Trailblazer Social futures The true worth of social media extends far beyond the marketing suite, and is making its presence felt on the business bottom line, says Elizabeth Knights-Ward, Hootsuites EMEA senior manager of strategic enterprise marketing interview: Catherine turner Elizabeth KnightsWard believes in embracing online communities S ocial media is not just a nice-to-have in the modern marketers armoury, but an established essential. At Hootsuite a social media management platform EMEA senior manager of strategic enterprise marketing, Elizabeth KnightsWard, argues that its worth supports business as a whole. She believes the cultural shift that social media has brought about should be reflected in how businesses talk with their customers across all channels. For many, this demands a fundamental rethink of the future consumer journey. KFC delivered a marketing masterclass early in 2018, using social media to turn a crisis into, arguably, a stronger brand which might even lead to greater long-term demand. When operational problems led to most of its 870 UK stores running out of chicken, The Colonel reacted swiftly online, in print and across the brand. It is, says Knights-Ward, a great example of what companies should be doing in this social-driven world. Trying to solve marketing problems by investing in tech isnt the panacea some make out; instead, its about putting humans first and recognisingthe power of online communities. Indeed, Knights-Ward believes customer problems should be embraced as a core pillar of marketing. KFC had thetechnology in place to allow the teams to tackle the crisis in real time, she says. The whole team, from the CMO to the community managers across the network, showed the importance of listening and talking to customers with the right information, in the right way, she says. KFC updated its customers on the situation via social media channels even setting up a web page for them to find their nearest open store and used an online chatbot, dubbed #wheresmychicken. The FCK apology message that ran in national newspapers was shared online across social media, while the tongue-in-cheek tone of voice that was used throughout kept customers onside. We live in a world where our customers are always online and they expect an immediate response, Knights-Ward says, adding that mobile has only made this more so. A recent global digital report by Simon Kemp shows that, a decade ago, only around one per cent of the worlds population used a smartphone: by 2020, that number is expected to be 80 per cent. And nearly 80 per cent of smartphone owners check their mobiles within 15minutes of waking up. The human factor Yet, amid all this digital disruption, Knights-Ward cautions brand leaders to remember the human factor. Buying technology doesnt solve business problems because, too often, the execution suffers the marketing and customer experience continue to decline. A humans-first strategy simplifies everything, she says. Fall in love with customer problems, rather than tech solutions. Get that right and everything falls intoplace. The big thing I have taken away recently is not to talk about Hootsuite as a brilliant or great technology, but as a solution that enables something far beyond the infrastructure itself. Technology such as ours gives us the chance to collaborate, to listen and together to transform marketing strategies. Its about creating a partnership between technology and the humans that allows brands to get closer to their audiences. Its about creating human connections at scale. Knights-Ward joined Hootsuite in 2016, having previously worked in audience development at WPP-owned content marketing agencies, and in business-to-business and consumer marketing roles at Google. In her current position at the social media management platform the worlds most popular with 16 million users Knights-Ward leads a pan-EMEA team in the creation and execution of C-level marketing campaigns, top-tier content andeducational programmes. She also works on sales-enablement projects and socialselling initiatives something she is increasingly seeing among Hootsuites customers. All the big enterprises we work with have massive salesforces targeting social. Guess what? Social is a selling tool, she says. We have a programme to help people sell; its about making meaningful connections having a two-way discussion about growing a business rather than focusing simply on the technology solution. Its about removing the hard sell and concentrating on how and why a business will succeed in a digital era. The social journey A 2016 report by Altimeter, Social Media Employee Advocacy, showed that 72.6 per cent of salespeople who incorporated social media into their process outperformed their colleagues. Yet social is not just a marketing, sales or a distribution channel, says Knights-Ward it is at the very heart of everything. Its where your customers are going to complain and to see what their friends are saying and, increasingly, its where moreand more business-to-business decisions are being made. Peer-to-peer is the most used channel for product research, behind Google search and broadcast. It is also the fastestgrowing channel. The customer journey isnt new, but the social Four rules for social customer journey has changed the way that businesses media strategy must think. These days, this journey is not linear: it is entirely customer controlled. What used to be a sellers l Always put humans first journey is now the buyers journey, and that, says Knights-Ward, makes it crucial for l Connections should be two-way organisations to have an integrated social approach across the whole business sales, l Embrace social evolution l Fall in love with customer problems, not techand solutions marketing customer services, working in harmony with their customers. Social has completely changed the customer journey, she adds. The social touchpoint from discovery to advocacy and every step of that journey in between. Knights-Ward predicts that social will soon become the first port of call for customers ahead, even, of search engines and businesses must ensure they are best placed for this future. For instance, she says, 60 per cent of people who complain on Twitter expect a response in 60 minutes something the banks and airlines, who first operated a social media strategy in an office hours only environment simply could not do, creating dissonance and customer dissatisfaction. Delivering on this expectation of immediacy is no longer something thats nice for a business to do its essential, says Knights-Ward. I call social the lifeblood of a business. Some might think that dramatic, but it really should be considered as something that runs through everything. It is both daunting and exciting; it opens you up to more data and information, to buyers andpotential buyers to what they are doing and seeing. Social helps you to respect your audience. She cites Converse and Hershey as brands that target social influencers effectively to amplify and inform their commercial messages. Converse saw individuals customising their Chuck Taylor trainers, so it created a platform around how everyone wears them differently and encouraged customers to share how. The UGC [usergenerated content] off of that was huge, she says. Hershey noticed how people were sharing its hashtag, so weworked with the company before it launched its social campaign. It was incentivised offline, then launched through Instagram and social. We know that social is going to continue to grow in terms of data, audiences andgenerations. Older generations are adopting WhatsApp and Facebook; the younger generation has dropped Facebook in favour of Instagram and Snapchat. Again, as amarketer, if youre effective in your social-listening strategy you can see that and act accordingly. Social strategy According to analytics firm Gartner, 63 per cent of chief marketing officers regard social marketing as a top investment area. Recent research from CIM shows that 52 per cent of marketers say improving performance of digital channels is top of the agenda. But, as social media escalates in importance, how should companies approach the new social reality? As Hootsuite has grown as a business and as brands realise the importance of having a social strategy relationships and return on investment (ROI) are increasingly key, says Knights-Ward. She advocates taking a longer-term approach to social media, and investing in social first pilot projects and campaigns to provide evidence of success. Pick an area of the business that the data indicates is a natural fit for instance, customer support or growing brand awareness and commit to piloting a social-first campaign. See what everyone is saying online and create activity and tactics to match that customer behaviour. Build advocates, internally and externally. When people go to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, conversation will naturally turn to venting their frustration with, or sharing their love of, something. Listen, learn, communicate. It gives you the chanceto realise earlyon when things arent going well and to react withknowledge. If you see a community advocating your brand, product or campaign, dig deeper. What can you do to reward those advocates and build a two-way relationship that shows you are listening to, and acting upon, what they are saying? We have an ambassador programme at Hootsuite, for socialmedia managers across the world who love Hootsuite. They get invitations, for instance, to beta test products and get research first. If the results show uplifts in positive sentiment, click-throughs or downloads or whatever success metrics you are using then you have a conversation with evidence, and thats important. Too often, people dont see the tangibles and, without proof of ROI, it is difficult to get that senior buy-in. cim.co.uk/exchange Fall in love with customer problems, rather than tech solutions and everything falls into place Elizabeth nights-Ward