Quocia stirs social media buzz for SMEs

Its AI tool automates social media strategy, content creation, scheduling, and posting.

Singapore startup Quocia AI Pte Ltd has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered social media marketing tool that helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) expand their online presence at a low cost.

Quocia provides customers a content direction for the business to quickly create a video to accompany the scheduled post that can be shared across eight social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for $118 (US$88) a month.

Small businesses must answer five simple questions. The answers help the platform generate a “brand brief” for market analysis and hashtag research to develop a personalised strategy. The entire process takes just three minutes.

“Quocia has this [feature] called Q-Chat,” Daniel Yew, founder and CEO at Quocia, told Singapore Business Review. “It plays the role of a social media agency's account manager. You can talk to it about your strategy… and it will adjust it for you. After that, you will have new automated posts tailored to what you're trying to achieve.”

The social commerce market in Southeast Asia was valued at $45.7b (US$34b) in 2022 and is expected to reach $56.5b (US$42b) by 2025, driven by rising middle-class incomes and the rise of digital influencers, according to a May 2024 report by Zilio International Consulting Group.

Southeast Asia is emerging as a global leader in social commerce, where social media platforms not only entertain but also facilitate buying and selling directly, according to marketing agency Comms8.

“I know someone who uses a social media agency and pays $3,000 for three posts a day,” Yew said. “Quocia will do this for you across seven, eight different platforms, delivering as many posts as you want. There's no comparison when it comes to price and productivity.” 

The startup also allows project collaboration, where several users can work on a single project, allowing businesses to manage their workflow more efficiently.

With 20 years of experience in the marketing and production industry and a strong interest in tech, Yew created a tool to simplify and advance social media marketing.

“AI is one space that I've been watching for a very long time,” he said. “When ChatGPT came out in November 2022, I tried it and then I said, ‘The next half of my life is going to be about AI. I'm going to drop everything I'm doing and just start working on AI.’”

Yew said navigating social media has been challenging for many SMEs because they often can’t afford skilled staff, and top talent tends to be hired by industry giants.

Built for SMEs
The name “Qoucia” is a mix of two words defining the startup’s purpose — “quick” and “social.” Accessibility, especially for those who are not social media-savvy, sets it apart from other social media marketing tools, Yew said.

The AI strategist noted that whilst there had been “tons of tools” even before the advent of AI, these were not built for SMEs. “They’re not even designed for companies unless you’re an enterprise-level business. These tools are really meant for social media agencies.”

"Quocia is different [because] we’re not just a tool for social media agencies; we aim to be the agency itself. Quocia seeks to serve as the complete agency solution,” he added.

Instead of focusing on content creation, Quocia emphasises strategy, helping SMEs identify the content they need to maximise their social media presence.

And unlike a marketing agency, Quocia is not disrupted by the sudden resignation of a staff member and can keep up with AI’s fast pace.

“Whatever solution you're building in today's tech landscape may become obsolete tomorrow. And for that matter, you need to keep evolving.”

Yew said customers see a new version of Quocia when they log in because it is being upgraded daily. “Yesterday's version is better than the day before and this keeps going on,” he added.