Brand websites may be abandoned as one-dimensional: Study

Conducted by UM, the Wave report is an annual social-media study. This year, Wave 6 surveyed more than 41,000 internet users in 62 countries, of which more than 8,200 users are in 11 Asian countries and more than 2,400 users live in four Southeast Asia countries.

“Simply getting consumers to ‘like’ them on social networks is no longer a valuable enough tactic," he said. "Companies therefore need to think about how they can make their websites work harder, or indeed how they can bring social media into their marketing mix in order to provide a more ‘complete’ brand experience that matches with consumer needs.”

In Singapore, brand websites appear to be bucking the trend, but brands need to recognise the importance of establishing their presence in the social-media space, according to the study, to reach and connect with consumers who are already there and allowing for a complete brand experience.

Globally, the study saw a 9 per cent decrease in three years for visitation to official brand websites. The group aged 16 to 24 saw a fall of 15 per cent, representing the biggest drop among the age groups surveyed. While different digital platforms meet different needs, the study suggested that the brand website is not the right location for creating an interactive social experience.

The study also showed that consumers are increasingly concerned about giving out personal data. Nearly 65 per cent of respondents said they are concerned about the amount of personal data that goes online. Last year, fewer than 60 per cent of the respondents had such concern.

In Singapore, 70 per cent of the respondents said it is a risk they are still willing to take when it comes to uploading a profile on Facebook or sharing personal information and opinions across blogs or other social networks.

Meawhile, the study reported slower growth in social networking. In terms of how many respondents use social media regularly, the Asia-Pacific region saw slight growth to 63.9 per cent in Wave 6, from 63.6 per cent the previous year during Wave 5. Comparatively, Wave 5 saw an increase of more than 10 percentage points, from 51.3 per cent in Wave 4.

The usage figure for China increased to 68.9 per cent this year, compared with 68.4 per cent in Wave 5 last year and 51.4 per cent in Wave 4. In Singapore, the Wave 6 number is 82.5 per cent, up from 79.4 per cent. In Wave 4, it was 65.3 per cent.

The study noted that the trend is an implication is that the usage of social media has matured, even though the use of social media in the marketing mix is still in its infancy.

On a global level, the most significant shift in social media in recent years is the ability of users to engage via so many devices. Consumers access the Internet via four different devices on average, with smartphones and tablets quickly gaining ground on laptops and PCs.

Mani Padmanabhan, insights and research manager of UM Singapore, noted that it is crucial to understand the role of messaging on mobiles and tablets and how they complement or distract from other devices, such as PCs.

“We need to optimise our media mix and messaging to take into account devices consumers are using," Padmanabhan said. "We have noticed that the current ad spend on mobile devices is not as high as it should be considering the new findings that show Singaporeans are heavy users of mobile technology.”