Filipinos among the most active in social media, survey shows

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MANILA, Philippines — Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have the most active people in social media at least among consumers who frequent Starbucks coffee shops, based on a survey released by social engagement platform Local Measure.

Local Measure “Starbucks” Social Index analyzed social media conversations that occurred in 60 Starbucks stores across Australia, United States, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia over the past 24 months. Ten stores were included in prominent cities of each country for the period June 1, 2011 to June 1, 2013.

By identifying location data embedded within publicly available social content, Local Measure said it was able to identify unique insights, images posted by customers and comments about their experience in Starbucks.

Based on the survey, Malaysians were the most active on social media and twice as active as Americans, creating about 209,200 posts and check-ins on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Foursquare. Filipinos generated the second largest amount of content with 188,200 posts and check-ins and Indonesians came in third with 134,109 posts.

In a statement, Local Measure founder Jonathan Barouch said the survey highlighted the increasing need for businesses to mine social data that could be drawn from the real-time, social media platforms to gain insights from a business’ premises.

“Local Measure allows retailers to reclaim that personal customer service so often lost in the business transaction. While some customers may comment to friends or colleagues about weak coffee or poor service, smartphones are also empowering customers to share positive experiences. With Local Measure, retailers can now use this feedback to improve their customer service and make changes to their products or services accordingly,” Barouch said.

Barouch founded one of Australia’s first e-commerce businesses in 1999, which he later on sold to a competitor. After a decade, he founded Roamz, a B2C app, after raising funding for the venture from an ASX-listed company. Local Measure is a B2B app built on the social intelligence offered by Roamz, seeking to provide brands and marketers with real-time insight, demographics and analytics about their customers on a store-by-store basis.

The inaugural Social Index was conducted by Local Measure following its recent expansion into Asia. This index sought to illustrate the richness of information Local Measure can surface for brands through social data that customers are posting using their smartphones. This index demonstrates how companies like Starbucks can gain a competitive edge in analyzing these conversations in real-time.

In addition, Local Measure seeks to enable retailers to build a rapport with their “super customers” — those who are not only repeat customers but also share their experiences with their social followers. Local Measure allows brands to identify and reward super customers for their patronage, creating a deeper relationship with them.

For the Philippines, the busiest Starbucks area was in Bonifacio Global City, with 3,266 posts and 15,496 check-ins. The percentage of rich content created through Intagram was 49 percent.

The busiest month for the Philippines was May, similar to Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States. The busiest period for Australia and Singapore was March.

Some of the key findings from the Local Measure ‘Starbucks’ Social Index that are specific to Malaysia include:

• “Checking in” on Facebook or Foursquare proved more popular than creating updates or photos amongst consumers in all countries;

• Nearly 93 percent of all social media posts within and about Starbucks in Malaysia are check-ins;

• Of the 60 Starbucks stores, the most active on social media in Malaysia was at Berjaya Times Square, which had 3,391 social posts and over 27,594 check-ins over the two year period;

• The most prolific Super Customer had “visited” Starbucks stores 49 times and had 774 followers on Instagram.

Originally posted at 12:17 p.m.