A decade ago, marketing trends focused on advertising through offline media because it delivered precise, targeted impact. Then digital disrupted everything as social media entered people’s lives irresistibly. Today, digital marketing has become a fast-rising marketing channel, almost overtaking traditional media. This led Tanapon Subsomboon, President and Founder of Adyim, who loves the speed of the digital world, to seize the opportunity and continuously develop this field into a full-service business.

Mastering digital marketing trends comes from learning, experimenting, and taking action until new sets of data emerge. Then you separate what works and keep developing it further; what does not work and is hard to continue should not be forced.

• Because of my personal interest in e-commerce, as soon as I graduated I started a small buy-and-sell business in the online world. During that time I learned more about how interesting this kind of marketing was. The more I did it, the more fun it became, because the digital world moves quickly and constantly creates new things. When Facebook or YouTube were first born, for example, you could already see how they kept introducing new features based on user behavior. That was something I never overlooked.

• At the same time, my e-commerce business was able to sell because I learned how to capture digital marketing trends through experimentation and action until new data emerged. I then studied that data, separated what could be used and developed it further, and set aside what did not work. I have always used that way of thinking in business.

• Once I saw the results, I became even more interested. I wanted to know more, test more, and eventually became almost addicted to it. But it was a good addiction, because it led me into the digital marketing business in full in 2008 under the name Adyim.

• But nine years ago, digital marketing did not yet play such an important role in business as it does today. Businesses still focused on offline media such as television, print, and billboards, because people still consumed offline media as normal. Only SMEs or e-commerce businesses touched digital, because it required lower investment and gave faster results, while large brands largely ignored it.

• Five years ago, social media entered the scene and people increasingly began consuming it. As a result, businesses and product brands started paying attention to this channel. But in the early period, brands were still attached to traditional media, viewing digital mainly as a channel for customer interaction through prize games, liking and sharing for rewards, applications, or event support.

• As the numbers of social media users and smartphone users surged, brands became much more interested because they saw an opportunity to build brand awareness in line with changing consumer behavior. This caused digital marketing to gain visibly greater importance.

• Adyim, being one of the early businesses to catch this trend, grew continuously along with the market. At the same time, we never stopped thinking and developing our digital marketing approach. Many people may see digital marketing as only advertising, but for us it must cover every dimension.

• I developed the concept of combining three bodies of knowledge: Marketing, Advertising, and Technology. This means strong marketing, advertising that blends technology and various media, and ultimately the creation of new solutions for clients that produce satisfying results. This is what has given our business credibility and built confidence among clients, while also creating stability for the business.

• In about five years, digital marketing will replace traditional media. More than one hundred billion baht in advertising budgets will flow into it. Today, television still holds 60–70% of these budgets, while digital holds around 10%. But in the future, digital will surpass television just as it already has in countries such as the United States and China.

• In the end, no matter how advanced the digital world becomes or how much demand grows for full-service digital marketing businesses, no business can be driven by one person alone. That is why I place great importance on people in the team—supporting them, helping them build knowledge and capability, giving them opportunities to grow on their own, and constantly adding happiness and peace of mind. I also try to be a good example, so the team will love the organization and the work they do. All of this helps drive the business forward sustainably.