Social Media Budget. (Malaysia Toursim under fire)

Yes, companies are spending a lot of money on social media and advertising these days, but a recent report on the Malaysia's Government RM1,758,432 spending on 20,292 Facebook is starting to raise eyebrows.

In this article, "Tourism Malaysia under fire for FB spending" it shows the importance of a good solid plan to measure ROI, as the results from the marketing from Facebook may have even yielded more tourists who spend more that that amount.

I do not agree that a 6 year old can start a FB page well, but I'd agree that the budget was a little high. "You need RM1.8 million to run Facebook pages and applications? A six-year-old can start a Facebook page," said Loke.

I personally think that while it is good for an agency to help your business get started in Facebook and Twitter, ultimately, it is your voice online, and you should not outsource it to a third party, internal training and a good social media policy to get corporate wide support and involvement may prove to be more effective and REAL in your engagement, and people can tell if you are genuine.

I went to check out the FB pages, and felt that "http://www.facebook.com/CutiCuti1Malaysia" is a pretty ok page with decent interaction, however, if you are a tourist going to Malaysia, Would you even think about searching for such a name? (Especially if you don't know Malay)

You need to understand what you are spending on and how it will help you. Get empowered by knowledge and information.

-- Robin Low