Social Media insights: practical advice from our RoundTable marketplace
As H&C News readers will know, both the hospitality and catering market and H&C News have been paying a good deal of attention in 2015 to digital and social media and the rapid progress that it is making. Few organisations that are serious about marketing are now ignoring social media – even if some have still not fully ‘engaged’, preferring to allow others to take the initiative, and rewards.
Sold out training courses
Just how seriously the market is taking social media and its potential impact on all businesses is reflected in the successful launch of the H&C News training courses: the first two were no sooner announced than sold out, with delegates reporting back very positively on the value of what they learnt – and eager to put it into action.
The dates of the next courses will shortly be announced to receive updates complete the short form at the bottom of this page.
Measuring value
We have been pleased this year to continue our programme of RoundTables which gather a cross-section of the industry together, and allow them to explore the issues and challenges of delivering effective Social Media.
The RoundTables always attract impressive participants who never fail to provide insights – and questions – that not only demonstrate that social media is now ‘mainstream’, but also that increasing numbers of organisations are now able to measure real value – in a way that more traditional forms of media cannot.
RoundTable insights
Here is a round-up of a few of the headline topics raised at our recent RoundTables held in Manchester and London, and the resulting insights into good practice provided by the delegates.
- Marketing Mix: print advertising, direct mail, brochures, exhibitions and other events, and now e-mail, websites and social media can all have a part to play depending on objectives and strategy. None have been made ‘redundant’, but for many working in marketing and promotion it is true that social media activities have taken a significant and increasing share of their time and resources – if not of their budget. Why? Because social media successfully and increasingly delivers measurable, cost-effective results. This is not true of all forms of promotion.
- Internal communications: whilst many focus exclusively on using social media externally in order to engage with customers, build loyalty, and promote their ‘product’, many are now recognising its value for communications within the organisation. Social media can be used in many ways in order to inform and update staff members, and also to build morale and motivation.
- The power of video: for some years now, video has been regarded as the most powerful means of engagement of all – when done well. And there’s the difficulty: it’s possible to spend a fortune on creating video material – but to no effect, if it’s not seen and valued. All too often, the budget is spent on video production, and none is left to communicate and promote it to the potential audience.
- The role of the agency: interestingly, a view clearly expressed by agency attendees was that, whilst they can assist with social media in many practical ways, they cannot replicate the personality, identity or ‘heartbeat’ of an organisation in the way needed to be a credible and sympathetic ‘spokesperson’. For active interaction with customers and their questions, comments, praise or complaints, therefore, it’s best to use internal staff – or work towards using them as soon as practicable.
- Tracking activity and response: this is an area that has developed a great deal – and is moving quickly. It’s not that long since the number of ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ was the benchmark used for judging success: a proliferation of competitions was used to secure interest and ‘commitment’, assuming it resulted in ongoing interest , loyalty and business. Not usually so! Now, ‘tracking’ has become a great deal more sophisticated – if you’re not up to speed, you need to be.
And remember: the ‘followers’ and ‘likes’ that grow organically are high value – they’ve made a positive decision to take an ongoing interest, not been bribed to do so!
- LinkedIn forB2B: though widely regarded as ‘difficult’ to work effectively, LinkedIn is also regarded as one of the most effective for B2B purposes. Users tend to be very business-oriented, with the result that, once their interest is engaged, high quality information also gets a high level of sharing – they’re happy to pass it on to colleagues and associates.
- Quality, quality, quality: it’s always repeated, but it’s true – people respond to the quality of what you communicate. If you waste their time, and there is no value, they move on very quickly. Social media is not a substitute for a good product or service: if the ‘promise’ is not delivered when it matters, then you lose the customer.
And finally –
- Common sense rules: yes, it’s essential that complaints are dealt with quickly and positively – negative criticism provides an opportunity for a positive reply, and to be seen to put the problem right. But people do have and use common sense: 99 positive reviews are not outweighed by one negative review! Customers are capable of drawing their own conclusions.
Our thanks go to…
H&C News would like to thank our sponsor partners for their involvement throughout the year, Armourcoat and C&C Catering Equipment. Both have provided ideas, contributed to our research, surveys, agendas and discussions: we have enjoyed working with you.
“Armourcoat are delighted to continue our association with H&C News #HandCSocial. I’m always impressed by the calibre of attendees, it reflects not only the high regard for H&C News in the industry, but also the growing importance and significance of social media as a core marketing activity.”
Daniel Nevitt, Group Marketing Director, Armourcoat
“It has been great to be a sponsor of #HandCSocial this year. Myself and the C&C team members who attended found the events both interesting and informative. Social media and digital elements are clearly growing, and it has been a great insight to discuss this with others in the industry.”
Peter Kitchin, MD, C&C Catering Equipment
H&C News, Armourcoat and C&C Catering Equipment would like to thanks all the delegates that attended and contributed to our four events this year. There are too many to mention all so we have selected some of the quotes we received back to reflect what we received from many.
“The #HandCSocial event was an inspiring session. It was great to hear how businesses in this sector are getting even more sophisticated with their use of Twitter, exploring deeper customer engagement and measurement.”
Eimear Lambe, Brand Strategist, Twitter UK
Chef Damian Wawrzyniak“This event provided a good platform for the industry to come together to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that social engagement brings. As we know, social activity is constantly evolving, so it’s important for discussions like these to take place regularly as it will ultimately benefit the industry as a whole.”
Simon Esner, director, BaxterStorey
“The #HandCSocial events have been excellent, an innovative forum for people throughout our fabulous industry to get together and talk. The discussions have built on each other through the year, I look forward to the next instalment.”
Chef Damian Wawrzyniak
Wider feedback and ongoing engagement between delegates, sponsors, venues and organisers can be seem on Twitter here – #HandCSocial
Details of the 2016 #HandCSocial programme will shortly be announced: to receive updates, please complete the short form at the bottom of this page.
Social Media Surveys
The agenda this year were in part developed through the results of two surveys, the first at the beginning of the year looked primarily at the adoption of social media, and mid-year we looked into the effectiveness of social media channels. If you would like a copy of one or both just complete the form below and we will send you a copy.
If you have any further information requirements please let us know and submit.