When social media and entrepreneurship meet. The original version of this article was published on FundingSocieties.com.my.

Social media has penetrated the Malaysian market. Based on research, 75% of Malaysians are engaging in social media actively. Moreover, Malaysia was named as the top country with greatest social media penetration in South East Asia. In recent years, social media has provided opportunities for new merchants to sell products through social media. Some examples are, Facebook Marketplace and Instagram Shoppable Post Function which allow the consumers to list their products for sale on the social media platform.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing helps companies to attract consumers to their products, then convert them into leads and customers. Social media is one of the tactics that can be integrated into inbound marketing. Company may increase it’s exposure by social media promotion. Moreover, inbound traffics usually has a better engagement rate and stickiness (amount of time a user spend on your page).

Another tactic in inbound marketing is structuring for and leveraging user-generated content (UGC). UGC gains better trust as compared to the content and information provided by the company itself. One natural digital behaviour of a consumer is to go through the reviews and comments of a certain product or company on social media to determine the FAB (features, advantages, and benefits) of products or creditworthiness of a company.

Maximize Reach

The rise of social media has led consumers to not rely only on one search engine anymore, in particularly Google Search. In recent years, the search engine on social media platforms are on the rise and slowly replacing the Google Search engine to a certain extent. Search engines on social media platforms allow companies to reach more consumers. Moreover, companies may integrate Facebook advertisements to increase exposure to consumers.  Furthermore, social media has the ability to really allow your message go viral through digital word of mouth i.e. tagging, sharing etc.

Customer Relationship Management – Better Scale and a Better Fit

The various features of a social media platform enables two-way communication between companies and consumers at a larger scale, lower cost and 24/7. For instance comment and live chat features. As compared to the other methods of communication, live chat gains the highest preference from the consumers. Hence, it will be great if companies may allocate some live chat specialists to handle the consumers through live chat.  well-managed social media account may contribute to the improvement of customer loyalty towards the brand and a company’s reputation. Conversely, a poor-managed social media account may lead to drawbacks.

One of the Best Platform to Disseminate Content

The wide reach potential of social media drives it to become a great platform to disseminate content. Companies may create posts or share links and content by using social media easily. Moreover, the “Share” function of social media enables consumers to share the content and the reach can be maximized. A shared post can be viewed as word-of-mouth, in the digital world. Although sharing of content does not mean additional sales, it creates spill-over effects and a referral cycle.

Social Media May Impact SMEs Negatively

Beware! Whilst there are lots of benefits that come with social media, consumers may post negative comments and reviews on social media that destroy the image of a company. Moreover, despicable competitors may attack the company by posting negative comments and reviews on social media with a fake account. In short, social media can be a great platform to connect the company with consumers if it is managed well. A sound social media messaging and moderation guideline can go a long way.

 

Signup with Funding Societies

Account opening link: FundingSocieties.com.my

Plan to diversify your investment portfolio? Start your investment with Funding Societies Malaysia.
Referral code: jghl0uiv

 

You May Also Like

 

How else has social media played a role in your entrepreneurship? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below.