Social media expert Stewart Dawes takes us through the possibilities and pitfalls of social media
Social media is one of the most powerful forms of communication in modern-day society. In its early days, it was a tool to connect with family and distant friends. However, it has fast become a hugely influential device, arming the regular person with a public voice that can reach millions in a matter of seconds.
Rather than subjecting themselves to long, costly and arduous phone conversations with major multinational companies, consumers are contacting corporates through Facebook and Twitter and receiving responses within minutes. The benefits of this are mutual – the customer’s problem is resolved quickly, and the company scores public points for its quick competency.
But, while companies such as Virgin and Vodafone can use social media to their marketing advantage, could it be too risky for advisors?
The director of Atomic Social Media, Stewart Dawes, weighs up the pros and cons.
“Social media can create a huge PR factor for an advisor, but only if it is done well and the company commits to it at an advanced level,” he says. “But the company has to be willing to step ahead of its competitors.”
As the public increasingly use social media to gauge opinion on companies and issues, Dawes believes companies that devise a comprehensive social media strategy can easily score brownie points with customers.
“There is potential for clients to look in touch with the trends and social media-savvy customers,” he explains. “If advisor fixes a client’s problem and is seen to be doing so in social media, that can be hugely positive.“ You can ask customers what they want from your business and how you can improve customer service. This way the company is perceived as having a culture of customer engagement and perhaps that perceived culture is more important than the actual service provided,” he says.
But he warns against brokers using social media to market products and services.
“If you have sales-driven pursuit and use social media to broadcast your message or flog your products and services, people will turn off,” he says. “By doing that you are not being very social. People do not use social media to be spammed.”
However, social media, for all its benefits, can potentially cause reputational damage.
They might find there is a definite risk in engaging in social media. It can open them up to community backlash that they did not think was possible.”
While social media can be extremely beneficial, Dawes says, “there is also the potential to look like a laughing stock if the strategy is ill-thought-out.
6 top tips for engaging in social media
1 Don’t sell social
“Social media is a PR and branding exercise,” Dawes says, “if the sales department handles your social media, you have a serious problem."
2 Humanize your profile
“If you stick your logo on Twitter or Facebook, your social media strategy is likely to fail, if you humanize it by making a person the face of the company, it’s likely to succeed. Richard Branson, for example, is clearly the face of Virgin.”
3 Strive for critical mass
“Get an expert in to help you build up your audience; otherwise you will be stumbling along wondering how everybody else does it.”
4 Appearance is important
“You need to look good very early on. You cannot go into social media half-baked.”
5 Formulate best practice for your company
“Have social media policies for your staff, plan your strategy carefully.”
6 Be prepared to invest
“It will take up a lot of resources. Any notion of return on investment should be suspended for 18 months to a year.”
“Think of the big picture.”
