This month’s
column tackles the almost impenetrable subject of social media and what
relevance it has to our business. In that, I don’t just mean Riley Surface World, but what I would define as the whole, global product finishing family.
First of
all, I must confess to being a dinosaur in this respect. Whilst I understand
our own website and what it does and can find my way around an iPad, I have
seldom, if ever, looked at Twitter, Facebook, Linked-in or any of the other
leading social media platforms. Indeed, until recently, I had never booked
flights online and still prefer to use a travel agent.
However,
thanks to having a proactive marketing company and some staff under the age of
35, we have somehow managed to accumulate around 500 followers on Twitter and I
personally have a regular presence on Blogger where, if you’re desperate for
bedtime reading, you can take in the full archive of these articles!
My
observation is that, in the industrial sector, big companies are much better at
this sort of thing than small ones. This is because they treat social media
seriously and recognise its potential, unlike most of us who see it as a rather
frivolous, mainly recreational pursuit. (In consumer products, the reverse may
be the case, as many small companies are building their business models
entirely using social media.)
Our Twitter
feed regularly includes entries from the big brand names in the industry,
posting their latest products, promotions, videos, case studies, exhibitions
and much more. To be devoting such resources to this fledgling media must be
bearing some fruit. But how can it be measurable?
I think the
simple answer is that it can’t. To go back to the old adage: ‘Half of my
advertising budget is wasted; the problem is I don’t know which half.’ In the
case of Twitter, I don’t believe I can quantify a single transaction that has
resulted from this activity. But we persist for a number of reasons.
Firstly,
there is the question of reputation. Twitter provides almost unfettered freedom
of expression and allows individuals and companies to set their own agenda.
Such a facility is priceless in this monogamous culture that we all inhabit.
So, we must take advantage of such freedom. We may not necessarily achieve the
reputation that we aspire to, but if not we only have ourselves to blame.
Secondly, we
must be prepared for the future. The great economist, J K Galbraith once said:
‘I find most things difficult to predict, especially the future.’ None of us
knows just what the future holds for our industry. Already we see change
accelerating due to advances in chemistry, technology, legislation and the
volatility of world markets. The only certainty is that change is constant and
getting faster.
So, how much
better it is to keep abreast of change by being part of the rolling dialogue.
Vehicles such as Twitter give us an insight into what the latest trends are,
who the movers and shakers are, what important events are taking place and how
it will all impact on our businesses and our lives.
At Riley’s,
our hungry beast is partially fed by the demise of defunct companies that
didn’t see the next big thing coming over the horizon. Maybe if they’d been
better at Twitter they would have survived and prospered, we will never know.
All of this
is being played out on a global scale. Recently, we enabled the sale and
shipment of a large electroplating plant from Ireland to Canada. Just this
week, our client posted an interview with CBC Canada radio about the project on
Twitter, turning it into an international news story.
And just in
case you are not following us yet, we are @RILEYSURFACEW.
