Let’s start with one simple fact: your business needs a social media presence today and it’s not a passing trend.
Currently, there are 3.4 Billion Active Social Media users globally, with steady annual growth showing no signs of stopping.
According to Hootsuite and We Are Social in their latest Digital 2019 report, there are 28 million Active Social Media Malaysian users, making us ranked top five globally and highest in Southeast Asia.
Internet penetration in Malaysia, stood at 80% with an average daily time spent of 8 hours using the internet via any device, with mobile internet users at 77%. A whopping 83% of users are online every day.
A significant portion of internet usage are for Social Media consumption, with an average daily usage of 3 hours.
And a large portion of users (88%) are using the internet to research for products or services to purchase with 75% making a purchase online. Mobile devices are preferred with 58% purchases coming from this medium.
Benefits of Social Media Marketing
Social networks are now well established, that there are a core top social networks that don’t change much from year-to-year. The most popular social media sites vary a lot by level of usage in different countries and demographics. Understanding these differences in popularity of different social networks is important when targeting specific audiences.
In Malaysia, the top 3 Social Network are;
- YouTube
while the top 3 social messengers/chats are;
- Facebook Messenger
Google.com remains the preferred search engine platform along with Google.com.my.
When comparing the most popular social networks it’s best to review them by active account usage, not just the number of user accounts.
For some of you, investing in a social media marketing service may have been identified as the missing link connecting you with your consumers. However, for the others, who are still contemplating diving into the social media marketing end, look no further than the following facts.
Social media marketing increases your brand’s awareness. 78 % of small businesses use social media to attract new customers. Furthermore, 33% of customers have identified social media as to how they identify new brands products and services.
Social media marketing helps to validate your brand. A company’s social media presence, when done correctly, tells consumers that their brand is active and focused on thriving communication with consumers. 63% of consumers who search for businesses online are more likely to use ones with an informative social media presence.
Social media marketing has the power to increase customer loyalty. 71% of consumers who received a quick response on social media would recommend the brand to others.
Most significantly for Malaysia, a country with a diverse population of more than 32 million, speaking multiple languages, having different lifestyle and behaviour, social media marketing offers flexibility, precise targeting and most importantly, the ability to track your digital ROI.
Is Social Media Marketing for Everyone?
It doesn’t matter if you run a small local shop or a big national company. Social media is an essential piece of your business marketing strategy. Social channels help you connect with your customers, increase awareness about your brand, and boost your leads and sales.
But Social Media Marketing is really tough!
With constant changes (think FaceBook for this year alone), it’s a lot to keep up with. A recent algorithm change in Google shocked the system of many websites from the healthcare sector saw their traffic coming to a grinding halt. The question is are you prepared to constantly keep up with the changes?
Social media marketing is more than just posting to social accounts, there are many elements of marketing that needs to be considered and applied to the digital strategy and those quick learn digital marketing courses that seem to be popping up everywhere won’t help much.
Many business owners struggle with social media marketing, because of the lack of understanding of how to craft out a social media strategy that works for their organization.
In the next post, we will dive in deeper on How to Prepare Your Social Media Marketing in Malaysia.