Social networking sites are one of the fastest and least
expensive ways to find your audience and help your business grow. In Singapore,
there are 70% of social media penetration which more than double the global
average of 26%; ranking the top in Asia. Social media users in Singapore spent
an average of 2.1 hours per day on all social media platforms. (Statista,
2015). Often times, Social Media does more harm than good in term of branding
and communication for SMEs clothing retail business in Singapore.
Social media also affects the way many retail businesses
in Singapore communicate with their customers. Instead of traditional way of
calling the store, writing a letter or sending an email, many customers now
prefer to communicate with a business using its social media platforms.
Customers may send private messages to the business, or they may post
information publicly. Customers can also provide both positive and negative
feedback about products or customer service using the various social media
platforms. If a customer posts this information online, it can affect the
opinions of other consumers who are the followers of that business.
Therefore, it is important for the business owners of
clothing retail businesses in Singapore to be aware of reviews or feedbacks
given their customers constantly. The negative feedbacks or ratings in the
social media platforms will eventually harm their business reputation.
In addition, SMEs clothing retail business in Singapore
mostly only uses Facebook as it social media platform. With Facebook’s recent
changes affecting the organic reach of posts, companies
definitely need to consider other options. It is a common mistake make by small
clothing retail businesses. It does harm the businesses, when huge amount of
marketing budget are spent in Facebook’s advertisements. Yet, the amount of return
is not up to expectation. Ultimately, a company should tap the various social
media channels used by their target market of potential customers.
Next, SMEs clothing retail businesses in Singapore should
not only uses Facebook as their only social media platform. They should use a
mixture of various social media platforms that are suitable for their
businesses which will able to reach out to their target market more effectively.
Chart 1 (Sources: NUS Database, 2015)
Based on the interviews with people from the
fashion-related industry that uses social media to market their products by NUS
students who took ES2002 in Semester 2, 2014/2015.
Chart 1 depicts the frequency rating of various social
media platforms. A lower rating reflects a higher usage frequency. Other than
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have the next two lowest frequency ratings
which are 1.21 and 2.15 respectively. This clearly shows that Instagram and
Twitter are the social media platforms to be used in fashion-related industry
frequently. This implies that Instagram and Twitter are the two social media
marketing tools that business can use to reach out to their target audience
effectively and to generate more sales.
In addition, according to Statista (2014), Instagram and
Twitter are one of the most popular social media platform with 1.35 million and
1.2 million registered users in Singapore. Thus, SMEs clothing retail
businesses in Singapore should not miss out any users from either of these
social media platforms which may turn out to be their potential buyers.
However, there are certain limitations. By using mixture
of various social media platforms, it will also suggests that a greater amount
of time and attention are required. The usage of social media may in turn
damage the company’s reputation if they do not interact and response to its
customer’s enquiries promptly. Furthermore, the cost of advertising in social
media platforms will be high if they are extensively used to reach out to large
coverage of their target audience.
Often times, Social Media does more harm than good in
term of branding and communication for SMEs clothing retail business in
Singapore. The infrequent update of posts, the negative feedbacks or ratings by
their customer in the social media platforms will eventually harm their
business reputation. In addition, SMEs clothing retail business in Singapore
mostly only uses Facebook as it social media platform.
Thus, it is strongly recommended for SMEs clothing retail
business in Singapore to train a specialized team of staffs to be able to use the unique features of
various social media platforms effectively. This specialized team only focus on communicating
with its customers online using social media. They should also use a mixture of
various social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter that are suitable
for their businesses which will able to reach out to their target market more
effectively.
References
Carter, B. (2012, January 18). Facebook Pages Only Reach
17% Of Fans. Retrieved March 9, 2015, from http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/facebook-page-17/377172
McMullen, A. (n.d.). How Does Social Media Affect Retail
Businesses? Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/social-media-affect-retail-businesses-39275.html
Relander, B. (2014, May 10). 4 Mistakes That Can Harm a
Company's Social Media Campaign. Retrieved March 5, 2015, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233824
Statista (2014) Penetration of leading social networks in
Singapore as of 4th quarter 2014 [Graph]. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from: http://www.statista.com/statistics/284466/singapore-social-network-penetration/