Using data to drive human engagement in Thailand

Thailand is undoubtedly a social media country, and home to large communities such as Pantip with 2.6 million Facebook followers. Today, consumers switch between a range of social channels, such as watching television as a “first screen” while talking to friends or browsing communities and forums on “second screens” including mobiles and tablets. Media planning needs to adapt to customer preferences and expectations on each platform, including:

1. Facebook, with nation-wide reach and status as the default social media, as ubiquitous as TV.
2. Twitter, which is rapidly gaining ground as prominent influencers such as Buck and cuttO attract millions of engaged followers each
3. Instagram, which Statista predicts will catch up to today’s Facebook penetration within 3 years
4. YouTube, for content discovery, as Thais watch an estimated 400 million videos a month—or 6 videos a month each—on average.
5. LINE, as a unique platform to fulfil consumer lifestyle needs with its complete suite of LINE MAN, Taxi, LINE TV, LINE Finance, and other utility services.

Property: Insight on high net worth individuals

The majority of social and digital platforms today tend to be walled gardens with their own metrics and role in the marketing funnel. Data integration ensures they can seamlessly work with each other in a holistic digital strategy.

A real estate company might use third-party data to identify consumers with high spending power, supported by other indicators such as high data usage and current home locations in upmarket districts. They could then use these insights to segment a potential audience for a new luxury housing project in the Sukhumvit CBD area. Due to the use of data, consumers are more engaged, driving lower cost per acquisition.

Each customer journey can be tracked with a measurement framework that aligns with business objectives. Metrics such as engagement and likes only suggest awareness, while a complete customer journey guides the consumer further down the marketing funnel. Measurement goal-setting starts early, during the media planning and buying stage. Customers could, for example, engage with lead ads to register their interest in a luxury condominium, later be retargeted to view the showroom, and contacted again further down the funnel when sales are opened.

Such a focus on outcome-based measurement ensures leads from multiple sources are funnelled into a CRM and matched with third-party data.

Retail: Engaging members to drive repeat offline purchase

For a retail mall with a membership plan, keeping members constantly engaged can efficiently drive repeat purchases and customer retention. Besides direct response metrics provided by advertising platforms, such as cost per click and cost per impression, brands should also measure long-term metrics further down the funnel. This includes offline conversions within 30 days of an impression, or brand lift and recall. Audiences that remember the brand and buy into the overall brand experience are more likely to convert and repurchase.

By measuring for online-to-offline conversions, they might see three in ten members making an offline purchase within 30 days of seeing an ad on social media. Offline measurement provides insight into the creatives that worked, and the ROI of marketing spend. This can then inform future creative and budgeting strategy, as well as make a business case for media budget allocation.

In Thailand, where physical retail is growing, delayed conversion and offline measurement are especially essential to understanding the effectiveness of a campaign.

Apps: Growing a community for launch

To successfully grow a mobile commerce solution based on sharing, apps need to balance supply and demand. For instance, a mobile app launching a taxi, food delivery or courier service might grow customers rapidly. However, this creates a challenge to balance demand with supply. Third-party data can identify user profiles who are likely to be drivers—based on GPS usage—movement patterns around the city at various points of day, and usage of traffic apps and route planning apps. These users can then be targeted with customised creative to encourage them to sign up as drivers. These signups can be tracked by the app to accurately map out the best way to recruit.

In short: Data enables precise audience segmentation and targeting

Being data-driven is about engaging with consumers on the platforms they use every day, in the most effective way. By incorporating data to gain a deeper understanding of the consumer before, during and after a campaign, brands in Thailand can build detailed customer segments and plan an effective creative and media targeting strategy. This enables them to optimise marketing and drive results, whether a customer is looking for a new home, visiting a mall or has a set of in-demand skills.