Social media has transformed the way brands and marketers interact with consumers globally and in Asia-Pacific (APAC). Social media consumption has grown rapidly, with the likes of China, India, Indonesia, and Japan leading the way in monthly active users, at 983.3 million, 467 million, 191.4 million and 102 million respectively.

APAC is now seeing more online users with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok being popular platforms. Forrester notes that a majority of APAC consumers use social media to discover (85%), research (83%) and buy (76%) products, proving to be an important sales channel for marketers. As a result, 55% of local marketers are looking to increase their social media marketing budget this year.

With social media playing a key role in the customer journey, brands need to find social-centric ways to reach and retain an audience. Here are our Q1 2022 Social Trends Report findings, which provide the latest insights on the trends shaping paid and organic social media, to help brands and marketers develop a social strategy based on actual data.

Ad budgets are up, but actions are down

Emplifi’s recent findings show that social media ad spend decreased in the first quarter following an impressive year-end holiday showing. However it remained higher than a year ago. Average monthly ad spend on Facebook and Instagram per brand in APAC decreased 18.5% in the first quarter of 2022. However, year-on-year (YoY) ad spend saw an 8% surge to USD1,500. Southeast Asia (SEA) saw a similar trend, with a 10% decline in quarterly ad spends, but a 20% YoY jump to USD1,802.

Cost-per-click (CPC) increased to 5.89 while click-through rates (CTR) decreased by 4.45% from the previous quarter and 5.84% YoY.

Marketing Technology News: Martech Interview With Scott Ernst, CEO of Drift

Social engagement patterns are flat or declining

Engagement on social media helps brands determine the most effective posting strategies. All brands want high engagement rates, as this validates their social media marketing efforts.

A deep dive into the findings shows that Facebook engagement continues to slide. The median number of interactions (likes, comments, shares) with Facebook posts in APAC declined by 18% YoY. APAC brands earned approximately 5.84 interactions per 1,000 impressions for a Facebook post, as compared to 7.13 in January 2021.

Instagram is holding steady, seeing a minimal rise, achieving a median of just over 31 interactions per 1,000 impressions. Numbers have remained relatively consistent over the past year at about 30 to 31 interactions.

The data also suggests that publishing multiple Instagram stories in a five-minute window results in lower exit rates and higher levels of users tapping back to rewatch posts. Length of videos, story order, and time of posting can also impact exit rates and tap backs.

In terms of organic performance, live video ranks the highest for audience engagement on Facebook with 42 median post interactions. On Instagram, carousel (67 interactions) and images (56 interactions) perform well.

The findings above provide some guidance on different publishing strategies, but brands should always experiment to see what works best for their followers.

Social media customer care matters

Social customer care is arguably as important as using social platforms for brand awareness. Consumers in APAC have high expectations when it comes to receiving customer support through social channels; they want real time responses and shorter waiting time for resolutions. Consumers rely heavily on social media to seek customer support rather than contacting business call centers, hotlines or sending an email.

The ability of brands to respond to customer questions on social is a key differentiator between the platforms. Response rate of brands in APAC is the highest on Facebook, with more than 80% of direct messages responded to in less than an hour. Instagram’s response rate was the lowest at 45%, with a response time of 4.1 hours. Twitter had a higher response rate (71%), but was the slowest to respond at 5.1 hours.

While response rates are high on Facebook and Twitter, brands must do more to ensure queries on all social channels are addressed equally and in a timely manner.

Marketing Technology News: Programmatic Best Practices

Moving ahead

About 51% of APAC marketer’s total advertising budget was spent on digital in 2021; with social media considered the most effective channel. With advertising budgets expected to increase in the next 12 months, social media will continue to be an important channel for brands in the region.

Marketers must constantly seek to maximise the value of every ad dollar with social media content that truly resonates with their target audiences, drawing interaction and influencing purchases. To do so, brands need to understand what consumers want and need at each stage of their purchase journeys. For instance, 52% of consumers expect brands to respond to their questions within an hour. However, our data suggests that brands still take hours to respond, potentially disappointing many users.

Investing in and improving social customer care will certainly help brands gain and retain market share in the long-term. Brands can take advantage of automated solutions such as AI chatbots, centralised community management tools, and dedicated social customer care tools to respond faster and resolve customer queries more efficiently. Working with social media marketing experts can help brands gain insights into their customers, improve brand loyalty and develop a strong social media strategy.