If your company is not trawling social media sites and online discussion forums for valuable customer insights and feedback, then it better start doing so.
This is because opinions posted online exert a considerable influence on Filipinos’ purchasing decisions, with three of five, or 61 percent, of Filipino consumers who access the Internet saying that they trust consumer opinions posted online—the highest in Southeast Asia and seven percentage points above the region’s average, according to a report released July 12 by Nielsen.
The report, a pre-release of data from the global insights and measurement company’s inaugural Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report, notes that two-thirds of digital Filipinos use social media as a resource when deciding on what products and services to buy. It also found that online product reviews and discussions forums are the second- and third-most trusted sources of product purchase recommendations, next only to friends and family.
Such overwhelming trust in online opinions presents both opportunities and challenges for companies, says Jay Bautista, managing director of Nielsen’s media business in the Philippines.
Indeed, consistently bad reviews posted online will likely spell disaster for brands and companies, considering that consumers are likely to believe what they read online. Conversely, favorable recommendations freely given in chat rooms, discussion groups and social networking sites will go a long way in burnishing product image and bringing more customers to the stores.
“Filipinos are increasingly looking to their fellow Internet users for opinions and information about products, services and brands, and engagement with online word-of-mouth communication is going to increase in coming years as social media play an increasingly important role in consumer decision making,” Bautista says in a statement.
Already, social media are driving Filipino consumers’ interaction with companies and brands with Philippines having the second most number of people who “like” or follow a brand, company or celebrity on a social networking site at 75 percent, according to Nielsen.
It is no surprise then that there is a mad rush among companies and their brands to encourage consumers to “like” their page on Facebook, as this is seen helping them directly engage with their consumers and build a loyal following.
Bautista tells the Inquirer in a text message that it would be good for companies to regularly listen, discern and supplement their knowledge given the fact that Filipinos tend to believe in opinions shared in social media.
“Listen to what consumers are saying online, whether they are ranting or raving, and the context of their feedback (is it product-related, distribution, after sales, client service, etc.) Secondly, discern if the feedback is genuine or stimulated. Finally, supplement your listening by asking. Interact with your consumers through research, events, etc. to validate and quantify the feedback you heard,” Bautista says.
A separate report by Hong Kong-based marketing consulting company Ci8 showed that on Facebook—the most popular social networking site in the Philippines with 25 million users, according to Socialbakers.com—Smart Communications is the most popular brand with 1.04 million followers, followed by Starbucks, Hair Experts, Globe Telecom and Nestle Philippines.
In a presentation during the recently concluded conference of the Philippine Marketing Association, Ci8 says these five companies are just some of the growing number of companies that are embarking on innovative marketing campaigns online to capitalize on the increasing role that influential social media play in boosting sales and enhancing product image.
Nielsen itself acknowledges that online media are fast becoming mainstream media in Southeast Asia, which includes Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. This is why it has embarked on the inaugural region-wide study of the behaviors and attitudes of digital consumers, which will be available starting September 30 this year.
Its July 12 report even says that in the Philippines, communicating via social media has overtaken e-mail as the most popular form of online communication, with seven of 10 Filipino digital consumers visiting social networking sites, compared with two of five for e-mail.
Social media’s role can be expected to become even bigger as more Filipino consumers gain access to the Internet.
The Nielsen report shows that one in three consumers in the Philippines connects to the Internet—third-highest in the region after Singapore and Malaysia—with younger Filipinos significantly more likely to go online than older generations.
Internet penetration among consumers aged 15-19 was close to two-thirds (65 percent) and nearly half of consumers in their 20s go online (48 percent). In contrast, only 24 percent, or a quarter, of consumers in their 30s access the Internet, 13 percent for those in their 40s and 4 percent for consumers above 50 years old.
Internet access in the Philippines, however, is still below the regional average of 38 percent, but with the increasing ownership of Internet-capable mobile phones and the growing accessibility of mobile Internet plans, penetration will likely gain significant ground in just a short period.
Thus, companies do not exactly have the luxury of time in devising ways and means online to gain the hearts, minds—and the wallets—of Filipinos who have gone more digital than ever.