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SOCIAL MEDIA - AN EXECUTIVE BRIEFING FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY THE IMPACT OF RADICAL GROWTH IN SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE, COMPLIANCE & PROCEDURE DECEMBER 2015 CONTENTS 02 Introduction 03 What is driving the growth in social media? 04 The impact of growth 07 Defining the operational challenges 09 Key success factors for enterprise social media delivery 10 The impact of the FCA guidelines 11 A new era in risk management 14 The question of policy 15 The future – social media driving competitive advantage INTRODUCTION The UK saw a dramatic rise in the level of investment made into digital communication in 2015. In fact, of the £15.8bn invested into advertising as a whole, the UK is the first nation to see digital spend including search, social media and analytics rise above 50% to £8bn, exceeding all other types of advertising combined, including big ticket items such as TV, Print and Radio.[1] James Leavesley Chief Executive Officer, CrowdControlHQ The UK Automotive industry has the fifth largest share of advertising spend at 8.4%[2] with eMarketer reporting that of this spend, 60% is targeted at direct response versus 40% on more indirect brand building activity[3]. With social media driving objectives across both, it is perhaps no surprise that the level of investment in this area alone rose by 51% in 2015[2]. [1] The Guardian | UK’s digital advertising spend set to outstrip all other forms | October 2015 IAB UK & PWC | H1 2015 Digital Adspend Results | October 2015 [3] eMarketer | Social Network Ad Spending to Hit $23.68 Billion Worldwide in 2015 | April 2015 [2] 02 WHAT IS DRIVING THE GROWTH IN SOCIAL MEDIA? There are two key influences driving the growth in the use and adoption of social media across the automotive sector. The first, is the influence of the mobile revolution. The rise in mobile usage is credited with driving over 80% of the growth in digital investment, demonstrating just how critical a factor it has been in changing the face of communication approaches. The second, is more specific to the automotive industry and has been the influence of ‘digital natives’ moving into the car buying arena. In 2012, 40% of purchasers were described as ‘millennials’ aged 18-30, with 46% stating that they were influenced by what they saw within digital channels[4]. However, the demise of traditional automotive purchase approaches is not just confined to the population of young adults. Research undertaken by Deloitte concluded that the biggest growth in the number of active social media accounts owned between Jan 2014 and March 2015 was in the 35-44 year old age group, owning on average two active social media accounts per head. So it appears that whilst the 16-24 year olds were early adopters of social media, averaging three active accounts per head, the rest of the age groups are catching up. The impact of these influences on the automotive sector have been wide reaching - noticeable most in the dramatic fall in visits to dealerships from 4 visits per purchase in the early 1990’s to just 1.2 today. This is forcing the sector to respond by taking the competitive battle online to win hearts and minds long before people reach the showroom. As a result, social media is being used as a tactical manoeuvre to build relationships and influence purchasing decisions. In fact, a recent survey of 329 car purchasers[5] revealed that 76% of prospective car buyers took at least one digital action in their purchase journey, whilst only 2% reported being influenced by the sales representative directly. trusting of peer recommendations than direct from the brand or organisations themselves and 71% are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals.[6] Alongside the significant growth in the appetite of consumers to share content from photos to personal data across social media channels, there has been a stock pile of information, reviews, ratings and insights, leading to an increase in the numbers of people turning to the social channels as a trusted friend. The mobile society we live in has also increased the appetite and demand for instant gratification, with high expectation that the brands and businesses respond quickly to questions and queries over social media. This has forced the automotive sector to step up its game plan, establishing new approaches to tackle and conquer customer response times. As a result, customer service delivery across social media is not only being used to build relationships pre and post sale but as a means to achieving a clear competitive advantage. Finally, the growth of social media usage across the automotive sector has been fuelled by the recognition that as a communications approach it delivers a very high return on investment. With wide recognition that social media is unlocking a threefold effect - it not only contributes to brand awareness and perception but also creates a way of driving customer service delivery to new heights, not to mention the impact on marketing promotion efforts. This multifaceted tool comes at a small price when compared to other marketing activities. The reality is that the sales team are losing in the credibility stakes when pitched up against social media. 