Highlights from the MDA School Content Marketing Series

What 30,000 Malaysians told us about their content habits

The MDA School of the Malaysia Digital Association hosted a virtual series on Content Marketing on July 8,2021, and August 12, 2021, in collaboration with Rev Media Group.

The virtual series, titled “What 30,000 Malaysians told us about their content habits”, was based on an audience survey by Rev Media Group. Rev is the largest digital publisher in Malaysia with 13.5m monthly active users that reaches out to 80% of the Malaysian digital population.

The three parts in the series, divided into an Income Edition, a Parents Edition, and the observations and findings from the first two editions will roll into a segment on How to Attract Your Target Audience: Insights to creating effective content, scheduled for September 9, 2021.

The month long audience survey was carried out across 27 websites with over 33,000 respondents which captured audiences of different ages, income groups, ethnicities, preferred language, and professions.

The key objective of the survey was to get to know the audiences better through their content preferences and their spending priorities.

Followed by that, for the analysis in the two sessions organized by MDA, namely the Income Edition and the Parents Edition, the objective was to identify personas based on the audiences that were being observed (divided into income groups, and parenting groups).

The Income Edition live event that took place on July 8, 2021 was moderated by Kausern Hieu, Country Manager of Nuffnang Malaysia. The speakers of the Income Edition were Trainers Jenna Chua and May Lim, both Lead Strategic Planners at Rev Media Group.

For the Income Edition, the groups were namely B40, M40, and T20, with income ranging from RM1,500-3,000, RM3,000-10,000, and over RM10,000 respectively.

The Income Edition did not include retirees, students and homemakers, and the income groups were based on individuals only, not an accumulation of the household.

Key Takeaways from Income Edition:

1. Malaysians love to be informed. 70% of Malaysians consume current and viral news
2. Malaysians are receptive towards sponsored content. 65% say they are convinced to purchase an item after consuming sponsored content 
3. For B40, they are more likely than the M40 and T20 to spend their money on fashion, beauty, and make big purchase items such as a car or a motorcycle. 
4. For the M40, they prioritize experiences and growth more than the B40 and T20. Hence, for this group, they would spend their money on travel and self-development
5. For the T20 group, it’s all about enjoying the finer things in life, as they place a high priority on drinking and luxury brands. This doesn’t mean they are reckless with their money, as they also look to grow their wealth through investments.
6. Knowing these audiences and personas enables marketers to better develop content that is relevant and timely to these groups.

The Parents Edition live event that took place on August 12, 2021 was moderated by Donne Maniago, Council Member at MDA and Planning Director at Carat Malaysia. The speakers for the Parents Edition were May Lim and Darian Goh, Lead Strategic Planners at Rev Media Group.

The key focus of this session was to find out what type of content parents look for and what are the top personas and segments that consume online content and how to best connect with them. The audience observed were parents of babies, toddlers, children, teens, and young adults.

“Making sense of first-party data about our core audiences and presenting it in a visual and contextual manner is key to understanding our audiences and effectively reaching different target markets with the right story.”

May Lim

Key Takeaways from Parents Edition:

1. Parents of babies are more likely to spend on beauty, luxury, and events compared to other parents
2. Parents of toddlers are 4% more likely to purchase a property, as well as dining and gadgets compared to other parents
3. For parents of children, they prioritize spending on fashion, activities, and large home scale upgrades
4. In this stage of life, parents of teens are 6% more likely to purchase a new car or bike, or 18% more likely to spend on education compared to other parents
5. Parents of young adults prioritize health and enjoyment. As they are 22% more likely to spend on fitness and 87% more likely to spend on drinking compared to other parents
6. Parents react and spend differently at different stages in their life and your communications with them should match their journey.

The third event of the series on How to Attract Your Target Audience: Insights to creating effective content is scheduled to go live on September 9, 2021.

Click here to register for the event.