Social Media Performance in Telecommunications Companies: A Comparative Study Across Platforms

Abstract

The telecommunications sector in Malaysia is a dynamic and competitive industry. Effective utilisation of social media could lead to business gaining competitive advantages. Hence, this paper examines the social media performance of two Malaysian telecom companies across four major platforms: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. It examines key factors such as video post count, posting frequency, and account longevity to social media performance.  It also examines audience engagement of the most popular videos across the four social media platforms. The findings indicate that early platform adoption enhances brand visibility by increasing follower counts. However, high follower numbers alone do translate into audience engagement as consistent and frequent posting is equally important. Although frequent posting improves visibility and engagement, the findings also showed that specific nature of platform and the audience specific behaviour should be considered. On Instagram, frequent posting does not lead to higher engagement, whereas TikTok rewards frequent posting. The study also highlights that YouTube remains the leading platform for viewership, while TikTok excels in engagement. Facebook and Instagram show mixed engagement levels. One social media approach for telecommunications companies is to provide consistent posting and develop platform-specific strategies which is needed for maximizing social media performance and maintaining a strong competitive position.