Activity on social media has become more important than market share data in assessing a campaign’s performance, while increasing numbers of brands are using social channels to step up their customer service, a new study has found.
According to the TNS Marketing Monitor Study, marketers across Asia are, for the first time, placing more importance on social media than any other measurement.
Social is also the top consideration in the planning process, with information from media agencies only the fifth most important metric.
Yet the study, conducted across 11 countries in Asia Pacific, found that despite customer service being the top priority for marketers this year, few are actually working in collaboration with their customer service teams.
Less than four out of 10 are doing so (39%), while only 30% are working closely with their digital teams and a paltry 16% cooperating with their insights department.
TNS Asia Pacific digital director, Zoe Lawrence, said the focus on social reflects changes in customer behaviour but warned marketers not to lose sight of the bottom line.
“It’s no secret that ‘social’ has become an intrinsic part of our daily lives, 96% of connected consumers in Singapore use social networks, switching between Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as the top three channels,” she said.
“This mass adoption of social provides marketers with an array of sources when it comes to developing strategies and evaluating the effectiveness of their marketing activity. As the digital ecosystem evolves, we will continue to identify new ways to build insights. However, whatever the metric used, it’s important to ensure marketers are monitoring the indicators that contribute to sales.”
She added that brands need to “break down the silos” in order to present a “consistent, coherent customer experience”.
More than half of the marketers questioned in the survey said they were using social for brand communications with 40% using it to provide customer service
