Leveraging Discovery and Messaging on Instagram to Unlock Growth with the Next Generation of Thai Consumers

In Thailand's post-pandemic landscape, businesses have already realized the potential of social media and its primary role to both entertain and connect with customers, a fact that was confirmed in Meta's recent study with Ipsos.

Connectivity and Entertainment are now the most prevalent factors for social connection between Thai people and Meta's platforms, particularly Instagram, with them fast becoming key places for both community and commerce in Thailand.

Dhruv Vohra, Managing Director, Meta Business Group, (Mid-Market), Apac, revealed, "Every day, Instagram hosts over a billion interactions between people and businesses, offering connections with communities around shared interests, personal expressions of brand sentiment, and engagement with emerging culture. We are excited to see how business messaging is catching on for Instagram in Thailand and how IG has become a powerful platform that is shaping the future of discovery commerce."  

According to Meta's recent study, 75% of Thai respondents confirmed they had taken commerce action after seeing a product or service on Instagram.

Here is how we are already seeing Instagram shaping the future of discovery commerce and how it can help Thai businesses achieve their objectives in 2023.

Leveraging Unique Messaging Opportunities at Every Phase of the Journey

One-on-one conversations have been an ever-present part of human connection, commerce, and relationships, and messaging can play a critical role in helping customers discover and engage with your brand.

Today, messaging has unlocked the capability for us to have these conversations at scale, with multiple entry points to start conversations across direct messages (profile/posts), shop inquiries, and story replies. 

Post-pandemic, almost half of the Thai consumers now chat with businesses more frequently (42% increased their use of business messaging since the pandemic), with the country adopting messaging on their path to purchase: 62% inquire about a business or product through Meta's messaging applications, while 58% purchase through the channels.

For Meta, we are focused on building value within the 'Discovery to Consideration' phase and providing a seamless experience that can be used every day.  In fact, 72% of consumers were retained from discovery to inquiry on Meta platforms after discovering products - giving a seamless experience for them when they discover and start conversations on Meta.

Messenger and Instagram Direct; 52% of Gen Zs agree that Instagram helps build relationships and create dialogue with brands, while 45% are open to sharing their personal interests with businesses through chat.

Brands can take advantage of these unique messaging opportunities at every phase of the customer journey, whether it be personalized engagements through Stories, Comments, and Posts – or commerce opportunities through ads, Shops, or Instagram Direct.

Leveraging the Home of the Next Generation Consumer

Two billion people, creators, and businesses are part of Instagram's vibrant community, constantly co-creating and interacting every single day. Of these people, 90% of people follow a business, with nearly 2 in 3 saying the platform allows them to form meaningful relationships with brands.

Among Thais surveyed by Global Web Index, Instagram is seen as the number one platform for building relationships with brands and has become the preferred platform for the young generation for connection and inspiration – particularly Gen Zs, where 48% learn about a service or product they have never heard of before from Instagram. Some of the most popular verticals resonating with the new generations of consumers are Food & Drink (68%), Technology (65%), Music (74%), and Personal Healthcare (57%).

From this, it is clear that Thais connect by seeking their passions and interest, and businesses need to tap into these to drive action and growth.

One way to do so is by providing avenues for consumers to discover your brand, including having a profile that helps non-followers to visit the brand page and cross-promoting their Instagram Channel on Facebook Pages to leverage their existing community, as well as using Stories and Reels as a creative way to show your authentic brand personality.

Reels - a short form, immersive video on Instagram is a place to discover interests and brands you love. The latest insight from Meta shows that people around the world reshare Reels more than 2 billion times every day. Adding Instagram Reels ads to existing Facebook and Instagram Feed and Stories campaigns dramatically outperformed those without in both Favorability (79% more confidence) and Purchase Intent (78%).

GQ, known for offering innovative and quality clothing that aim to solve everyday problems and make life easier, incorporated Reels and Stories for their new product campaigns and saw 9.3x higher purchase intent, 65% higher reach, and a 5% decrease in CPM costs as a result.

In 2023, we see Thai businesses becoming even more creative with building messaging experiences as end-to-end solutions, and working with top-tier developer partners to become more efficient in catering to customers' needs.

From my experience, many businesses leveraging our Meta Business Partners messaging solutions have enjoyed higher purchase and conversion rates – and we see Thais already investing in providing customers with a more seamless and better experience.

Dhruv Vohra, Managing Director, Meta Business Group, (Mid-Market), Apac