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March 27, 2012

What’s Coming at Facebook That Marketers Should Know

Facebook is to launch several premium ads products soon to provide brands more ways to advertise to its audience on Facebook, and changing the current Page design to timeline (by end March). This post briefly discusses the changes on Page and ads marketers should be aware.

Sponsored Story

Facebook Premium Ads

Previously (and right now), the sponsored story appear on the right-hand side. But, it will appear as a sponsored story on the right-hand side and it can also appear in news feed on both desktop and mobile. All of these placements are on Facebook’s homepage.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,
February 15, 2012

Why You Should Start Developing A Mobile Strategy

As mobile is showing its increasing power and popularity to marketers, many businesses are still hesitant building a mobile websites. It’s right not to jump to building a mobile website or app without having a proper strategy for mobile to be integrated into the overall digital roadmap; but, it’s essential for businesses to understand the importance and why they need to build content for mobile.

More Mobile Phones Users

Mobile Phone Users Penetration in Asia Pacific

Mobile Phone Users Penetration in Asia Pacific

eMarketer estimates over 2.1 billion people in Asia-Pacific will use a mobile phone at least monthly this year, representing over half the population of the region.

Mobile Phone Penetration

Mobile Phone Penetration Worldwide

Mobile internet penetration is expected to rise to 42.1% of mobile users in the region by 2015. And for many of these users, mobile is the first screen for internet access.

You don’t have to wait for more to see mobile users overtake fixed Internet users in one market after another.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Digital Strategies Tagged With: , , ,
February 8, 2012

The Secret Behind The Success of Pinterest.com

Pinterest Traffic Trend

Pinterest.com Traffic Trend

Launched in March 2010, the invitation only site Pinterest.com received nearly 11 million total visits during one week last December, almost 40 times the number of total visits versus just six months ago. Stats from ComScore showing that Pinterest had 11.7 million unique monthly visitors in January 2011.

Pinterest.com

Pinterest.com

Pinterest.com is growing like crazy; check out this website now if you haven’t. Pinterest is not only surprising of its own traffic growth but also being a referral giant (driving more traffic than Google+ and LinkedIn) and retail sites like ideeli.com has seen increased sales resulted from Pinterest traffic.

But, what makes Pinterest so successful? To understand that, let’s take a look at what Pinterest is from its official introduction:

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

People love to browse, organize and share all the beautiful things; Pinterest did nothing but inspire and empower its users to do that. Yes, that’s the secret: Pinterest inspires people. The inspiration connects people to something greater and gives them the courage and power to incarnate their unique talents.

Of course, tactically Pinterest has benefited a lot from its well integration with Twitter and Facebook; but, it’s the inspiration that fueled the word of mouth.

Companies are trying to push their products to consumers via regular advertising or social media campaigns, which may influence the prospective customers; but, it’s not sustaining and will be eventually vanish after which the companies get ready for the next “push”. Yes, this is how most companies get their products sold; but, this doesn’t create great companies or businesses.

Adidas inspires people with “Impossible is nothing”, having motivated millions of people; with Canon, “you can”. When you open a can of Coca-Cola, you actually “open happiness”. At IKEA, you are not buying furnitures as it’s a place you “design your own life”.

If you are one of few who strive to go from “good” to “great”, build and inspire your community, for which social media is a great tool for you.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,
January 3, 2012

How to Increase Your Facebook Fans

?esky: Logo Facebooku English: Facebook logo E...

Image via Wikipedia

Getting “likes” on Facebook Page is usually the first thing marketers focus after setting up the Page. But how?

It’s important to first understand why people “like” and “unlike” a Facebook Fan Page and learn from them; experiment, track and optimize channels and tactics you attempt to increase your Page fans.

Why People Like A Facebook Fan Page

Learn from the best practices; find out what worked for other companies.

A survey by Lithium and the Chief Marketing Officer Council revealed the top three reasons why marketers believe consumers like their Facebook pages:

  • Agreeable content, 57%
  • They want to be heard, 41%; and
  • They want to track news on the brand and its products, 40%

And, the top three reasons consumers cited for liking Facebook pages were:

  • Because they are loyal customers, 49%
  • Tracking news on the brand and its products, 46%; and
  • Seeking incentives or rewards for engaging with the brand, 46%

Continue Reading

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With:
December 13, 2011

Why Is Singapore’s First Virtual Shopping Wall A Failure?

SMRT QR Codes Shopping

SMRT QR Codes Shopping

Singapore’s public transport service provider SMRT, working with retailer Cold Storage,  transformed some of the wall spaces at its stations into virtual ‘shops’ where commuters can make purchases on the move.

