Do you think that social media is suitable platform for businesses to attract and retain customers? Well, absolutely. That’s because, nowadays, everyone including the top talents from all over the world is on social networks.
Singapore’s digital marketing environment is undergoing some drastic changes over the last decade and had a significant impact on how businesses are attracting and branding their products and services. Furthermore, it has significantly changed the way businesses operate.
Social media marketing is one of the best ways to co-create and attract customers. Businesses can communicate, connect, and collaborate with clients via social media.
So how do businesses involve their customers in developing new products and services?Startupgrind has come up with 4 tips to help companies exploit social media as a way to increase the businesses’ online presence and to help create products that increase consumers’ likelihood of purchase.
- Empower your customers to develop products that sell.
2. Transform customers into partners to build brand loyalty.
3. Innovate with customers to streamline development.
4. Improve the customer experience to elevate brand reputation.
Examples
E-commerce platform Shopee
E-commerce site Shopee would be a great example of efficient and productive use of social media marketing, as it takes the lead of aggressive marketing in Southeast Asia. Alongside partnership, Shopee has invests significantly in its marketing effortss in an effort to establish supremacy in the highly competitive e-commerce environment of Southeast Asia.
Additionally, Shopee engages various artists and personnel as their regional brand ambassador. For instance, Shopee introduced professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as its regional brand ambassador, nearly a year after it tapped South Korean girl group BLACKPINK as its first-ever regional brand ambassador.
Other than having regional brand ambassadors, Shopee also launched various campaigns catered to different countries and customer segment. For instance, Shopee Malaysia introduced a new in-app portal called Shopee for Men, aimed at facilitating the online shopping experience for men and serving as a one-stop platform with a curated selection for men’s needs. This campaign seeks to enable male shoppers to enjoy perks such as discounts, free shipping and cashbacks. In addition, the campaign coincides with Super Men Day, offering discounts across all categories on a variety of men’s products.
Coca-Cola “Share a Coke” Campaign
Another great example would be Coca-Cola, which leverages social media co-creation to remain relevant through the customization of its goods. Coca-Cola organized “Share a Coke” initiative to mark the SG50 event. They wanted this campaign to remind people of the different places and symbols that played significant roles in making Singapore special.
Traditional Coca-Cola bottles feature their side with the company logo. The company has started branding the cans and bottles with nicknames and phrases instead of their logo for the “Share A Coke” campaign. Furthermore, they were further pushed by the auspicious SG50 event where they several famous Singaporean words including Auntie, Uncle, Ah Boy and so on.
The campaign soon gained popularity as many people are fascinated by having a bottle with their names and their peers ‘ names. This event became even more popular when the firm encouraged people to share their “Share A Coke” stories with the hashtag #ShareACoke on social media. The “Share a Coke” initiative has proven one of the most successful marketing campaigns in recent years, with an impressive social media legacy.
Conclusion
Social media marketing can help to promote two-way communication between businesses and a number of consumers. Using social media to market could help boost customer engagement and relationship management, thereby supporting customer attraction and retention. Thus, great social media marketing can bring considerable business success, create dedicated brand advocates and even drive leads & maximize sales.
XinRui's Blog 
Great post! I really do love the marketing campaign from Shopee, the more discounts the merrier!! I had a #Shareacoke Coke can before, and I felt so bad of drinking it. I wanted to keep it as a keepsake but too bad I was thirsty:(
Which of the campaign you like the most out of two of the above?
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Thanks for commenting on my post! I would say I prefer Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign as it’s an initiative to celebrate SG50. So I believe that its definitely more memorable! However, I certainly think that Shopee has also done an excellent job in promoting their brands on various social platforms and engaging various celebrities to endorse.
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It’s amazing that how your post reminds me of the “Share a Coke” can I had years ago! It’s such a petty that I didn’t keep the can…
I didn’t know Shopee Malaysia has an in app portal just for male customers. But what about Shopee Singapore? Do they have similar app functions and campaigns targeted for male customers?
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Hi Ricky, thanks for commenting! To answer your question, Shopee Singapore also came out with marketing campaigns that were aimed at male customers. They launched the “Shopee Men Deal” in April 2019, which featured a curated list of top brands, products, and deals tailored specifically for male shoppers. I believe that marketing campaigns targeted at different groups of consumers will certainly help Shopee raise awareness and boost sales!
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i love shopping on Shopee! i remember when the BLACKPINK and Ronaldo’s videos were released, the song was so annoying it got stuck in my head. engaging with celebrities is one of the ways to allow more people to know about your brand, as they usually have millions of followers on Instagram – a form of social media. great take on social media marketing, keep up the good work!
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Hi Esther, thanks for commenting! Yes, I also remember seeing Shopee’s videos on various social media platforms. I agree that engaging with celebrities is one of the ways to raise brand awareness! When famous people like celebrities are seen in advertisements promoting a new product, audiences are prompted to buy that product, either subliminally or directly. Thus, potential positive effects of celebrity endorsement on product sales cannot be understated.
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I’ve actually tried the “Share a Coke” back then. It is quite fun. It is true that social media marketing does help to boost not only the awareness but also the sales of the company.
But I do believe actually the history and reputation of the company does make a difference. If you look at it, Coca-Cola is already well known even before we are born.
So will startups also benefit from utilising social media marketing? Other than social media, is there other ways that companies can adopt to raise awareness and boost sales?
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Hi Andy, thanks for commenting! I agree with you that a company’s history and credibility make a difference in how customers view the brand.
Pertaining to your question, I believe that startups will definitely benefit from utilizing social media marketing. This is because the main thrust of making use of social media as a business is to grow your customer base, as well as be able to market your service or product to as many people as possible.
To answer your second question, there are certainly numerous ways companies can adopt to raise brand awareness and boost sales. Besides social media marketing, companies can also hold events or launch a PR campaign. However, since social media marketing is the in-thing now. Thus, I believe that companies can also combine social media marketing with other advertising methods.
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Hi Xinrui! This is such awesome and informative post! I love that you gave such a variety of examples! It made me realise how much social media marketing is being used nowadays. I do agree that by using social media to market can help brands boost customer engagement and relationship management!
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Hi Raihan, thank you for taking your time to read my blog! I am glad that you enjoyed reading my post! Social media marketing is an in-thing now and almost every businesses are trying to use it to market their brand.I certainly believe that marketers will definitely benefit from using social media marketing with good planning and relevant content and help them build their own brand.
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