Social media - fact or fad?

No doubt 2011 has been an exciting year and it comes complete with bumps throughout the year. For some it has been interesting to watch how social media has changed the way organizations react to crises. For those who have fumbled, I trust it has been exasperating.

According to Facebook’s advertising statistics, currently, there are 2,661,360 Facebook users in the Singapore with a penetration rate of 56.61% in the population and given how engaged everyone is on their mobiles tweeting away at why their trains are late, it beats me why there is still areluctance for businesses to include social media into their strategies. If anything, 2011 is a testament to how social media has provided the everyday Joe with a means to be heard.

Still not convinced? Continue reading…

Elections in Singapore – April-May

Being a politician is no simple feat, from hours of campaigning to promising an entire nation what your party can deliver and manifest. This geek here would like to give a pat on the back to all parties be it ruling or opposition. But what stands out from this election is the unprecedented use of social media for campaigning.

This election has given birth to rock stars like Chen Show Mao and Nicole Seah who have achieved cult like status. The latter has 106,490 “likes” on her Facebook fan page, a good number for one individual if they manage to translate to votes.

While the majority of the voters is silent, one thing for sure, May 7 marks the political awakening for young voters. They are now ready to take a stand for issues close to their heart. All of what the ruling party does in its current stint will no doubt be discussed in social media and it should come as no surprise that the use of social media will have a huge role in the next election.

SMRT – Dec

While the bulk of the population was not left stranded on trains with the recent saga with SMRT, they had a pretty clear idea of how the unfortunate commuters felt with the constant stream of newsfeed.

Through the use of social networking sites and microblogs such as Facebook and Twitter, people all around the nation were able to get instant updates on the statuses of friends and family. Impressions and expectations of SMRT suddenly arise and SMRT did respond by setting up a twitter account though the description of the account left many puzzled “9am-6pm, Mon-Fri (excl public holidays)”. It’s pretty much of an irony since social media don’t sleep. Good thing the description has been removed.

What we can realize here is the updates were not made known to the public quickly, but the first news of the breakdown came from Twitter and Facebook. If done properly, social media could have been utilized to inform commuters that service had been disrupted and commuters should have avoided the service until further notice. It’s cheap, fast and the reach is vast. What more can one ask for?

That being said, social media is not just a fad, it’s here to stay because while there are so many technologies at this time that isolates us from our fellow beings, social networking tools have shown their ability once again to unify us, and bring out what is most altruistic and empathetic in our natures at times it helps the grassroots with our need to be heard.

2012 is definitely an exciting year for all social media enthusiasts and I would like to end it with some food for thought for businesses that have plans or are already engaged in social media.

Make sure you measure

There is much to talk about “What’s in it for me if my business engages in social media?”, “Do the number of likes on my Facebook fan page translate into real business?” or “What’s the ROI?” amongst marketers. The truth is that it can be measured if done right. Focus on what you want to achieve for the year and choose metrics that are actionable and measurable. We all have to start somewhere and even if it doesn’t work out initially, you can use the historical data collected to make sense of where your business currently stands in social media and plan for the future and wiser.

Enriching customer relationships

The tough part about marketing is getting people to buy it. I see many fancy ads on social channels but today’s buyers are wiser than that. It’s definitely a challenge to instill a “customer-first-mentality” but speaking with them and understanding their needs and frustrations in social media is a great step towards building a reliable brand as well as garnering fans for your brand. Gone are the days of a one-way communication.

Let’s face it, Singapore and increasingly the World are critical of standards and as a brand just because you are not talking does not mean that your market isn’t. That said with all the white noise out there, it’s important to know what you want to get out of social media and action upon it fast because if you don’t others will.

To all the readers out there, have a great 2012!

Eddie Chau, CEO & Founder, Brandtology