Marketing a Small Business in Pattaya: What's Worked for Me

I've marketed seven businesses in Pattaya, from restaurants to car rental to property. Here's what I've learned.

Where would I spend the first baht?

Facebook ads. They're reasonably cheap, they're easy to set up, and they're a good way to get yourself known. All you need is a Facebook page and an ad account with a bank card attached, and away you go.

How do you make Facebook ads work?

Don't get too fancy to start with. Facebook's algorithm is good at working out who your customers are, so you can target fairly broadly these days.

Mix up your creatives: run a few different types of ad, test them, and let Facebook do its thing. Refresh them as often as you can, so they don't go stale and you don't get diminishing returns. It's inexpensive enough that you can afford to experiment.

What else works?

It depends on the business. There's no one-size-fits-all. For Pattaya Rent a Car, Google Ads has worked well. For the property business, SEO worked well for us in the past, though I think it matters less than it used to.

Even on one platform, keep trying different types of ads and different messages. Marketing is always evolving.

What's the biggest mistake?

Not testing. A lot of owners never look at the results, so they never find out what works and what doesn't. Analyse the numbers, keep what works and drop what doesn't.

How much should you spend?

More than most new businesses do. Not spending enough on marketing is another common mistake. Depending on the size of the business, I'd put at least 10 to 20% of your overall spend into marketing at the start. As the months and years go on, you can wind that down to perhaps 5%.

Are influencers worth it?

They can be, depending on the business. I'm not sure they work as well for property or car rental. The key is that it has to be genuine. If it comes across as a paid post, I'm not sure it works.

Find an influencer who's genuinely interested in what you offer. Cajun Life Cafe is a health food restaurant, so fitness influencers are a natural fit. If one of them comes in and raves about it, that makes sense to their followers, and I think it works really well.

For more, read customer service and online reviews, starting or buying a business in Pattaya and how I use AI in my businesses.