The idea is this (via SMRT PR release, PDF):

they can order the latest tech gizmo while standing at the station platform, or do a bit of grocery shopping while waiting for their friends at the station foyer; without having to step into a shop, queue, send an SMS or make a call. All that is required is a QR code reader, which is installed in most phones, or widely available for free in the latest mobile platforms.

I went to Bugis station to take a look and took a photo of the wall as shown above. It’s definitely good attempt of creating good commuting experience. But, it’s a failed attempt. Let me tell you why.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Digital Strategies Tagged With: , , ,
December 12, 2011

How To Get Consumers Talking About You

When consumers talk about your company, they’re sharing personal experience with friends and those they don’t know. That could have a positive or negative impact on your business. First of all, it’s important to understand what get consumers to share experiences.

why consumer share company experience

Why Consumer Share Company Experience

NM Incite’s data shows that 61% of social media users share company experience to “give recognition for job well done”. You should realize that social media is not merely for marketers as its real power can hardly be utilized until it’s embraced by the company.

Among consumers, bloggers are more influential. Sharing expertise and experience is the number one reason many bloggers blog. They blog about brands that they love or hate, they post reviews, good or bad experience with your customer service staff, or gossip they hear.

Once the interaction takes place between your business and bloggers, there is a much higher chance, compared to non-blogger consumers, they are going to share it; as more consumers have been educated of the harm they could do to businesses on social media and the favor they could do to support their friends, the words can spread like a virus.

People talk; companies get talked about. That is not in companies’ control; but, creating positive and good experience  and engaging consumers are.

Filed Under: Digital Strategies Tagged With:
December 6, 2011

How to Get High Ranking on Google and Nothing Else

I’m very surprised to see in the past few years that many people conduct search engine optimization (SEO) as if they could outsmart tech giants like Google who have top-notch scientists in the world.

Whatever you do for your business via digital, don’t forget the ultimate objective — revenue. To achieve the long-term growth, companies must create “value” for customers and the prospects.

Search engine traffic is very cost effective; but don’t ever think the goal of SEO is to drive traffic to your website; your sites may rank very high for competitive keywords, but you will have very low conversions if you ignore user experience.Continue Reading

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November 22, 2011

7 Most Valuable Content Types for B2B & B2C Marketers

A Picture of a eBook

e-book reader via Wikipedia

A few years ago, you might often hear people saying that "content is king" whether or not they truly understood what that meant. I talked to a friend the other day and he asked me, "is content still king as social media is getting all the attractions.

Content was, is and will be king, no matter what platform the content is on. Let me share seven types of content that are helpful supporting marketing objectives to both B2B and B2C industries.

Blog Posts

The wrong question you may often hear is, is blogging for B2B? The answer is yes and you should ask what content you should generate for blogs to make it work. Producing both search engine friendly and compelling content is important promoting your posts out to the crowd.

Virtual Events (e.g. Webinars)

Highly interactive virtual events are found to be a cost effective way by many marketers. B2B marketers specially find webinars effective for generating leads and interacting with prospective customers.Continue Reading

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November 15, 2011

What Type of Facebook Post Type Most Engaging?

Ad agencies or in-house marketers nowadays talk about engagement all the time, but how you ever asked yourself why engagement matters to brands?

Why Engagement Matters

To understand why engagement matters, brands must understand the top engagement elements:

  • feeling valued
  • efficiency
  • trust

which are also the most important needs consumers have when they reach out to a brand. Now you know why engagement matters to brands. But, how to effectively drive engagement on Facebook?Continue Reading

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,
October 25, 2011

Monitor & Compare Social Media Reach in Facebook & Twitter

More often than not, some marketers in this market are quite single-minded with one metric for social media being either the total “Facebook Likes” or “Twitter followers”.

Regardless of the importance of “the reach”, l’m sharing one tool from Wildfire that can help you monitor the reach of your Facebook Page and Twitter account; in addition, you can compare yours with that of your competitors.

Facebook Likes of Singapore Telcos

Facebook Likes Comparison of Singapore Telcos

You can view comparisons and trends of daily as well as cumulative data with Wildfire Monitor. If you have an account, you can save the comparison and track “the reach” over time.

Measuring the reach in terms of Facebook fans or Twitter followers is no doubt an important metric; but, don’t make it the only one and it’s definitely not the one that matters most.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: , ,
October 18, 2011

Singapore Internet Users Spend Longest on Facebook

Experian Social Media Study

Experian Social Media Study

A recent Experian study found that Singapore Internet users spend the longest on Facebook, with an average of 38 minutes and 46 seconds per session. This study illustrates the importance of Facebook marketing to those who still wait and see.

