03 Track 3

[00:04.91] So, Felicity Bannerman, can you explain for us, please,

[00:08.40] how the social media are an opportunity for companies?

[00:12.65] FB: Yes. Many companies are realising

[00:15.16] this is an opportunity

[00:16.90] which is too good to miss,

[00:17.91] especially because using social

[00:20.15] media is a change they can make

[00:21.91] which won't hurt their

[00:22.91] budgets - it's cheap in comparison with other

[00:25.41] types of public relations. Really,

[00:26.91] the only cost you have are the people

[00:29.91] you employ to run or monitor the media,

[00:31.90] and there are lots of people

[00:33.91] around with the right technical skills.

[00:35.41] Lots of people have social media accounts

[00:37.66] and know how to handle them,

[00:40.16] and so it's a really good way of getting in

[00:42.16] contact with younger consumers especially.

[00:44.66] J: Hm. Interesting. But there must be some pitfalls

[00:46.90] for companies trying to use these media, aren't there?

[00:50.66] FB: Yes, I'd say the most common mistake

[00:52.91] that companies make is to treat the social media

[00:55.16] as if it was somewhere to advertise.

[00:57.65] You know, they just put up their brand

[00:59.91] message and expect the public to accept it.

[01:01.66] This is wrong and provokes a very negative reaction.

[01:05.16] People who use them expect to be communicating

[01:07.66] with each other. When I'm consulted,

[01:10.16] one of the recommendations I make to

[01:12.65] companies is that they need to train

[01:14.41] their staff to listen

[01:15.66] to customers and potential customers.

[01:18.16] The process must

[01:19.66] become a conversation, otherwise the exercise becomes

[01:22.41] counter-productive.

[01:23.66] J: Do you have any good stories of successful

[01:26.16] use of these

[01:26.91] media?

[01:28.15] FB: Mm-hm. Several. For example,

[01:29.65] a few years ago, CocaCola discovered

[01:32.16] two unemployed actors who were

[01:34.16] running an unofficial page devoted to their company.

[01:36.65] They gave them a job and asked them to continue

[01:39.90] running the page in an official capacity.

[01:42.41] It's been hugely

[01:44.41] successful, and according to research which the company

[01:46.90] conducted,

[01:47.66] the page itself has a phenomenal number of

[01:50.41] followers - about 25 million at the last count.

[01:53.66] J: Amazing. But what about small businesses?

[01:56.41] FB: Well, I know of quite a few small businesses

[01:59.65] who use

[02:00.16] Twitter to talk to their customers.

[02:01.66] They've got some new

[02:03.16] product or something or

[02:04.41] they've decided to promote it with a special offer, so they send out a tweet, which

[02:08.90] people pick up on their phones or iPads, and 20 minutes

[02:12.16] later, they're popping into the shop. It's very effective and

[02:14.15] costs next to nothing.

[02:17.16] J: Felicity Bannerman, thank you.

[02:19.41] FB: Thank you.