90% of people state that they are more [4] PWC | Social Selling: A Digital Blueprint for the Automobile Industry | December 2013 Rocket Fuel via IAB UK | How important is brand to car buyers? | September 2015 [6] Nielsen | Global Trust in Advertising | September 2015 [5] 03 WHAT IMPACT DOES THE GROWTH IN SOCIAL MEDIA HAVE ACROSS AUTOMOTIVE? The dramatic growth in the mobilisation of social media has occurred over a relatively small number of years. Whilst some of the popular social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn have celebrated their 10th birthdays, many forget that the appetite for sharing and engaging on social only really started to ramp up from late 2008. Then in 2011, a landmark change occurred, driven by the city riots where communities tuned in to the social media channels for live updates and information, rather than the traditional TV news channels, who were lagging behind. The lessons learnt underpinned the approaches applied to the social media delivery of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and then more recently, the general election, each in their own unique way, helping to push the boundaries, as well as highlighting the risks associated with a new era in the delivery of communication and digital engagement. and in some cases a little chaotic, with the Marketing Director and wider management team grappling with the issues and in many cases learning in situ on the job. For some, it may have felt more revolution than evolution, tasked to create a process in haste to deliver and leverage a strong social media presence, with many mistakes made along the way. Some of the specialist consultants within the sector have even gone as far as declaring the automotive industry a ‘laggard’ in getting to grips with some of the key areas of social media operational delivery. With a relatively short period of time to transition, the impact on the automotive sector has been sudden 04 SO WHAT CHANGES HAVE BEEN EVIDENT ACROSS THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR? 1. GREATER INVESTMENT: Social Media Ad Spend[3] rose by 51% in 2015, fuelled by the recognition that investing in social media drives results. PWC in their Automotive Digital Blueprint reported that approximately 15% of engagements converted into an action (visit to website, book of test drive etc.) creating considerable ROI estimated to be around £1.30 per head. However, many agree that a transaction based approach is secondary to the contribution that social media makes to brand value. With 29% of over 55s[7] likely to stay with an existing car brand, the role of social media in reinforcing post purchase is coming more to the forefront of automotive strategy and investment. As a result, the terminology is evolving. Traditional ROI models have been replaced with ‘Return on Interaction’, recognising the considerable contribution the relationship built on social media delivers across all elements of the customer purchase journey both pre and post sale. 2. MANAGEMENT OF THE DIGITAL ECO-SYSTEM: Today social media is a hybrid of brand management, customer services and promotion. For years marketers have focussed on ‘integration’ of marketing communications, only to discover that this ethos can fall flat in the new digital landscape, where the customer is king in controlling their own destiny when it comes to communications about the brand. As a result, the penny has dropped that social media can no longer be delegated to the recent ‘digital native’ graduate team, and that the competitive demands of the social media landscape instead require a strong and experienced strategic head, with competitive management and leadership structure, with support from HR, IT, Legal and Compliance teams. 3. HIGH PERFORMING COLLABORATIVE STRATEGY: With competition high for share of voice, the demand for winning strategic approaches has been prioritised by many. With effective engagement underpinned by customer-centric content there has been a shift towards the delivery of entertainment and ‘engagement’ factor to drive brand loyalty, underpinned by collaborative strategic approaches. This has meant reducing the ‘push’ style promotional messaging of the past to create a strong brand relationship with people and partners across social media channels. This has encouraged the use of some great innovation in campaigns, combining brand building and engagement. For example, the campaign #Hibernot by Jaguar Land Rover is motivating the British public to enjoy the winter months, as an antidote to hibernation, bringing an array of deliverers of outdoor activities together across social media channels, with long term commitment to build their campaign and encourage brand advocates to support and engage. 4. CUSTOMER CONTROL MODELS: Today, the holy grail of digital strategy is brand advocacy, with strategies refocusing on how to nurture, capture and magnify positive ‘customer to customer’ referral and influence, rather than simply managing the direct communication between a business and its customers. Rocket Fuel[8] reported that of those they surveyed 22% of people were influenced by price and 15% by previous ownership of the brand. However, they also discovered that 25% were heavily influenced by friends and family, demonstrating the value of getting the referral tactics right! Encouraging and incentivising customers to share with others, underpins many campaigns but will unravel quickly if it is not supported by a strong customer service ethos. This has led to a re-think around the area of customer service, with call