Online social media for SL exports
View(s):Online social media offer a low-cost way to reach and influence a wide customer base which can help exporters reach wider markets at low cost, a top IT expert says. Presenting the ‘power of social media for exports’ at this week’s Economic Summit by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Muhunthan Canagey, Chief Executive of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) said that social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram have opened up audiences of several hundred million people who can be reached at the click of a button that traditional shopping malls could never do.
Mr. Canagey added that local exporters need not think of having 20-30 products but instead try one or two and try to sell to specific markets that social media tools enables them to target far more accurately than in the past. He said that marketing through social media is important because it aligns with the way consumers make purchasing decisions. According to him, increasing numbers of consumers use social media and research on social media to carry out preliminary product and price research before making final decisions.
Internet marketing enables you to build relations with customers and prospects through regular, low-cost personalized communication, reflecting the move away from mass marketing. Mr. Canagey urged those aspiring to use social media to listen, find out where people are hanging out, who their influences are, reiterating that one has to research to identify a market. “The information is available. There are behavioural patterns you want to target.” Mr. Canagey referring to the three Cs – “the connection you make with all these people, the conversations you have with these people and the conversions that you do” – saying that the key to social media success is to not get hung up on the tools and technology but to focus on how you can use them more effectively to develop and grow relationships with customers and influencers.