Are businesses tapping social media's potential?

Vishnu K. Mahmud ,  Contributor, Jakarta   |  Mon, 09/01/2008 11:06 AM  |  Sci-Tech

Did you know 10 percent of Indonesians have access to the Internet? While some people might scoff at such a low figure, that 10 percent represents around 20 million people, equal to nearly the entire population of Australia.

And these Internet users, connecting to the World Wide Web from their homes, offices or schools, are natural digital opinion shapers to whom other people go for advice. So who here in Indonesia is engaging them?

A recent study found the compound annual growth rate for digital media (websites, banner ads, search engine optimization) is much greater than that for traditional media (TV, newspapers, radio).

In fact, General Motors is said to be shifting half of its advertising budget to the digital realm within the next few years. Why the radical change?

The Internet has become an established communications medium. Like the mobile phone before it, millions of people around the world are using the Net daily to communicate with friends, find the latest news, keep in touch with business associates and play video and audio files. And, like the mobile phone, it is not a passing fad.

In the Internet realm, users have more power. They not only can create their own content for a worldwide audience but can also comment and directly reply to any news or marketing campaigns distributed through traditional media. They can interact on their own websites or blogs or they can piggyback on those of others.

The term for this interaction is social media, which Wikipedia defines as "the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings".

A trusted individual with Internet access can become a gigantic megaphone for his immediate circle of friends, which can then propagate to a larger legion of followers. In short, the Net has made word of mouth marketing more efficient.

A popular blog writer or user group email list can reach a smaller yet more targeted audience to share their experience. And such discussions can continue to evolve and spread out.

For example, when American journalist Jeff Jarvis had a very bad experience with Dell's after-sales service, he blogged about it, sharing his thoughts with his readers.

Other users shared their own poor experience and told their friends about it as well. The issue became so big online traditional media picked it up. Ultimately Dell had to deal with the situation publicly: they revamped their consumer outreach programs. Now Dell even has its own blog to share information about its products and services.

Businesses around the world are seeking ways to tap into this ubiquitous two-way communications channel. In addition to traditional outlets, such as magazine ads, brands are now urging consumers to check out their websites for further information or to leave feedback.

These online properties are ideal for managing customer relations as well as market research to retain customers and get heir input. It can also measure the effectiveness of their media campaigns through tracking user feedback, blog records, contest submissions or pageview statistics.

But is Indonesia ready for such state-of-the-art marketing through digital or social media? Remember that 10 percent figure? This number is expected to triple by 2010.

And consider this: Prices for Internet access are falling, super affordable laptops (like Acer's Aspire One, Asus' EeePC or MSI's Wind) are available and a host of traditional media properties in Indonesia are consolidating their digital play.

Some national newspapers have excellent websites and others are experimenting with an e-paper format which allows readers to view a digital facsimile of the actual printed paper. Some conglomerates are building up websites and offering streaming video for public topics such as celebrity news. And readers can share and comment for their friends to see.

This perfect storm of content, connectivity and computers is bound to further expand Indonesia's presence on the World Wide Web. Keeping in mind how this country embraced connectivity with the mobile phone, we can expect the same potential market to embrace Internet connectivity enthusiastically.

Businesses here already know about the effects of social media through their counterparts overseas and the media. They know the number of Indonesian Internet users is bound to grow.

So now may be time to tiptoe into the waters of digital media. Because it may soon become a large ocean of user-generated commentary and content. You cannot control it, but you cannot help but be a part of it. Otherwise your voice will be lost.

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