Get the Word Out!

A new trend is taking the world by storm: social media, once the new-kid-on-the block, has now become the preferred (and suggested) medium to launch mega business ventures.

The last two years have seen to the remarkable development spurred on by social media that functions as a virtual gathering venue for people of diverse backgrounds, locations, as well as social and economic statuses.

In short, such networking system has provided a positive outlet for everyone with access to the Internet to come together and create a web of active links in the world of information and telecommunication that surpasses nearly all physical boundaries known to man.

Indonesia is no exception. A country better known as the fourth most populous nation in the world, after China, India, and the United States - Indonesia is home to some 230 million people. And for any social networking site to be able to tap into this astounding resource is not unlike landing on a gold mine, which is exactly what Facebook, Twitter, and Mig33 have done in the last couple of years.

But to understand the societal impact this type of media has created, one ought to take a closer look at how it is changing the way people do business and transact with each other. New opportunities rise out of the depths of creative technology that allows users to connect and link-up with each other while staying mobile. Via social media, where messages may travel at the speed of light and find more audience than one can crowd into a stadium, it is important to note that the way we market our products has also been altered significantly.

Business marketers call it a ‘viral campaign' - whereby, like a virus, the new marketing strategy aims for a quick-spread that leaves a lasting impression. The way to do this is via word-of-mouth - always the best strategy in business marketing - though first there has to be some kind of hype, because the right hype attracts the best crowd.

And to create the right hype, it requires more than guts. Social media is now recognized as one of the most effective marketing tools in the industry, a favorite among business executives due to the fact that everything you do is well-documented, therefore giving you a quick access to measure your own campaign - which is why it is crucial for users of the networking system to understand the basic form and specific strategies to utilize it to its full capacity as promotional and media tools so as to achieve optimum results.

The ‘It' Crowd

The most recent statistics reveal no less than 19 million Facebook users are Indonesians, a number so epic it ranks the country at number two, after the United States, on the list of countries with the most Facebook users. More than that, in two years, Twitter has generated no less than 5 million users in and around the archipelago, yet another epic number contestable only by Indonesia's largest online community, KasKus.

Another staggering phenomenon includes the rapid market growth of Mig33 in the country. Though largely unheard of in the capital city, where Facebook and Twitter dominate the market, Mig33 is a mobile social networking that provides free integrated services, such as instant messaging (IM), VoIP (Voice over IP), e-mail, sms text messaging, picture sharing, and Instant Messenger (IM) aggregator (connecting users to various popular IM platforms, i.e. Yahoo!, Google Talk, MSN, AOL, Facebook Chat, etc).

Globally, Mig33 caters to 35 million users - nearly half of which are Indonesians. Today, Indonesia ranks first among some 200 countries where the application is used; though it is interesting to note how most Mig33 users in Indonesia reside outside of the capital city, hailing as far as Malang, Klaten, Bandung, and Surabaya. Even better, the large community of Mig33 users in Indonesia are also known for their ‘social gathering events', where fellow users meet and share experiences with each other.

It has been said that the success of social media in Indonesia is largely owed to the rapid development of mobile technology and mobile subscribers. The number of mobile subscribers in the country has gradually and continuously improved by the millions. (The latest data shows no less than 188 million active subscribers: 163 million in GSM, 25 million in CDMA.) While local Telco providers like Telkomsel, Indosat and Excelcom vie for top positions as leading players in the industry, each boasting a total of somewhere between 32-85 million subscribers. Followed by Three, AXIS, Flexi, Esia and Smart with total around 2-14 million subscribers. By the end of the year, experts predict a significant hike in the number of subscribers to somewhere around 200 million. As for mobile internet active users, has recorded in total around 12.5% (23.5 million users) in Indonesia.

Connecting The Dots

Mobile technology has become a crucial aspect in relaying information among users because it proves to be very effective and highly efficient. Media users constantly update their status via mobile devices, with which they also post new photos, play games, purchasing virtual gifts, and a series of other activities. Because of this, industry leaders are constantly upgrading their products to better accommodate their subscribers, something that they recognize as Value Added Services. And to top it all off, service providers such as Telcos are also offering a variety of unlimited internet service packages that are cost-efficient and affordable to the majority of subscribers. For example, Telkomsel recently launched an unlimited internet access for only IDR 2,000 / day via Opera browser, which gives its subscribers- an irresistible bargain.

mobileSQUARED, a mobile research agency based in the UK, predicts that by the end of 2015 there will be 1.4 billion mobile users across Asia will frequently connect to the mobile internet, with a 233-percent in market growth for the Asian mobile internet users from the end of 2009 to the end of 2015. This will undoubtedly place mobile as the primary Internet access channel at the center of business marketing as well as the communication industry.

