Member Article

Anti-social? It’s time to think again…

Sceptical about Twitter? Cynical about LinkedIn? Samantha Davidson, managing director of full service marketing company Horizonworks, explains how social media can be used to benefit your organisation… and be integrated into your business strategy.

‘Providing s**t to scum for over 70 years’: not a sentence that Greggs’ communications team would have wanted to be summarising their company on Google’s search page.

But thanks to Greggs’ primary Google search image being replaced with this parody, one day in August, that’s exactly what greeted them - and thousands of other web users too, as the unfortunate tagline went viral.

How the bakery chain responded shows how a well-executed social media plan can swing into action and turn a negative into a positive. Greggs engaged in some humorous Twitter banter with Google over the issue – responding to one jokey tweet with a picture of a box of delicious looking doughnuts, and a tweet of ‘Hey @GoogleUK, fix it and they’re yours!!! #FixGreggs’. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this tempting offer, Google solved the problem. But Greggs also won some fantastic publicity over the incident…and its swift (and funny) responses garnered plenty of applause.

Greggs’ actions demonstrate the value of social media to a living, breathing business, in this case the ability to counter negative publicity immediately, rather than waiting for a press release to be issued and then used by newspapers or TV stations.

‘Crisis communications’ of this kind can be built into a business’s marketing strategy – and social media used as an effective tool to deliver them.

Indeed, social media platforms - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest et al - should be seen as channels through which to deliver a focused marketing strategy tailored for your business – in the same way that your organisation may employ tactics including media relations, direct mail or digital marketing to promote itself.

Social media should be a part of the mix of tactics used to bring success to your organisation… but should never be something you approach flippantly - or without thought to your target markets, brand values, core messages and crucially, your objectives.

As a full service strategic marketing company, we have integrated social media implementation into many of the strategies we’ve delivered for clients, which include the N8 Research Partnership, a collaboration of the eight most research intensive universities in the North of England, water industry membership body The Institute of Water, packaging specialist IPS and regenerative medicine network Regener8.

Some companies wish, via social media, to connect with their stakeholders or explore new opportunities with industry bodies. Others want to raise their profile and build brand credibility. Many want to increase sales – whether that’s of a product, or seats at a conference. Social media can also be an effective way in which to disseminate news and announcements, such as job vacancies. And of course, we shouldn’t forget that channels such as LinkedIn are an excellent way of identifying new business opportunities.

Unfortunately, many companies still see social media as a platform for celebrity tittle-tattle, or an online catwalk for narcissists: not unfair criticisms of some users, granted, but a view that surely denigrates social media’s true potential.

The marketing strategy we developed for the Institute of Water’s Annual Conference in June mixed ‘traditional’ PR tactics – generating press coverage in trade publications – with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn posts, creating a buzz around the event and supporting ticket sales. Last month, we undertook a similar social media campaign in the run-up to Regener8’s annual conference, helping to increase attendance significantly on last year’s event. And our integrated marketing strategy for IPS’s Desto cup – which included a key social media element – led to an increase in sales enquiries and boosted the company’s profile.

Twitter claims to have 271 million monthly active users across the globe, with 15 million of them in the UK. LinkedIn, meanwhile, boasts 300 million members and more than 10 million in the UK. By the end of last year, Facebook had a staggering 1.23 billion monthly active users worldwide and a third of the UK population visit the site every day. Instagram and Pinterest, too, are growing in stature.

Not all of these channels will be right for your business. Not all of them will reach the audience you seek. But the potential to help your business grow is clearly there. And by being part of an integrated, marketing strategy – your blueprint for future growth – social media can be an immensely powerful tool.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Samantha Davidson .