Everywhere we look, businesses are sprouting up. Be it small or medium, there are an estimated 140 million businesses that utilise both free and paid tools to expand internationally.
At a recent press briefing in Singapore, Facebook executives shared key insights and trends which will be shaping businesses across Southeast Asia in 2020.
Facebook also strengthened their commitment in assisting all sorts of businesses find opportunities to grow using various methods like ephemeral sharing, video, messaging and e-commerce.
"Supporting communities and businesses in Southeast Asia is critical for Facebook. We are committed to helping them drive innovation through digital up-skilling which in turn we hope will create positive social and economic impact in their communities,” said Benjamin Joe, Vice President, Southeast Asia and Emerging Countries for Facebook.
The 2019 Future of Business survey, a global study of small medium businesses on Facebook, conducted in partnership with the World Bank and the OECD, about ⅓ of owners or managers of businesses on Facebook are women.
Seven out of 10 female leaders stated that they have a bright outlook for their business. Meanwhile, one in five Asia-Pacific business owners said they are involved in international trade, with 14% saying they export to more than one country. That’s pretty impressive.
Regarding challenges faced by business leaders, 45% of them said that their work called for high speed or tight deadlines frequently - just like everything digital, things need to be done fast and settled immediately.
When it came to hiring, these business leaders also faced a bigger struggle than most in other regions across the globe.
Facebook came up with a digital marketing skills e-learning curriculum to help counter these problems for businesses in Southeast Asia. There are new tools and trainings to help make things easier!
Executives from Facebook‘s Asia-Pacific leadership team also took the opportunity to share insights for connecting the commerce, developer and media ecosystems by means of strategic partnerships across the region. Working together is always better than working alone, after all. They also touched on topics like brand safety and privacy, as well as conducted workshops on making use of stories on Facebook and Instagram and virtual reality demos.
“The key takeaway for businesses is that the spaces creators and brands have to bring their ideas to life, earn and keep that attention, have never been bigger or more connected. To be successful, businesses need to experiment with the new and deliver ideas in the ways people want to connect,” said Joe.
Digital trends are changing, so we gotta keep up! What else do you think will change in the coming years?
By: Celestine Foo