Facebook is turning from an optional marketing channel to one that marketers shouldn’t miss. However, rushing to the Facebook to promote your products or services without proper strategy and planning will simply cost you a lot more than what you can gain.

Singapore has very good environment for entrepreneurs and in recent years I’ve seen tons of companies offering digital marketing services from search marketing to social media. Some are new; some were previously web design companies or even web hosting companies. Suddenly, every company that has even a little to do with Internet now offers digital marketing. I’m warning you here that you must be careful who you select as your digital agency.

I’ll share more in another post in selecting vendors for marketing; but, at least you should know this: compelling and interactive content that engage the prospective customers is essential for your brand on Facebook.

You can also check out Singapore Facebook user demographic data here.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: ,
October 11, 2011

Yes! We Love Promotions in Asia [Survey]

Asian Family Customers Shopping in The Super M...

Image by epSos.de via Flickr

A recent Nielsen survey about impact of promotion on Asia Pacific shoppers found that shoppers in Vietnam and Malaysia were particularly motivated by promotions, followed by shoppers in China.

Here is a summary of this survey findings:

  • While Vietnamese shoppers are most focused on promotions, they scored among the lowest in terms of price consciousness across the region
  • Shoppers in India (88%) on the other hand, are the most price-conscious in the region, followed by Malaysian (68%) and Singaporean (62%) shoppers
  • Malaysia currently still has the distinction of having the highest proportion of males who say they are the main shoppers for the household (37%), and the Philippines (33%).  China (32%), which saw the highest jump in the proportion of male “main shoppers” from previous levels, also warrants a good re-look
  • Shoppers in India (33%), Hong Kong (30%) and the Philippines (29%) stand out as the most impulsive (i.e., they usually do not plan their shopping trips) shoppers in the region
  • Korean (98%) and Taiwanese (94%) shoppers were the most likely to plan their shopping trips
  • Shoppers in Hong Kong are also the most prolific “top-up” shoppers (followed by Singapore and Indonesia), averaging 10 such trips in a month, almost twice the regional average and more than thrice the monthly frequency of their “main” shopping trips

For retailers targeting Asia Pacific, this is very valuable information needed for developing the most effective digital strategies for each market.

Filed Under: Digital Strategies Tagged With: , , , , ,
October 5, 2011

Complete Guide to Twitter Search & Monitoring (7 Free Tools)

230 million tweets are generated a day and it’ll be very valuable to monitor and filter out unwanted noise for analysis or timely response. This guide shares 7 free tools you can use to monitor Twitter using Twitter web interface, RSS, email alerts as well as tracking questions on Twitter and archiving tweets for analysis.

Monitor Twitter with Official Twitter Search

Twitter Search Results Page

Twitter Search Results Page

If most of your Tweeting time is on Twitter web, its official search box could be very handy. Enter the term you want to monitor, being either your brand or product model, refine it, and save it when you’re satisfied with the results.

If you are not skilled using search operators, go to advanced search here.

Track Twitter Search Results in RSS Feeds

There used to be a feed icon on the right sidebar of Twitter search results page, which is gone in the new Twitter interface. But, don’t worry, replace “singapore” with your desired search term in the link below:Continue Reading

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September 26, 2011

Listerine’s Fun & Engaging YouTube Video Campaign

Listerine tried to bring their brand idea of ‘what you put your mouth through’ to life in an extremely visual way, with a touch of comedy via its YouTube campaign, “Mouth vs. Life”, supported by mastheads on the YT homepage, TrueView Video Ads and Promoted Videos.

Watch the YouTube campaign case study below:

Listerine’s YouTube channel received no less than 2.5 million views with a dwell time of 1 minute and 2 seconds. They also received 55 million impressions across their mastheads.

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September 20, 2011

Benefits of Sharing Behind The Scene Operations

Leica released a beautiful video about two months ago that walks us through how more than 100 different parts come together to create a killer camera lens. Take a look:

Leica also shared why they made the video:

Every Leica lens is hand-crafted and goes through meticulous manufacturing processes to uphold the quality and precision that Leica defines and customers have come to expect. In the age where technology almost inevitably means mass manufacturing, Leica products are still made with exacting precision by the hands of highly-trained technicians.

This video gives you a behind-the-scenes look at the craftsmanship and making of Leica lenses in the production facilities of Leica Camera AG.

Business processes and operations are usually behind the scene and unknown to the customers; however, if exposed properly, you could have a powerful word-of-mouth campaign that have high impact.Continue Reading

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