Singapore – Instagram is the platform of choice for statutory boards and ministries in the first half of 2022 as it has the highest engagement with 0.85%, according to a report by customer experience platform Emplifi.

The report also found that YouTube overtook Facebook as the second most engaging platform in comparison to the first half of 2021, highlighting the growing opportunity for the public sector to tap into imagery and video through social channels.

Varun Sharma, Emplifi’s VP for APAC and Japan, shared that social media continues to be a key channel for the public sector to inform citizens on important topics from the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination programs, travel measures to floods and social initiatives.

“We also see an increased focus on reaching millennials and Gen Z through the growing use of Instagram and platforms like TikTok. We expect this trend to continue along with a greater mix of content types – videos, stories, live streaming – to appeal to the younger demographic,” said Sharma.

Amongst the top five campaigns that drove the highest interactions, The Ministry of Health (MOH)’s vaccination content ranked first, followed by The National Parks Board (NPB)’s #CityInNatureSG campaign, The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF)’s NS55 campaign, MOH’s COVID Protocols, and MuslimSG’s Ramadan and Raya content.

The same report revealed that three out of the top five campaigns saw Instagram and YouTube dove the majority of interactions. On Instagram, #CityInNatureSG gathered 47,251 interactions (66.74% of total interactions), while MuslimSG earned 27,359 interactions (82.79% of total interactions). MINDEF NS55 registered 15,380 and 17,674 interactions (combined, 80.42% of total interactions) on YouTube and Instagram respectively. 

According to Emplifi, this is not surprising given that 88.7% of Singaporeans use YouTube two hours daily on average while four out of five select the channel as their preferred platform to watch videos. As for Instagram, it continues to be one of the most popular social networks for millennials, allowing brands to reach about 86% of the population.

Collectively, statutory boards produced four times more content than ministries in the first half of 2022. However, ministries saw better engagement, with over one million total interactions versus over 988,000 interactions received by statutory boards. The National Environment Agency (NEA) has maintained its lead from the first half of 2021 regarding the number of published content, while the second and third top content publishers were MINDEF and GOVTech respectively.

The report also found that MINDEF overtook MOH in the first half of 2022 as the top government body that drove the highest audience interactions. Most interactions were from Instagram at 112, 981 versus Facebook at 90,946. MINDEF also saw increased engagement on YouTube, receiving three times more than in the first half of 2021. MOH received only 22.8% (234,138) of the interactions it saw in the first half of 2021 where content on COVID-19 and national vaccination programs drew more interest. 

Meanwhile, The Land Transport Authority (LTA), secured third place with 140,940 interactions in the first half of 2022 with mini contest posts, behind-the-scenes content, as well as news on the land border opening between Singapore and Malaysia.

Following the 2021 trend, users remained highly engaged with government agencies in the first half of 2022. Brand content made up about half (54.52%) of all content on government profiles, with 2.05 million interactions (97.21%). Separately, while user-generated content accounted for 45.48% of the content, it led to only 58,666 interactions (2.79%).

In terms of engagement and interactions in the first half of 2022, replies took the lead at 42.83%, followed by shares with 31.12%, and posts with 26.05%. Previously, sharing was the most popular and replies the least, which shows how users are increasingly conversing with government bodies.

“Social media is a key strategic tool for the public and private sector. The speed at which messages can be passed and shared on social media can’t be equalled by any other communications channel. Whether it’s for real-time updates, answering questions or simply to show their more fun side, Singaporean governmental organisations continue to make good use of social media to reach and engage with their audiences,” said Sharma.

Singapore – Customer experience platform Emplifi has announced the launch of their latest platform Emplifi Social Commerce Cloud, which offers a multitude of marketers social commerce capabilities who are often charged with driving high conversion rates and increased revenue across social platforms.

The platform delivers a full suite of solutions to enable the social shopping experience by synchronizing social commerce activities across platforms, providing automated and live assistance during the shopping experience, and giving brands a single, holistic view of their social commerce efforts, along with advanced analytics.

One of those tools is Shop Sync™, which enables e-commerce teams to provide an omni-shop synchronization across social platforms without relying on heavy IT involvement. The API integration with Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops eliminates any long and laborious tech efforts, helping brands rapidly scale online shopping experiences. The tool also tracks inventory across all social shops so that e-commerce and product managers gain a full view of product availability and performance across all platforms. 

In addition, Emplifi’s AI-powered Shop Clerk™ bot tool delivers a personalized shopping experience through sophisticated conversational commerce capabilities, guiding shoppers from discovery to purchase. The bot can answer product questions, complete transactions, offer in-store pick-up information, recommend additional product add-ons, seamlessly hand over to care agents and deliver quick surveys via Emplifi’s Natural Language Processing and proprietary Intent Engine abilities that go far beyond the standard, limited Bot FAQ offerings.

Other tools included are the ‘360 Shop Dashboard™’ which was designed to offer the industry’s most comprehensive view of product performance and inventory status across all social media shops, and Emplfi’s Social Care, the consumer engagement tool that brings together marketing and operations to help service customers, while measuring the success of their entire customer journey.

