Is Asia one big market? Or are the customers different in different countries and need to be targeted and approached accordingly?
I have seen similarities in behaviours – in terms of consumers’ use of technologies and devices for content creation and sharing platforms – but there are also many differences, especially in the types of content they create, consume, and the local cultural aspects that influence this.
For example, according to the report by Adobe Commerce and Talkwalker, Facebook, Instagram, LINE, and WhatsApp, are widely used across Asian countries such as Malaysia (59%), Philippines (65.4%), Indonesia (65%), Singapore (42.5%), and Hong Kong (42.2%), as part of c-commerce (conversational commerce) to assess and research products.
Once we dive deeper, the type of social activity, attitudes, and interests are far from consistent in countries across Asia, which emphasizes the need to engage each market differently. For example, when it comes to payment preferences, there are big differences – while 97.9% and 95.3% of the population over the age of 15 have a bank account in Singapore and Hong Kong respectively, only 34.5% and 48.9% have so in the Philippines and Indonesia respectively.
It is thus absolutely critical for marketers to mine for deep behavioural and conversational insights so they are mindful of the nuances and cultural contexts that make each customer segment group unique. Creating one campaign and recycling it wholesale across multiple countries in Asia is less impactful. Ideally, marketers should avoid creating a generic or tone-deaf campaign and instead, develop holiday campaigns that truly resonate with their audience.
Based on your experience, any best practices to advise marketers for this region?
Customer needs should be at the heart of any marketing campaign so it comes down to (1) pausing and listening to their needs; (2) immersing yourself in the content they create and share, and (3) involving them in your campaign creation process – whether it’s working with the right influencers or using the right lingo.
- The most critical aspect and the starting point of marketing campaigns should include marketers spending additional time getting to know their customers and researching their individual markets to ensure messaging is right on target. While it’s great to be aware of the industry trends and best practices, brands often forget to pause and dive into what the data is telling them, particularly from a customer perspective.
A solid understanding of the audience serves as the compass for the campaign so the brand can identify and meet the most relevant customer expectations.
To find a deeper meaning behind the numbers, brands need to listen more intently to what customers say. To make customers feel that their thoughts are heard, and better experiences await following their feedback, marketers should invest in the technology and strategies that will help them have a deep understanding of their audience and stay on top of local conversations. This means getting a better sense of the products customers are interested in, how they’re using them, how they feel about your brand and your competitors, and more. - Marketers should also invest in social listening to understand what consumers connect with and how their interests are evolving, especially during unforeseen and uncertain times such as the ongoing pandemic. According to our report with Econsultancy and Hootsuite, almost all (96%) marketers agree that social commerce will become increasingly important in the next five years, while 90% agree that social media drives online sales.
Brands should listen more to customers, start two-way conversations with them, and build
a stronger relationship founded on trust. Social listening will inform the platforms and frequency in which brands should engage with customers on social media. Not only that, but they will also uncover what is not working and can optimize their campaigns along the way – for example, extending their campaigns to include post-holiday period sentiment to keep new customers engaged and loyal. Insights thus gained can be used in combination with transactional data to create a more personalized experience, including more relevant product suggestions to encourage repeat purchases. - Lastly, the campaigns should involve consumers’ preferred ways of creating and consuming content so they are relevant and relatable. Although not all their time on social media is spent searching for shopping inspiration, a substantial number of shoppers (45%) say they spend more than three hours on social platforms daily and 6 in 10 (60%) expect this time to increase.
Not only are consumers using social media to research products, but many are also using it to discover brands. A little more than half (52%) of social shoppers always check social media for more information about a product, before purchasing it.
Today, the information flows two ways as consumers (82%) also share their purchases via their social networks – which amplifies the impact of buying online, reiterating that each purchase can be a social experience. Once a purchase is made, social shoppers become social advocates and, in many ways, micro-influencers for the brand.
We are now in the new era of the channel-less customer, where a brand is defined by those who experience it. Brands that make it through will be those that see this as an opportunity to evolve, building a new customer-centric model with streamlined new processes that enable more efficient operations.
