360DigitalInfluence

During my recent trip to Singapore, I had the opportunity to grab coffee and have a chat with Ben Koe, Employee #3 of JamiQ, a new social media monitoring service which is currently in beta.

I’ve asked Ben a few quick questions about the state of social media across Asia Pacific, what companies should do first before jumping in, and how JamiQ will be different from the array of social media monitoring services currently on the market:

Q. How would you characterise the digital landscape here in Asia Pacific?
Asia Pacific contains some of the most densely connected communities in the world which makes it one of the largest opportunities for digital marketing. However, marketers are still undecided about the effectiveness of engaging online. But this is understandable, while we are certain about the large population that connect online, there is no one best way to reach them.

In order to engage successfully online, marketers need to flip their logic around. Instead of the traditional method of identifying the best media to communicate through, brands can now be their own media. Corporate blogs, community forums, YouTube channels, etc. are all affordable means for companies to establish their presence online and build communities around them. 

Q:  Across APAC, we are seeing an increased interest in social media. Before jumping in, what should organisations do in order to generate real results from their efforts?
Organisations need to take a step back from the hype and observe their brand online. Listening to what’s being said by their customers in the region is the most critical exercise one can perform. The ability to listen gives you the intelligence required to craft an effective communication strategy. Just like how you wouldn’t bother selling in-car stereos to people who take the bus, you need to know what your customers want; and most of the time your customers will not tell you directly, they’ll be telling their friends online.

Too often, marketers are communicating what’s on their agenda completely overlooking the “truth” being talked about on forums or being ranted on blogs. Once you know what your customers or the industry is talking about, you then can make better judgment and strategy for engaging them for your brand before consumer-driven perception takes over.

Q:  How will JamiQ be different from some other social media listening services?
JamiQ’s chief advantage is its reach. This is the foundation of social media monitoring. Just like a search engine, the more web pages the engine can cover the better a service it is. If you read the fine print on some social media monitoring services you’ll find that some claim to have indexed 12 million blogs, another 20 million, and others 100 million. So who’s giving you the full picture?

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On Wednesday I am participating in a Lunch+Learn Webinar hosted by Citrix Online.  The focus of the Webinar is how organizations can participate on Twitter and meet business objectives. You can register for Webinar here.

I will be sharing the Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence strategy and approach for using Twitter (Follow, Create, & Engage) and talking about how Twitter can be used to help address seven business objectives, ranging from managing a crisis to promoting products and services. I hope you can join, here is the Citrix email message:

Social media tools like Twitter are redefining how your customers and stakeholders interact online. Isn’t it time to see if your business can leverage the power of this microblogging platform?

In this interactive, one hour Lunch+Learn Webinar, you’ll get a step by step breakdown of how the Twitter service works and how to get started using it. Moreover, you’ll be able to engage with industry experts on practical ways to integrate Twitter into your business.

Attend this one-hour Webinar to learn:

• How to get started using Twitter
• Twitter do’s and don’ts
• How businesses of all sizes use Twitter to gain an advantage
• And more…

Lunch+Learn Webinar
Using Twitter to Gain a Competitive Advantage
Wednesday, 8 July
12 noon Australian EST

Speakers:

• Brian Giesen, Director of Digital Strategy, Ogilvy PR
• Jonathan Crossfield, Marketing Manager, Netregistry
• Josh Melman, NETT Magazine Nett Editor, NETT Magazine

It was Yahoo!360, blame it.

While the world was eyeing on bloggers.com and wordpress.com, on this side of the globe, Yahoo!360 ruled. It was not a tool specifically designed for the Vietnam market, but the market took it anyway, with great passion and enthusiasm. Born on 29th March 2005, Yahoo!360, although still in its Beta form, rocked Vietnam social media scene. Many debates argued that its success due to the early and dominant arrival of Yahoo Mail and Messengers where most of the community has already established their contact and networks. So moving to the blog side was just a click away.

Yahoo!360 Blog, allows users to customize their screen, add friends, socialize online and offline, gather network and has genuinely created an online playground for Vietnamese Internet savvy users. Although Yahoo! global warned to close the service a few times and the Yahoo!Vietnam has seen a mix of trying to maintain the operation and investment versus tempting to close it down.

Nevertheless, emerged from Yahoo!360 is a list of hot bloggers (many of them are journalists), whom PR departments in various agencies incorporated into clients’ marketing comms and PR activities.  Other examples of influential Vietnam bloggers include:

1. Ha Kin: Writer

• Link: http://yobanbe.zing.vn/yobanbe/blog/sharebloguser.242df56743ad791be5fe57db9dbb7c15.html
• Pageviews: 1,658,925
• Profile: Writer. Author of “New York Love Story”. Ha Kin at first posted the story partly on her blog, after receiving good feedback and was welcomed by readers, her book was published. Besides, Ha Kin is a photo-lover.
• Blog content: daily life and emotion, sharing her photos.
• Readership profile: 18-28. HN/HCMC

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