“Social commerce is the next frontier for cutting-edge B2C brands that wish to connect, convert and monetize today’s shoppers. Social media shops are rapidly becoming the new shopping malls. We’re excited to release Emplifi Social Commerce to the market to enable our customers to revolutionize the shopping experience, win unprecedented conversion rates and drive revenue gains,” said Mark Zablan, CEO at Emplifi.

Emplifi Social Commerce Cloud is the first major platform announcement from Emplifi since the company’s rebranding earlier this year. With the goal of unifying marketing, commerce, and customer care through AI-powered CX solutions, Emplifi was born from the combined technology of the customer experience platform Astute Inc. and the social media marketing platform Socialbakers.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Mediaspace.global, a unique form of social network platform targeting the media, marketing, tech, and regulation industries, is primed to enter the Southeast Asian landscape through a collaboration with Malaysian-based communications agency Orchan.

Mediaspace.global was founded in January 2020 with the aim to connect industry players at all levels and provide a platform for them to interact, share, and leverage opportunities and thought leadership. Members of the platform are able to connect with like-minded individuals to explore industry trends, and its Leadership Club covers members from fresh graduates in the industry through to seasoned industry members.

With more than a year since its launch, Mediaspace.global has been connecting industry players primarily across Europe. According to the platform, its Founder Kinga Incze recognized the opportunity to have regional hubs to extend the reach, and to help bring European opportunities to Asia, as well as to bring Asian media, contributors, and brands to Europe and other geographies.

The platform said that 14% of its current membership profile comes from the Asia-Pacific region, clearly presenting the interest from the region, and therefore an opportunity for further curation of content and events relevant to the APAC market of Southeast Asia. 

Incze said that up to now, the media industry has been operating in quite a physical manner and that it is now time to build a global B2B space where Mediaspace.global aims to lead the way.

“We are excited to strengthen our outreach and professional activities through Southeast Asia with this collaborative partnership, and look forward to bringing and sharing exciting ideas, activities, and events to the region, as well as broadening our respective global connections,” said Incze.

Orchan, whose founding team had been keenly contributing to the platform, has now been partnered to help realize the expansion.

Orchan Founding Director, Farrell Tan, commented, “We believe that Mediaspace.global’s unique positioning and current pool of professionals is a welcome addition for professionals wanting to network with other like-minded professionals within media, communications, and even tech across Europe, the Baltic Regions and beyond.”

He adds, “In a time of Covid, and in an increasingly borderless world, where communication and networking [have] the ability to open up doors to various opportunities, it would be remiss for professionals to not leverage on the platform to further position themselves as thought leaders in their respective fields.”

Plans for Mediaspace.global in Asia will include monthly industry online get-togethers, ‘On-point’ thematic workshops, trend-sharing podcasts, and the development of an industry-specific program to help students seek international experience and opportunities via the network.

Singapore – Social storytelling platform Wattpad, through its advertising and partnerships arm Wattpad Brand Partnerships, has partnered with pop culture-inclined marketing agency Culture Group to bolster’s Wattpad presence in the Southeast Asia region.

Through the partnership, Culture Group will help connect brands to Wattpad’s growing Gen Z audience, which has now reached a global community of over 90 million people, including more than 22 million users in Asia-Pacific countries. Wattpad is a platform where users can post self-written stories, novels, and full-on books, which are then voted by readers by genre and popularity. 

Over the years, Wattpad has been recognized by various media entities in Southeast Asia. The company’s studio division, Wattpad Studios, has produced hit projects like ‘Slow Dancing’, a six-episode series from Mediacorp and Wattpad in Singapore; and ‘Turn On’ from Wattpad, Vidio, and Screenplay Entertainment in Indonesia. 

Wattpad also works with Anvil Publishing, Inc., one of the leading book publishers in the Philippines, to bring Wattpad stories to bookstores. The companies have partnered to create Bliss Books, a ground-breaking YA imprint for Filipino book lovers.

Furthermore, the move will offer advertisers more opportunities to tap into Wattpad Influencers, original stories, and thriving Southeast Asian fan communities for innovative brand campaigns and activations. Brands will be able to create content-driven marketing programs in a variety of formats, including audio and video content, associated with fan-favorite Wattpad’s stories. 

Commenting on the partnership, Chris Stefanyk, head of Wattpad Brand Partnerships said their expansion to the SEA region responds to a larger untapped younger generation for brands to be exposed to.

“Southeast Asia is home to some of the largest and most engaged communities on our platform, and there’s enormous potential for brands to tap into the Wattpad Stars and long-form Influencers that have found international fame on Wattpad. We’re excited to work with more brands in Southeast Asia to tell their stories in a culturally relevant way that resonates with today’s youth,” Stefanyk stated.

Meanwhile, Culture Group’s founder and president Michael Patent, stated, “We believe firmly that Gen Z is the world’s ‘creation generation’ and nowhere is this more apparent than on Wattpad, where amazing stories are told. We’re thrilled to be partnered with Wattpad in creating immersive, multi-format partnerships through content and fan communities in Southeast Asia.”