ingridmak.net

If I were a Swede…

Food for Thought : If you were a Swede living in China and looking at the countries around you, how would you communicate across national, cultural, linguistic and technological boundaries?

Looking at this question from a personal perspective, as a ‘partial-foreigner’ myself in Singapore (I came over in primary 2), I understand the pain that one has to deal with when it comes to a new environment. To put it simply, let’s break them down into 3 main challenges.

Speak thy language

Interestingly, the very first obstacle that comes to everyone’s minds is probably the language factor – which I won’t deny that it’s going to be a huge issue if you can’t even utilize the language that the country you’re residing is using. However, I believe that language can be easily picked up and with the help of technology and tools such as NJStar CJK Viewer and Firefox plugins that makes things easier.

Power of Weak Ties

We’re lucky that Singapore is a country that supports multiculturalism. China is known for its strong nationalism which unified the people and its culture. It is important to understand one’s culture, be it via blogs that fellow foreigners living in China share or researching via travelling sites from a tourist’s point of view or even finding fellow Swedes in China via social networking sites. Do your homework ! At the same time, it is important to keep an open mind to other’s opinions as it may differ from your own experience. Embrace and respect one’s culture and you’ll learn that it is not too difficult to be welcomed into the community.

The Great Firewall

As much as censorship is concerned in China, I won’t say that China is not open up to technological advancement but perhaps in their own ways. Looking at the list of ’60 Best Blogs on China in English, it may seem like Google-China case is not going to affect the social media scene as much as the outsiders would assume. Who are we (or Google) to claim that China is wrong ? Instead, I think we should start exploring their internal networks and reach out to the various target audience from there. It’s all about connecting with the right people.

From a business pespective, in several decades to come, China or just in general – Asia will emerge as the primary growth market for the world. Looking at this economic reality, how do one or a company position himself/itself better in Asia? I believe that there’s no tailored solution or template to follow as how Professor Dan Ryun Chang puts it and having a Pan-Asian Strategy might hurt your business in the long run.

To sum it up, it is about an open mind, basic respect and mutual understanding.

Find out more about communicating across Asia, click here !

–

Note : If you’re wondering why the sudden post after annoucing a ‘Time Out’, this is an assignment for my Digital Media Across Asia Module. Thank You !

Tags: blog, boundaries, censorship, challenges, comm215, community, connection, cultural, firefox plugins, foreigner, google, great firewall, iammyy, language, linguistic, national, njstarcky viewer, pan-asian strategy, swede living in china, synotrip, target audience, technological, travellerspoint, weak ties, wetpaint, wiki

Speak and Listen to your consumers !

More and more businesses are getting on social networking platforms, especially Twitter. I’ve come across many (in fact, way too many) company accounts that are either pretty much inactive or can be classified as ‘spammers’. Sure, 140 characters is good enough for business advertisements, quick and cost-effective. What’s more ? It’s free ! But doing it the wrong way can actually backfire your plans and destroy all potential relationships you may gain.

From personal experiences, I think it is important for business to bear in mind a few tips before starting to reach out to your crowd on social networking sites, IMHO :

1) Know your audience, listen to their needs !

Recently there was this email spam from a certain property agency that pissed most tweeples off. As for me, I think it’s quite silly to email me (of all people!) who have yet to pay off my university debt to check out the new apartments in town. Seriously, do some research and  know who are your target audience ! Obviously I don’t need a condo yet?!

I think it’s a good and important thing that companies are starting to ‘listen’ online to their consumer’s needs too ! I tweeted about looking for a short term rental apartment in Hong Kong just yesterday and I got a reply from @Ascott_Ltd recommending their serviced residences. Perfect example of listening to what your customers need and responding to what they are looking for, without sounding too pushy.

2) Don’t just be yet-another-brand, be personal !

It’s no longer about how ‘BIG’ your brand is but consumers need to be ‘entertained’. It’s nice to know there are ‘real people’ behind the online presence too. We like to see behind-the-scenes after a movie is out, so same goes for brands online. We’re not talking to bots afterall !

I personally like @standingsushi even thought I have yet to try their food. Mainly because I read about them on their blog and I really liked how they bring their concept across. And when I mentioned to my bestie that I want to visit @standingsushi someday, I immediately received a personal message to welcome my future visit. It certainly makes me want to go down and check it out personally (real soon!).

3) It’s about profit BUT more about relationship !

Be a ‘friend’ rather than an annoying salesman. You need to build a relationship based on trust, sincerity and constant interaction. Sure, not everyone can buy your products all the time but hey, no harm retweeting or spreading the message to others who can possibly do so if I like you. Don’t just follow everyone and expects to be followed back instantly. It’s not about the numbers either.

I like @thegardenslug alot as you can see from my tweets if you’ve been following. I started off not knowing what they have to offer but I don’t feel that their main objectives of being online is to force people to visit them but  instead, to build a relationship with their customers. That’s definitely a (Popsicle) brownie point for me and when I visited them, I knew it won’t be the last time I’m going over because The Garden Slug won my heart with their friendliness and awesome food.

4) Don’t act like a naggy old fart. Stop repeating the same messages!

This is spamming. Quality over quantity. 987123415623 tweets about the same product isn’t going to get you sales. We get your message but we may not like it. In fact, count yourself lucky if you still have 1 follower at the end of the day.

5) Reach out – help – contribute !

Sometimes it’s not just about your brand. No one really cares about you on twitter since it’s such a huge community unless you reach out to them individually. Introduce yourself at the right time – don’t be too money-minded aka not too eager to sell your product/services. Promote others or retweet their messages is a good way to start, it’s not just about you afterall. It’s all about the charm and making people genuinely interested in you. Share interesting relevant links or include pictures or videos in your messages. People will follow you if they enjoy reading your tweets.

6) Customer is always number 1. (not entirely true but that’s the saying)

(Almost) Real-time customer service is probably the best thing that one can get from social networking sites. I like how @Starhubcares try to answer to everyone’s enquries and drop direct messages to assist you when you are getting pissed holding on to the phone for half an hour listening to that awful waiting tone. Sometimes it just takes a tiny effort to pacify your angsty customers and we like it when you are willing to listen to our feedback and improve. It’s a 2 way communication afterall.

—

Of course I’m no expert and I may be wrong but at least that’s how I feel as a consumer. Any good case studies or examples that you can think of ? Or any other tips you can think of to share ? Open to discussion =)

Tags: 2 way communication, advertisments, apartments, ascott_ltd, behind the scene, case studies, companies, consumers, customer service, experience, Food, Hong Kong, listen, message, networking, online presence, personal, platforms, relationships, social media, spam, speak, standingsushi, starhubcares, target audience, the garden slug, tips, tweeples, twitter, university