Guru Talk
Panel Interview
Why is social media important for businesses?
Linda Schindler
Rene Kelvin Anthony
Franziska Grobler
The Singapore Marketer speaks to Linda Schindler, COO of LegalTech startup FirstCOUNSEL, Rene Kelvin Anthony, the Editorin-Chief of Revv Evolution and Franziska Grobler, Founder & Director of Jadeways Solutions, to understand how businesses can leverage digital marketing and social media for expansion and success. Linda, Rene and Franziska were featured speakers for Marketing Institute Singapore’s Guru Talk, a series of regular dialogue sessions with practitioners from the marketing industry, to exchange insights, share experiences and understand different perspectives.
Why is social media important for businesses? Linda: Social media is important for businesses because it is where customers are spending the majority of their time now. It provides the potential to engage the customer in a 2-way dialogue, as opposed to traditional media in which the information only flows one way. Businesses are therefore able to tell their story and connect with customers in a more meaningful way. And what’s great is that there are affordable, targeted advertising options so you can reach your customized demographic and make better use of your budget. So the power of social media is in the ability of businesses to curate their content, tailor it to their audience, and reach their intended customer faster and more affordably than ever before. Rene: Given the influence of social media on services or products, businesses cannot ignore the collective perspectives and reviews of its customers, no matter how impressive features / offerings may be. Social media platforms like
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, comprise millions of users daily, making it a cost-effective way to reach millions of potential customers. Franziska: We live in a digital world where everybody uses social media multiple times a day to socialise, network, inform themselves and entertain themselves. Every business should understand how their target audience is present on social media. Social Media offers a lower cost option to reach large and segmented audiences. Not everybody needs to reach influencer status but ignoring social media altogether as a business is like deciding not to go up the Eiffel Tower when in France or never trying Laksa when in Singapore - it’s choosing not to see what’s staring right in your face. Social Media is a great platform to generate awareness, create interest and to direct traffic to your website. It’s a major platform for indirect and direct public customer communication where audiences form opinions and check for references.
Chatbots, page impressions, SEO, social media conversions – these are some of the basic terms used for one managing social media and online marketing. What, in your opinion, are the key skills required for today’s entrepreneur with regards to managing social media and growing an online presence? Linda: In managing social media and building an online presence, today’s entrepreneurs need to be flexible and adaptable. They need to be able to balance the need for speed (getting their products in front of customers as quickly as possible with headline grabbing social media campaigns) while ensuring that their communications strategy can adapt in real time. Also, being able to balance scalability with viable conversions are key to running successful social media campaigns. In addition, they need to understand how to respond to both positive and negative feedback. Since the feedback is already out there, the key to protecting your brand and reputation will be the way in which you respond as well as the reaction time. 17