17 Jul Networx: Managing a Brand’s Social Media
Our sell out event, ‘Managing a Brand’s Social Media’ did not disappoint on July 15 at The Spice Cellar! Our panel of social media experts provided unique insights into the processes of effectively managing a brand’s social media, transforming it into a community with real engagement from followers.
Our panel included: The Works’ Owner and Creative Partner Douglas Nicol, Social Media Knowledge’s Program Director James Fitzgerald, and Deepend’s Social Media Strategist Emily Knox.
Douglas Nicol, the driving force behind the Datafication Projects, shared some great insights into how Australian’s use social media. On average, Australians spend 7.5 hours per month on Facebook compared to just 21 minutes on Twitter, and people who access Facebook by mobile are twice as active on the platform. Douglas also discussed negative feedback, saying brands need to react promptly otherwise the negativity festers.
Emily Knox expanded on how brands should deal with negative feedback online by explaining that companies can use complaints as an opportunity to show you care about your consumers. To pre-empt any negative feedback Emily recommended meeting with the brand’s customer service team, as they have experience dealing with customer complaints and you can use this experience to formulate a plan when it comes to responding to negative feedback online. Emily also talked about the recent changes to Facebook, namely the Facebook graph search function, describing it as a ‘social search engine’.
James Fitzgerald discussed the issue brands face when delegating the budget for social media, stating that if marketers and PRs want to compete with digital agencies it’s important to up-skill their social media practices. James also touched on the 80/20 rule, 80% content that will appeal to your followers and engage them and 20% content about your brand. By using this rule as a guide, brands can create an engaged community of followers.
Our panellists all agreed that when managing a brand’s social media it is important to spend the time researching your target and creating a content plan. By scheduling online activity, or at least a rough outline, companies will save time and money.
Thank you to all those who attended last night, due to the popularity of this event we will be hosting ‘Managing a Brand’s Social Media’ again on August 12 at The Spice Cellar. Stay tuned to the Networx Sydney website, the event will be listed shortly.