This revelation is evident from the newly released third installment of the Digital Brand Index (DBI 10.2). Developed jointly by global public relations firm, Edelman, and social media intelligence firm, Brandtology, this index identifies the most popular brands, channels and topics that drive online and digital trends.
Picking up a phone and chatting with people seems to be a thing of the past in Singapore as Twitter, Hardwarezone Forum- Eat-Drink-Man-Woman, and ChannelNewsAsia Forum -- MarketTalk are the top three channels for technology conversations in the nation.
DBI tracked the majority of markets in Asia and found that Twitter's ascent to being the top channel for technology conversations in Singapore is consistent with the trend across these regions. But one cannot access Twitter in China due to government policies.
"Forums have consistently come out as the most popular channels for technology conversations since the study began nine months ago," said Sanjay Nair, director for technology, Edelman in Southeast Asia. "This consistency demonstrates that brands can engage with their audience in the same channels over the long term, without a need to change their digital strategy every quarter."
The increasing popularity of forums can be seen as an opportunity for marketers and according to Nair, brands can build out "embassies" in all relevant networks and channels--places where employees work to serve the interests of the community, as well as their company.
Nair added that enterprises should try to establish multiple digital bases of operations across channels on the Web for each product and this will ensure that brands can target a wider audience.
Better results can be achieved if companies can use the forums to customise their message and have multiple stories across the different platforms depending on the audience demographic.
Facebook is also used as a platform for engagement, but online discussions and active engagement with fans on its pages were primarily focused on communicating new product updates and news. Brands may consider using Facebook pages to create content that meaningfully engage with its fans.
The report also showed that Google, Singtel Group and StarHub retained their top three spots as the most popular brands online in this quarter.
"We've seen great growth of buzz in the digital space across multiple markets since we started the DBI, especially in the micro-blogging area like Twitter," said Kelly Choo, business development director, Brandtology. "Marketers would need to further look into strategies rather than just use it to broadcast their messages, which users would get tired of or worse still, become annoyed and decide to block the brand. They should also look at this holistically along with the other channels like forums, blogs, social networks to measure, learn and craft their strategies accordingly.