centres moving towards ‘contact’ centres, managing and responding to the demand from customers to communicate via social media channels. [3] eMarketer | Social Network Ad Spending to Hit $23.68 Billion Worldwide in 2015 | April 2015 Rocket Fuel | When It Comes to Buying Cars, Loyalty is a Driving force | September 2015 [8] Rocket Fuel via IAB UK | How important is brand to car buyers? | September 2015 [7] 05 “Because customers are so much more knowledgeable when they come into the showroom and the number of showroom visitors has dropped dramatically, we’re reliant on one opportunity to create a good impression.” Dave Murfitt Director Nissan (GB) 5. CONNECTING ONLINE AND OFFLINE: There is wide scale recognition that to be a success, there must be greater integration and connectivity between the online social media environment with the offline physical environment. This means that showrooms are being redesigned to accommodate generation ‘selfie’, with better signage to social media channels. In May 2015, Nissan announced that they were introducing a new ‘customer centric’ design to their showrooms showcasing Motorline Nissan in Maidstone as the footprint for the future. Utilising LCD halo effects and wall mounted video screens, coupled with VIP handover bays, the focus is on creating a memorable experiential impact. Removing barriers to communication such as desks and computers, with the sales team utilising iPads to interact and engage with customers as they move around the showroom. 6. EVALUATION METRICS: The industry has got much more savvy about the issue of analysis and evaluation. There has been a trend to move beyond the simple metrics of likes and followers to gain a more detailed understanding and insight from social media channels. Consultancy firm PWC compared the number of auto brand mentions to sales units over a 12 month period to determine the brands that were ‘lapping the field’ when it came to social media. They crowned newcomer Tesla and legacy brand BMW as top of the charts, with BMW having 12 mentions for every car sold, six times its highest competitor. The ease of measurement is making social media easy to digest but feedback from those on the frontline is that objectives are still heavily skewed towards promotion rather than customer service or brand. The latter is destined to come to the forefront of evaluation approaches in 2016. 7. REPUTATIONAL RISK: In the good old days it was said that a dissatisfied customer would tell 10 people. Today, that could be 10s of millions. The amplification of social media means that bad news travels far and wide, fast! There are many lessons to learn from Friday 18th September 2015 – the day the Volkswagen scandal hit the world, sending the brand into disarray. Despite having some of the loyalist brand followers, the global social media accounts seemingly abandoned their fans in their hour of need, operating under an embargo of silence until an official filmed response could be crafted. In contrast, the UK team of Volkswagen have been commended by the marketing elite for being brave enough to keep the information flow open to support their customers and unlock brand advocacy wherever they could. So whilst the share value has suffered greatly at the hands of the scandal, efforts within the social media channels are helping to leverage brand advocates to provide stealth in the battle to restore calm. 8. GOVERNANCE: With the introduction of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidelines, regulators are looking closely at the location, security and storage of social media data. As a result, those managing campaigns have greater responsibility to not only keep the brand reputation safe, but maintain the integrity of those engaging with the accounts across social media environments. Governance is also being forced on dealer groups by some manufacturers, following a spate of instances where inappropriate content was posted using copyrighted images without consent. The recent ‘Safe Harbour’ ruling has also left many red-faced when it comes to the issue of on-shore data storage with a move towards UK based data security to remain complaint with EU law. 06 DEFINING THE OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES Today, the models of social media delivery vary greatly across sectors and varying sizes of organisation, but there are common approaches emerging from those tasked to operate enterprise social media environments. This gives the automotive sector not only the opportunity to learn from ‘best in class’ within the sector but from other organisations operating at the same scale or who are targeting similar customer segments. As a result, there is much innovation and collaboration in the delivery of social media. Many operating within the automotive sector are turning to the wider enterprise environment to pick up ideas and inspiration for future campaigns. Enterprise social media is defined as... ...how a complex organisation with multiple audiences and varied objectives efficiently arranges itself to deliver one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many communication across the digital and social landscape. The delivery of enterprise social media demands a much broader multifaceted management approach in contrast to single account/ single user operations, requiring input from several departments including: Customer Service; HR; IT; Legal; Governance and Compliance alongside