in foreign languages.
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Transaction of payment via banking system is not available in Cambodia. For example, I used to be asked from the foreigners to place advertising on my blog and they transferred money to me via Paypal. It is because we cannot transfer money via banking system, so I rejected that kind of advertising.
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Until now, there are not interested websites created by Cambodian people. Therefore, some companies are not having attention to online marketing.
I just raised some points that I used to meet in the current situation in Cambodian market. And most of private companies like to advertise on local newspapers, Television, Radio and so on because these kinds of advertising have approached their target people, especially those in rural areas. Even though, hopefully the kind of online marketing will be increasing in the future after the increase in internet price, the prosperity of telecommunication… How do you have some ideas related to Internet Marketing in Cambodia, please share with all of us?
