In a young vibrant country like the UAE it is clear that today hundreds of thousands of people are members of the “Facebook and Twitter” generation. They are social media savvy, use it on the hour, every hour and are using their smartphones or tablets as their platform of choice.

And what that means is social media is now essential for brands, large or small, to communicate in real time with their customers. The UAE has one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world, which in turn provides brands with an exciting opportunity to create audiences who have opinions, spark and engage in conversation and influence others within their own network — something that is being referred to as ‘now’ media or bottom-up conversation.

Historically too many companies look at a social media checklist and as long as they can tick off a Facebook page, Twitter feed, LinkedIn profile and maybe Instagram, they think they have it covered.

But the way brands are now utilising their on-line presence to engage is changing, and today we are seeing consumers becoming more dependent on certain influencers present within their communities. It means companies have to be more nimble with their engagement strategies.


Purchasing decisions

According to Technorati’s 2013 Digital Influence Report, influencers are becoming more successful in shaping opinions and purchasing decisions of consumers than social networks alone. In fact, according to Search Engine Journal, 72 per cent of consumers surveyed said that they trusted online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

According to CrowdTap, 66.4 per cent of shoppers update their Facebook status to tell friends about the best offers and finds on the market. Brands now have a bigger opportunity than ever before to communicate with audiences about their products and services by engaging with influencers who already have a loyal following and are respected by their online community.

Forbes reported that a recent survey of US consumers indicated that 81 per cent of the people surveyed were directly influenced by their friends’ social media posts regarding purchasing decisions. When I talk about online social communities I am referring to large and small communities, the places where consumers live and interact with each other.

I am not only talking about the most obvious suspect Facebook. In my opinion the riches are in the niches.

At the moment we are seeing a huge restructuring of the word community and growth in destinations such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Pintrest, Quora and of course Twitter. But, small and niche community platforms are the latest social trend with 54 per cent of consumers profiled admitting that smaller communities had a greater influence on a particular topic than a larger one.

Platforms such as MightyBell.com, created by former Ning founder Gina Bianchini, are putting the power of community and content organisation in the hands of the consumer.

It is not only the ‘New Famous’ influencers that have the ability to change the perceptions of their communities, but also internal influencers. It was reported by (2012 CEO SocialMedia Survey, BrandFog) that 82 per cent of buyers said they trust a company more when the CEO and senior leadership teams are active in this space.

In many cases your best voices are actually inside of the company. It becomes your opportunity to create an environment where they too can become brand evangelists in social media.

In the UAE there is a huge potential for savvy brands to understand this new phenomenon and to use their share of voice to serve their customers better and in some cases leverage HR to find passionate new employees.

 

— The writer is chief digital evangelist at Studigood and one of the speakers at the BPG bConnected Forum in Dubai.