About Taking a Stand in Social Media
Insights from the article:
- Consumers are looking for authentic and meaningful social media advocacy from brands. Consumers have bought from brands who have efforts to share and live by their values.
- A growing segment of Filipinos align themselves to brands that speak about advocacies they care about;
- As a result, purpose-driven brands receive stronger engagements and affinity from their consumers.
Happy new year, friends! I hope that as you start 2021, you also consider chasing your dreams as a priority. Like what I did when I started JC Digital. This is an advocacy for me, and is relevant to what I want to talk about in this blog: Social Media Advocacy.
What I came here to write about is one of the points from We Are Social’s “Think Forward: 2021: The Social Reset” study. 2020 was such a pivotal year for all of us, exposing a lot of new behaviors and really pushing all of us beyond our comfort zones. This is such an interesting study because it highlights the different ways how digital marketing (social media, in particular) has changed in terms of how we use it and its role in society. If you haven’t read the study yet, click here.
What caught my eye is one of the points that We Are Social pointed out, about Practical Advocacy. It’s an exposition of an inherent behavior of people in social media towards providing support to worthy causes through posting and sharing content. In 2020, as the pandemic pushed everyone into lockdown and offline mobilization was put to a halt, people turned to social media to express their advocacies.
Social Media Advocacy: Taking a Stand in Social Media
If you think about it, in years past it was a bit half-hearted to advocate for a cause simply by posting in your social media. Before, you had to go out there and take a stand. You had to be there. But the pandemic hit, and because social media usage has exponentially increased during this time, its growing role towards public information has also been emphasized.
We Are Social’s study tells us that because of the constraints we experienced last year, “digital advocacy has undergone a practical transformation.” “It’s been bolstered by powerful online communities who, galvanised by voices elevated on social, are educating themselves and mobilizing. They’re realizing that online action can translate to tangible offline change.”
UPDATE (February 2, 2021): The latest We are Social report published one major trend in digital marketing about purpose-driven initiatives. More than a quarter of consumers surveyed have bought from a brand for the first time because of a company’s explicit values. By standing true for an advocacy or in support of a social cause, it can improve your standing among your consumers.
The Increasing Importance of Social Media Advocacy
Wow. This is almost like the holy grail of digital marketing – espousing tangible, offline changes through online communications and communities. Social media consumption has been growing at an accelerated rate since years past, but the growth of consumption this 2020 has been unprecedented.
Similar to a lot of activities that have been translated from offline to online, taking a stand and advocating for social causes have grown stronger. This increasing importance of social media towards what people stand for are now propelling brands to take social issues more seriously. A growing segment of people now align themselves with brands that speak about advocacies they care about. People are able to become more engaged with brands that take a stand because they seek authenticity and credibility from them.
But, the world is becoming more and more disparate and polarized, and standing for one side of a social issue may negate your image to the other side. It’s going to be important – now more than ever – to take risks and become accountable for brands who take a stand. Doing this does not only help in getting more engaged users in your community, but it helps build a better world, doesn’t it?
Let’s make it easier
If you’ve read this far, thank you for supporting my small attempts to educate people more about digital marketing. I would love you to be a part of my journey moving forward, by subscribing to my email list here: http://bit.ly/jcdigital-subscribe.
Feel free to send me an email at jcdigitalpartners@gmail.com if you have comments, contentions, and reactions about any of my blogs. Or, feel free to contact me if you and your business needs help with your rush holiday campaigns in social media.
James Michael Chiong is a digital marketing strategist and consultant who helps small and medium businesses in the Philippines grow through SEO, Meta Ads, Google Ads, and data-driven marketing strategy. With 10+ years of experience across agencies, in-house, and consulting roles, James has led digital campaigns for brands in real estate, publishing, education, BPO, retail, and professional services.
He previously served as Digital Director and Director for Digital Strategies at TeamAsia — an award-winning Integrated Marketing Experience agency — where he spearheaded the formation of TeamAsia DigiCreatives, a merged Digital, Creatives, and Technology unit delivering AI-assisted SEO, voice-enabled search, and end-to-end e-commerce marketing solutions.
James has been featured as a social media marketing expert on ABS-CBN News (My Puhunan: Kaya Mo!, March 2025), where he shared practical digital strategies for Filipino MSMEs. He has also been quoted in adobo Magazine in relation to digital transformation in the marketing industry, and has appeared as a guest on TeamAsia’s B2B: Breakfast to Business podcast on Spotify — covering AI in marketing and digital strategy during the pandemic era.
He co-authored multiple thought leadership pieces published on TeamAsia’s platform, including articles on social media authenticity, integrated digital marketing, and the intersection of creativity and technology. He was also recognized as part of TeamAsia’s new management leadership on the agency’s 32nd anniversary in 2024.
James holds certifications in Google Analytics and HubSpot Inbound Marketing, and has served as a Marketing Professor at Lyceum of the Philippines – Cavite. He is based in Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines, and writes about SEO, AI in marketing, and digital strategy on JC Digital.
As Seen In: ABS-CBN News | adobo Magazine | TeamAsia B2B Podcast on AI (Spotify)
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