BUSINESS enterprises should no longer view online channels as a blank media space, and instead start producing quality content to harness the full potential of social networking sites to further grow their brands.
Zoe Lawrence, the digital director for market research company Kantar Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), said companies should start learning how to tap social media as a channel for expansion, instead of looking at the digital space as another advertising stream.
Kantar TNS’s Connected Life 2016 study indicates the use of photo-curating application Instagram and multimedia-messaging application Snapchat has risen sharply in the Philippines, with a penetration rate of 50 percent and 20 percent, respectively, as of end-2015.
“The rise of these platforms provides brands with new opportunities to target and engage consumers. However, brands need to be mindful of evolving consumer attitudes as they look to take advantage of the diversifying social-media landscape,” Lawrence said.
The same study she cited showed a quarter, or 23 percent, of connected consumers in the Philippines “actively ignore” social posts or content from brands. Hence, businesses need to avoid being invasive as a third or about 33 percent, already feel “constantly followed” by online advertising.
“What’s crucial is that brands no longer look at social channels as a blank media space for advertising. The results show consumers are demanding content that is integrated seamlessly into the platform, enhancing, rather than interrupting, the use of it,” Lawrence said.
To do this successfully, she explained, it’s essential to maintain the brand values of the platform being used.
“Instagram is a place for highly curated, enhanced images, whereas Snapchat is raw, in-the-moment and humorous. Brands need to approach each platform individually to ensure the content created mixes seamlessly into the user-generated feed and maintains their own integrity,” the executive said.
The digital-commerce industry in the Philippines is expected to balloon to more than $10 billion by 2025, outpacing its peers in Asia and the Pacific, all of which are expected to have an e-commerce market value of $5 billion each.
The Philippines is touted as the social-media capital of the world. It was also the texting capital of the globe, back when basic mobile phones were first introduced.
Today smartphone penetration in the country is around 40 percent, and data from research agency Ericsson showed more than 30 percent of Filipinos use their smartphones for social networking, 40 percent for instant messaging, and around 30 percent for online videos on a daily basis.
Smartphone penetration is expected to increase to 50 percent by year-end.