Long view guides social media strategy

If anyone still doubts the prominent role of social media in Asia, the latest figures should remove any uncertainty. In China alone, there are more than 560 million internet users. That flows through to impressive numbers for social networks such as Qzone, with more than 530 million users; Renren, 250 million; and micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, 350 million.

Elsewhere, social media has experienced massive growth recently. For instance, Facebook usage grew by 30 per cent in the Philippines, 17 per cent in South Korea and 10 per cent in Japan, according to socialbakers.com

Importantly, online activity differs vastly depending on the type of platform, and the presence of the platform in a given geographic area. For example, the 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony triggered "only" 10 million tweets on Twitter as its use is restricted on the mainland, but 119 million posts on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. Platforms can also be more or less country or territory-specific, such as Wretch in Taiwan or Cyworld in South Korea.

The diversity of platforms bears a clear implication: adopt a multi-platform strategy and leverage the specific functions of each social media website. A good example of such multi-platform strategy is global shipping company Maersk.

Maersk aimed to increase employee cohesion and pride in the company, generate brand awareness and engage with its industry partners outside the company. To reach these ambitious goals, the company cleverly leveraged the functions of each social media platform it used.