“Think about what people are doing on Facebook today. They’re keeping up with their friends and family, but they’re also building an image and identity for themselves, which in a sense is their brand. They’re connecting with the audience that they want to connect to. It’s almost a disadvantage if you’re not on it now.” - Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s Co-Founder and CEO
Social media has long been recognized as the fastest-growing trend in the history of the world. What started as simple platforms to connect with family and friends grew into something big that it’s even now being used to market products and services. And if social media marketing is done efficiently, it can spell success not just for major brands but even start-ups and SMEs.
What this means is clear – if your business is not on any social media platform, then you’re wasting what many consider today as an incredible marketing channel. Even major brands are upping their game by establishing a strong online presence through Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram among others. From food and beverage chains to banks and airlines, many have embraced social media enthusiastically.
Social Media Marketing in Singapore – Which of these Platforms Works Best?
Social Media Marketing in Singapore
Singapore is named as one of the countries with the most advanced technology in whole Southeast Asia and around the world. Its population of an estimated 5.6 million citizens spends around 7 hours using social media to connect with their family and friends daily. YouTube and Facebook remain to be two of the most popular and widely used social media platforms in the country.
Here are some interesting facts about the number of social media platform users in the country.
• Facebook users grew from 4.1 million in 2019 to 4.5 million in January 2021. The majority of the users are men, which accounted for 50.4% of its entire population.
• Instagram users grew from 2.2 million in 2019 to 2.4 million in January 2021. The majority of the users are women, which accounted for 55.2% of its entire population
• 86% of the country used YouTube in January of last year.
• LinkedIn users in the country are around 3 million today. 1.8 million of its users are around 25 to 34 years of age.
And the number of users and time spent using these platforms will continue to grow, which is why it’s necessary to not waste any more time and start acting now. You have plenty of options – from Facebook and Instagram to LinkedIn and YouTube, your brand can’t afford to miss the great opportunity of launching a social media campaign in Singapore today.
Top 4 Social Media Platforms to Consider for Business
The good thing about social media, or digital marketing as a whole, is that it puts all businesses on the same playing field. But this also means that you need to step up your social media game. Win your followers instead of turning them away by creating effective social media marketing strategies. You can’t be too pushy though because you might end up deterring your target audience and even generate negative results for your brand. It’s all about getting them to engage with you and your brand through social media. Do it all right and you’ll be reaping the benefits that social media has to offer.
1. Facebook
There may have been controversies and criticisms that Facebook faced, but it’s unarguably the best social media platform that any business can use today.
Pros:
Direct audience interaction. Once you caught the attention of new and existing customers, Facebook becomes a place where you can interact with them openly. Some companies even created dedicated pages and private groups where people can join and interact or ask questions to the representatives.
Targeted advertising. One of the major benefits of using Facebook is that it’s the most targeted form of advertising. Businesses can market their brand, products, and services to people depending on their ages, interests, locations, behaviors, and more.
Massive audience reach. Co-founded by Mark Zuckerberg, it’s been recognized by some as “the universal social media network” with over 2.8 billion users globally as of December 2020. With billions of users logging in to their Facebook accounts, it’s one of the best ways of finding the audience you’re targeting, keeping in touch with loyal customers, and garnering new customers.
Low ads CPC. Companies may see better return on their investment because of the low ads CPC. Link clicks are counted instead of engagement clicks such as likes, shares, and comments. This means your SMM marketing budget can be spent more efficiently when it only factors in clicks that matter.
Go-to ads for Small-medium sized businesses. These types of businesses can compete in the same arena as major brands because they don’t have to spend a lot of money to create adverts on Facebook. Businesses can reach a number of people for a price.
Cons:
Not suited for all businesses. Many businesses saw success when using social media as their main marketing channel, but not all are suited to using it. You may opt to do it yourself instead of hiring an SMM expert, but note that you may not have the skills to plan and create content, handle enquiries and complaints, etc.
Drives traffic but not guaranteed ROI. The huge number of Facebook users in Singapore alone may be enough reason to make you jump into Facebook advertising. Please note though that Facebook can drive traffic to your business as it engages users, the ROI is not guaranteed as different ads may deliver different results.
