Fifty four percent of the world’s population lives in Asia. That’s 3.7 billion people. And according to We Are Social, Singapore’s recent report, Asia is home to over 1 billion internet users – 80% of whom use social media (see full report below).
The numbers are impressive. And yet, they tell only part of the story.
The most compelling aspect is the trajectory of digital consumption across Asia:
- New internet users every month: 11,350,000
- Videos watched (in June 2012): 45,000,000,000
- New Facebook users each month: 10,000,000
- Mobile internet users now outnumber PC-based internet users in China: 388 million vs 380 million
Consumer Adoption is Disrupting Patterns of Media Consumption and Impacting the Buyer’s Journey
The shift to digital in Asia is characterised by the widespread use of mobile and smartphones. Almost half of the people in Asia are willing to make transactions on their mobile phones (43%). And 60% of internet users in Asia use social media to inform purchase decisions. This combination is impacting not just the top end of the marketing funnel but various points across the buyer’s journey.
Digital Adoption Will Drive Marketer’s Thirst for Mobile Solutions
Given that more than half of Asia’s population is under 30, marketers seeking to engage these high spending, younger audiences will need to develop new digital approaches.
However, with 82% mobile penetration across Asia – and a growing population of mobile internet users – digital approaches should increasingly follow a Mobile First with a Social Heart strategy.
Marketers Will Turn to Marketing Automation to Scale Execution
While digital and social media marketing promises one-to-one conversations with customers, the rapid growth in the population of “Connected Consumers” challenges marketers’ capacity to scale. As a result, marketers will begin turning to marketing automation vendors to provide personality rich brand communications at scale.
The Shift to Digital Requires a Re-casting of the Marketing Funnel
While the information in the We Are Social report focuses on Asia, we are seeing similar shifts in markets the world over. Marketers can no longer rely on past practices as a relevant method for predicting future outcomes. Forward thinking marketers will need to begin rethink their understanding of their consumers from the outside-in. This will require a re-casting of the marketing funnel.
Look for my upcoming report CMOs: Re-casting the Marketing Funnel for Consumer Engagement, available for free later this month to all Constellation Research clients. Want to know more? Email me.