Believe it or not, the penetrative prowess of social media into our current social landscape has altered the very definition of communication. It doesn't just appeal to people of certain class, education, and stature - it appeals to everybody. Young, old; rich, poor; liberal and conservative. With a total of 400 million Facebook users, 75 million Twitter users, not to mention other social networking systems - the cycle continues, recruiting new members as it goes along.

The question is, perhaps: how is it good for business? Well, let's take a look at some of the available statistics from Facebook:

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• About 100 million Facebook users access their accounts via mobile.
  
• Facebook users who access their accounts via mobile are twice as active compared to those who access them via non-mobile technology.
  
• According to comScore, there's a 112-percent rise in mobile access between January 2009 and 2010.
  
• There are over 200 mobile operators in 60 countries wotking to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products.
  
• Facebook is the most popular networking site with the most hits in Indonesia.
  

The Business End of Things

Implementing the art of doing online business via social media requires a different strategic approach compared to conventional business. The following are several facts derived from various studies:

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• Only 14-percent of consumers take to conventional advertising.
  
• 76-percent of consumers listen to what their friends/other consumers have to say about certain products. In other words, the majority of consumers will most likely try certain products whenever it's recommended to them.
  
• Social media provides a very wide audience and target market.
  
• Consumers take charge of the brand and product. What goes around social media eventually makes or breaks the brand/product. The more positive the response, the stronger the brand.
  
• Promotional campaign will unravel in social media like a virus, because the more a brand/product is talked about, the larger its impacts will be. Even better, this type of campaign is totally FREE.
  
• Using social media is more than just posting bulletin-board materials. You have to be active in engaging your audience and create a communication basis that they can trust. A one-way communication usually comes to a dead-end; as Seth Godin, a marketing guru, once said, "Good marketing encourages the right of conversation."
  
• The communication between consumers and brand/product owners has to flow conversationally. In the social media, conversation is king. This is what led to significant changes in the business model.
  
• The best two-way communication is achieved by including brand or product owners to start participating in a conversation with the consumers, rather than telling them what to do. Such participation requires acts of listening and giving the consumers an outlet to voice their demands, as well as aspirations, to then be facilitated appropriately.
  
• Research says consumers spend less than 1-percent of their time spent by buying products online; and about 99-percent of their time is spent browsing the internet and socializing in existing social networks. Therefore, it is crucial for brand and product owners to participate and interact with their community in order to introduce or market their brand/product.
  
• Establish a relationship with the consumers, which leads to brand/product trust.
  

Having laid out the facts, here's some useful tips collected from various sources regarding the marketing end of business ventures:

1. 
   
2. Share content, product, or brand that you wish to introduce in social media. Communicate it directly, clearly, and transparently.
   
3. Start by listening and monitoring conversationsregarding the content, product, or brand.
   
4. Engage the consumers in each conversation by actively responding, as well as containing and responding, to various aspirations and demands voiced by the consumers (two-way communication). This way, the brand/product creators will have established a trust-worthy relationship with their consumers.
   
5. Evaluate point #3
   
6. Develop content, product, or brand according to the evaluation results of point #4.
   

Bottom Line

It's good to note that the success of a marketing campaign launched via social media cannot be measured by the number of subscribers listed on the brand/product Facebook fan page, or Twitter followers. The success is marked by how many subscribers are actively engaging in issues posted by the brand/product - better if the consumers are proactive in recommending the brand/product to other consumers, which will then take the campaign onto an exponential level of viral campaign.

So what are you waiting for? Start your own campaign using social media. It's one of the most effective channels and resources you can use to get the message out there. Bear in mind that in today's business marketing, the consumers choose and control your brand/product - so they are the ones you really should pay attention to. The better their response, the stronger your campaign will be.

Now give it your best shot!