Tom Webster, Global Social Media Strategy Manager – Retail, Lubricants & Motorsport at Shell in the UK is one of the keynote speakers at the fourth edition of the Marketing Kingdom Cairo, scheduled to take place from 17-18 October at the Royal Maxim Kempinski Palace in Cairo.
At Shell, Tom oversees the running of multiple social media channels, advises on content strategy and best practice, and builds Shell’s social media audience worldwide. Previous to Shell, he was Social Media Producer at ITV, running all aspects of social media for the network’s three digital channels. He has also worked at several startups and was a member of BAFTA’s digital committee.
We recently sat down with him and asked him to give us 5 tips for the Egyptian social media marketing and PR professionals.
- Act like a publisher. There’s a good chance your business does not rely on traffic from social media to keep making money. Some businesses do. Look at Buzzfeed. Look at Vox. If their social content is not the very best it can be, they don’t make money and they cease to exist. Learn from them. Copy them – don’t copy their content, but copy their techniques!
- Work with the platforms. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube…they are all in the business of making money. They all have plans and goals and a roadmap of where they want to be. Learn what they are and align your social media plans to theirs. For example – Facebook wants to make money from video. To do this they need a big library and to be the place people think of for online video. They therefore want more video uploaded. So video gets more prominence in the newsfeed. Brands should focus their attention on video. They get more views of their content and Facebook gets to become a player in the space. Everyone benefits (Except YouTube!)
- Dig into your data, and use it! Long gone are the days where you could look at the number of likes on your account as a key data point. Now, good social media tools allow you access to all kinds of data on your content. Use it! Your data can help you identify your biggest fans and harshest opponents, what specific markets like (and don’t!) and all manner of other factors. This is all very good, but unless conclusions are drawn and plans are improved based on the data – it’s useless.
- Look beyond the platforms you know, and look to where your customers are. Some people get trapped in a mind-set that social is just the platforms they use. ‘If I’m on Facebook, that’s where our customers are!’ Not so. And this is especially relevant to those working internationally. Find where your target demographic are, and where communities may already exist. They may be on Reddit, or Swarm, or WeChat. Learn these platforms. Conversely, don’t be tempted to be everywhere. Snapchat may be pretty cool, but it might not be the place for you.
- Don’t forget to be social. Facebook was recently described as a ‘Free Content Ad Platform’, rather than a social media site. Twitter moved from ‘Social Networking’ to ‘News’ in the App Store. Social media is getting a little less social. But the social element is still a core property. It’s easy to publish and forget. But it’s sub optimal. Maintaining the social aspect builds trust, brand preference and can nullify problems and issues before they get out of hand. Being social also forces you to listen to your customers. Not a bad thing really!
To meet Tom plus global marketers from Facebook, Unilever, Twitter, Microsoft, YouTube, Nespresso, Infiniti and FP7 MCCANN/MENA, grab your discounted ticket for the Marketing Kingdom Cairo 4 on this link.
The Marketing Kingdom Cairo is organized by P World, an international creative agency with operations in 35 markets around the world.
The first ever edition of the event was organized in March 2011 and since then 14 countries have hosted the event. This year the event is also going to be organized for the first time in North America, from 18-19 October in Vancouver, Canada.