2. Instagram
Two months after Instagram was launched in 2010, this photo-sharing platform garnered over a million users. The number keeps on growing and it’s been estimated to grow over a billion in 2023. In addition to sharing photos, businesses can place video ads to promote their brand.
Pros:
Appealing to a younger audience. Instagram may initially be known as a photo-sharing platform, but its appeal to a younger audience is immense. Younger audiences like it for its trendiness and because it’s able to capture their creativeness.
Created for mobile. Instagram was originally an iPhone-only application and its Android version was released two years after. Some of the features may not be available or fully work aside from mobile-only.
Go-to ads for eCommerce businesses. People, especially the younger generation loves to shop. Instagram offers a feature called “Checkout,” which is great for eCommerce businesses. Thanks to this feature, clients who are interested in purchasing a product can do it directly from the shop’s account.
Cons:
Not suited for all businesses. Instagram is a visual tool. Non-visual brands may have a hard time penetrating this platform especially if they don’t share any appealing content or pictures.
Takes time to get consistent engagement. Using Instagram as part of your social media marketing efforts requires that you be consistent in engaging with your followers. It’s possible that not all of your target audience is on this platform. You also need to make sure that you’re consistently posting engaging photos on your account. Instagram becomes ineffective when you can’t consistently do it.
3. LinkedIn
Launched in 2003, LinkedIn became a social media site primarily used for professional networking. Employers mainly post jobs while job seekers browse through vacancies and upload their CVs. Even if it’s used mainly as a networking tool, it’s still considered a great platform to share and promote business-related content.
Pros:
Easier to connect to the specific target audiences. LinkedIn has targeting capabilities that make it easy to reach your audience when you run an ad on this platform. From location and company to job titles and skills, marketers can make necessary changes to their ads to reach their targeted audience.
Go-to ads for businesses under the Service sector. Businesses under the service sector can create LinkedIn ads and begin generating leads in minutes. Ads can be personalized so you only reach the audience you’re targeting.
Cons:
Has a fraction of active users compared to other social platforms. Other platforms may have millions or even billions of users around the world, but LinkedIn only has a fraction of active users. Not many use it as often as Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, so there’s a possibility that it’s going to be hard to reach your target audience.
High ads CPC cost. LinkedIn can help you achieve your marketing goals, but it comes with a price. It’s currently around $5.26 per click while it’s $6.59 per 1000 impressions. And it changes based on industry, specific audience interest, and other factors.
4. YouTube
The popularity of YouTube is huge. Although you can share videos on Facebook and Instagram, YouTube remains to be the most used platform to share and watch videos online. With over 2 billion active users monthly, it has become a great platform for branding and showcasing their business’ personality.
Pros:
Videos can be used for other marketing strategies. A powerful marketing tool for businesses, YouTube lets you create video channels and connect with users through the videos you upload. Aside from advertisements, you can create tutorials and tips to create an image of authority in the industry. Visual brands can visually show products and narrate their descriptions, etc. And don’t forget that the videos can be optimized for YouTube SEO so they can get views and even show in the Trending list.
Video can be shared to other social media channels. As the number one video-sharing platform, YouTube videos can be shared on other social media channels. The “Share” link or button makes it easy to share videos you uploaded on your company’s official YouTube channel to your other social media accounts.
Cons:
Videos can take longer to produce. Humans are highly visual creatures and it’s quicker to retain information from watching videos. Though great for marketing, businesses need to consider that it also takes longer to produce a single video. From thinking up ideas to filming, it can take hours or days to finish filming and editing videos.
Sourcing manpower to create and edit video is an extra cost. Another disadvantage of YouTube is that it costs extra to source manpower who will create and edit the video. Though you don’t need to have a high budget, it will still cost you to produce a video compared to using other social media marketing platforms.
So there you have it, the top 4 social media platforms to consider using for your marketing efforts. The answer to which of the four is best for your business entirely depends on your product or service, target audience, and time (and even budget) allotted to these social media channels. It’s best for businesses to have active accounts on these platforms though and not focus on each of its disadvantages. With the help of an experienced social media marketing company, you’ll get a better understanding of how each platform works and how you can turn it around to your advantage when you start marketing in Singapore.
