Rylan Holey, Partner manager at Hootsuite joined a panel of top global speakers at the WSI Digital Summit in London on 19th November.

Rylan joined speakers from WSI, Bing, Hubspot, and the Vending Association to discuss the complex world of digital, the impact on business and how we bring it all together.

There was a time when businesses questioned whether they needed to be involved in Social Media. Now it’s no longer an option. If your business is to succeed you need to embrace digital, social and all that goes with it. Your business has to be Social!

But being social does not mean opening a social media account and telling everyone what you’re up to today or what cake you’re having with your coffee break. It can be those types of things, if there’s a reason for them and they’re relevant to your audience. But social is so much more – it’s about engaging with your audience, publishing content, providing good customer service, analysing trends and targeting your marketing and your messages.
This post is based on Ryan’s presentation at the WSI Digital Summit.

Rylan spoke about how Social media should be used to enhance your business. Social allows you to find your audience and engage with them, using that engagement to help you make your marketing and business decisions. Having said that many of the benefits of social media are also perceived as a challenge. Enhancing relationships and bringing new business versus monitoring conversations and applying policies for use. But, social can give you a competitive edge.

Did you know that 88% of businesses feel that a social media presence is important if they are to stay competitive? A large 86% say that analysing the social engagement is helping the company’s bottom line. However only 40% are capitalising on their social data, with the remaining 60% struggling to turn their data into actionable insights.

The top 3 uses of social media are:
1. Communication with customers

  • 84% of businesses using social media do so enhance relationships with existing customers
  • 74% use it to generate new business
  • 73% use it to resolve customer questions or complaints

2. Communication with influencers

  • 84% engage with influencers; people who can influence buying decisions
  • 74% develop relationships with non customer stakeholders; those who have an interest in your business

3. Listening to conversations about their organisation

  • 81% of businesses say they use it to learn about their company’s reputation
  • 79% use it to monitor external conversations about their business

Social media slideSo, for a business to succeed with social there has to be a plan in place. A collaborative approach within a business is essential with all departments playing their part, from Marketing, IT, Sales and Customer Service to Operations, Risk Management and Finance.
That way you can use social to best effect while minimising the risks and measuring the impact on your bottom line.

Business goals and objectives need to be in place to ensure direction of campaigns. Messages need to be turned into meaningful relationships and staff need to be empowered to become your brand ambassadors.

If you define your goals and audience you can identify the material you need to publish. Use social to promote and amplify those messages then listen and engage with your audience and from there you can identify advocates, influencers and potential customers. Then convert. Finally measure and use that measurement to inform your future content and campaigns.

Use the same principals to enhance your customer service. Listen to what’s being said. Engage and use the opportunities to resolve issues, improve processes and educate and inform your clients and potential clients and influencers.

Social Media can have a huge impact for your business. Use it to

  • Improve your marketing efforts
  • Increase your sales
  • Provide better customer service

Some quotes from the presentation:

  • Hootsuite want to revolutionise your communications and put social at the heart of your business
  • The future is already here, just not evenly distributed
  • Social strategies need to be agile to keep up but also compliant to minimise risk
  • Align your social strategy with your business objectives

Empowered Organisations will win.

WSI Digital Summit Rylan Holey from Cotswolds Today on Vimeo.

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One comment

  • robthomasuk

    Rylan from Hootsuite provided well over 100+ business leaders with some very interesting insights and thought leadership in the area of Social Media Marketing. We at WSI are very proud to be Hootsuite Partners – they never let us down!

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