Social Media in Thailand
As part of our series of short insightful webinars, we invited our customers to say Sawasdee (“sah-wah-dee”) to the social media in Thailand with Ophir Penso, our very own marketing department manager at Xtra-Mile.
With Thailand’s globalization, embracement of progressive ideas, and its digital revolution, the Thais have significantly broadened their activities online and on social media. Along with its 70 million residents, their population has grown gung-ho over social media, taking over essential parts of their daily lives, far beyond just a means to connect. Thailand takes the #1 spot for smartphone surfers in the world with 97.7% and Thais (ages 18-64) spend on average about 8 hours and 44 minutes daily online, twice as much as in the USA. The huge potential in Thailand has recently led many companies to reach out and campaign in Thai’s social media. It is important to start understanding the market there asap as the potential will keep increasing to 62 million social media users expected by 2025.
So, what makes the Thais tick?
Thailand is a country with rising wealth as well as soaring social consumers. The relaxed Buddhist attitude of ‘just enjoy life’ blended with their strong work ethics, means they enjoy fully whatever they do and seek indulgences, pleasure, and luxurious experiences while they look to be as time efficient as possible. As the social framework takes a significant role in their lives, they seize the moment and pursue time well spent with family and friends. Cousins are even referred to as brothers and sisters in Thai. Like many East Asian countries, status is vital to them and their social standing influence is measured by their age, family ties, education, position at work, and income level. Colors play a major role in their lives as different colors have deep social meaning. And same as the rest of the world today, the Thai’s younger generation has a larger buying power and spends more on experience and instant gratification. To the Thais, health is wealth, beauty before gender, and the ‘here and now’ is what matters most.
Where do the Thais roam & what trends speak Thai?
Although the Thais are fond of Chinese-based social media platforms and the Japanese instant messaging service, many non-Asian platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and most recently, TikTok have taken over. As the Korean wave and K-pop are extremely viral in Thailand, Korean products are extremely successful. But you do not need to have a Korean brand to capture their eye and penetrate the Thai market from the B2B perspective. The Thais are on the lookout for humor, visual entertainment, business small talk, sensitive matters, and their micro-influencers. The influence of social media in Asia’s emerging markets has steeply gone up and campaigns that properly leverage the platforms can skyrocket their products and companies.
To Thailand and beyond!
When choosing a B2B marketing strategy, you must take all the key cultural facts listed above into account. As in any situation, your success depends on how strong your understanding is of the market and its audience. Brands should manifest and respect Thailand’s cultural values and emphasize positive association with reputation, pride, or status.
Before you fly your business down to Thailand, download our 30-minute insightful webinar about social media for B2B companies in Thailand and learn more >>
