Left to right: Helen Roberts of Global Lift Equipment with Amanda T own, of LEIA’s legal advisers Norton Rose Fullbright. È LEIA ANNUAL REVIEW 2017 decided at this stage not use social media at all. Managing Director Helen Roberts puts it quite simply. “We prefer to speak directly to our business colleagues. Often the use of social media can be very impersonal and can lead to mis-understanding - and that’s not just in the business world, I personally do not use social media. ” Helen continues, “We believe in direct communication and face to face meetings and events. We find people like the personal touch. I see too many times people on their mobile devices and lap tops with very little interaction with anyone around them which is a negative consequence of social media. We review the outcome of our marketing investments regularly and at the present time we are moving forward successfully without engaging through social media, but who knows what the future holds!” So talking budgets, how much do companies spend on social media? Terry Lifts cut costs by managing social media in-house, while realising there is potential for growth in paid social media advertising. “We don’t use an agency, so organic social media activity does not generate costs for us except for my time. Although it is difficult to be precise on the return on investment, it is clear from the traffic to the website that social media is effective, so we are planning to invest more in the paid element – which is modest when compared to our overall digital marketing spend,” Henna Roine says. Andrew Renwick at Caltech sees the cost of social media as a tiny percentage of the company’s marketing spend. But despite having external support, he recognizes the amount of time required to maintain a regular presence “Facebook and Twitter are the networks for the business, with Google+ an important element and LinkedIn is my personal profile. We could always do more,” he says. “For example I feel I should be a more active blogger as I have useful information to share, but it is something I can’t delegate to others and it requires time to do well and regularly.” Steve from Ronin puts the proportion of marketing spend on social media rather higher, at around one third to one half, but this includes producing the content too. As for measuring the return, “It’s simple, social media should result in product sales and business growth,” he says. “Social media is driving traffic to the website, and Apex tell us that this is generating enquiries.” His colleague Sara Laccone adds, “ Conversion is the magic word, there are good quality leads coming through at a steady rate.” Angela Breckenridge puts a similar figure to Ronin on share of spend. “The biggest part of the Stannah digital budget is probably Adwords on Google – and the amount of time generating content and maintaining a presence. This takes creativity and energy. But whilst there are challenges with traditional marketing, such as buying and maintaining accurate mailing lists, a brochure or magazine gets passed around and has a longer life than a digital message,” she says. The issues around immediacy are complex. Steven Lipscombe sees speed as a plus, allowing Apex Lifts to reach people instantly with a Tweet, posting an image and story in real time on Facebook. In contrast Angela Breckenridge perceives that this immediacy can hamper clear thinking and generate questions with an expectation of an equally speedy response. Or, as Caltech’s Andrew Renwick says, the risk of dissatisfied customers or simply mischievous individuals posting a complaint or criticism – the sort of concern that creates nervousness around the issue of social media. Ronin’s Sara Laccone believes that managing complaints or negative comment brings the debate back to the importance of seeing social media as part of an integrated marketing programme that includes customer relationship management. “The reality is that your customers will use social media to complain, whether you’re on it or not. At least if you have a social media presence, you will be able to see the comments and respond quickly and appropriately, increasing your customer loyalty and retention.” Finally, the vexed question of controls. At Stannah, there are protocols in place and tightly managed access to social media. At Ronin, there are protocols in place to ensure that posting is only permitted by a small group within a company. Sara Laccone says, “We are the gatekeepers and moderators. We encourage people within Apex to offer content for social media, and to share and like, but it is important that whatever appears is consistent with the standards and values of the company.” Caltech’s Andrew Renwick comments, “I am the gatekeeper for social media and I am increasingly conscious of the need to be circumspect about posting frustrations or incidents that seem amusing at the time. As far as staff are concerned, there are guidelines on emailing and social media use in the staff handbook. We are a small business, so we know each other well and hopefully this helps in responsible social media use.” At Terry Lifts, Henna Roine is responsible for developing the social media element of marketing and communications, overseen by the Marketing Director John McSweeney. “We are the two who control social media posting and although we have a shared understanding of appropriate content, there isn’t a formal set of guidelines,” she says. “I think that this would be a useful exercise to do, not just to manage posting appropriately but to ensure that social media properly reflects our branding and policies.” The shared opinions and experience reveal a variety of approaches but have a common theme. Social media in business is both a tool and a channel that requires respect and clear management. Keys to success are: ■ understanding the business objective ■ having the appropriate skills, will and resources to generate meaningful content ■ having the technical knowledge to measure impact ■ establishing clear protocols to control its use.