the traditional Marketing Communications team. It is not just internal teams that have a role to play. With many campaigns stepping into the territory of collaboration, the brokering of social media deals around content, channels and endorsement has become big business, increasing the time needed to scope and plan a campaign effectively. The drive for brand advocacy coupled with the need to empower and influence ‘customer-to-customer’ engagement is also demanding a new approach to the development and delivery of social media. Operationally, the focus is on shaping influencers and advocates, whilst defending against inaccurate information and detractors who are sharing their dissatisfaction with the brand. With some manufacturer brands having up to 25k mentions a day, it is increasingly becoming just as important to listen as it is to talk. Some of the greatest competitive manoeuvres have come from brands listening in on daily conversation and acting fast to seize opportunity. For example, when music producer @deadmau5 got into a public spat on twitter with Porsche over the feline decoration of his car, Nissan’s quick thinking and creative intervention managed to secure their GTR considerable exposure across the 2.96 million followers of the controversial star. By simply offering a picture of their GTR mocked up in feline graphics as an alternative, this led to a test drive and public endorsement by the star. The social environment is also creating data at a scale never managed before, with valuable insight fuelling big breakthroughs for the R&D and operations teams. PWC in their automotive digital blueprint outline the importance of ‘managing data factories’ with ‘properly architected systems for collection and evaluation’ linked to a mission control room to implement insights. “Vehicle manufacturers have to use the power of data to get inside customers heads.” Dieter Becker Global Head of Automotive KPMG 07 Analysing data from social media platforms is helping to unlock the most important influences in car purchase. For example, in a recent survey, 67% ranked fuel efficiency as one of the most important factors in decision making[9], leading to prospective buyers actively seeking verification across social media environments of the manufacturers published data on fuel consumption. Those who are ‘hands on’ in the management of corporate social media channels are entrusted with considerable responsibility by the organisations they represent. They are given the responsibility to achieve impact in three key areas, requiring them to have considerable product knowledge to promote products and services, with a customer service ethos to listen and keep customers satisfied, underpinned by consistent delivery of the dealer’s brand values and within the manufacturer’s guidelines. THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR Brand management - Build loyalty towards the brand Marketing promotion - Build understanding of customers & support influencing / sales process SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES: Customer service - Retain customers & drive R&D activity Applying this model to the most popular types of delivery requires a more ‘collaborative’ approach moving forwards, with teams nationally, regionally and locally working together to satisfy the many elements of the social media terrain. With engagement key, the automotive sector has transitioned from more simplistic models of ‘push messaging’ from central sources (such as a head office) to a more collaborative model of operational delivery of top/down, bottom/up and customer led content. MODEL BENEFIT RISK 1) Central dealership led content creation Consistent brand messaging Lack of local customer centric content & rapport 2) Dealer specific channels populated with central content Consistent brand messaging Quantity, tone and timing of content can be an issue 3) Dealer specific, local content Engagement can be relevant, timely & highly local Lack of quality content, brand messaging can be diluted & tone of voice inconsistent The close of 2015, and no doubt the start of 2016 will see the development of a more hybrid approach between models two and three. The use of consistent topics and central themes, with layers of ‘local social’ to add personality and engagement factor. RRG Group provides a useful case study for the sector. They have 24 dealerships, 52 social media accounts and 8 manufacturers to plan, oversee [9] and manage. They have taken the time to understand the touch points of key customer segments and spread their content across themed #hashags such as #TurboTuesday and #ModifiedMonday to make it more relevant to key audiences. With content being the holy grail they are striving to use social media to understand their customers better and find new ways of supporting them. Business Reporter | The digital transformation of the automotive industry | August 2015 08 “Digital ecosystem success relies on enterprise-wide collaboration, ideally a top enterprise social platform.” PWC Social Selling: A digital footprint for the automotive industry KEY SUCCESS FACTORS IN ENTERPRISE SOCIAL MEDIA DELIVERY There is common agreement that successful social media delivery is underpinned by key success factors. At the heart of the delivery will sit the protection of the organisation’s brand, alongside the manufacturer brands. An important consideration will also be the handling of financial promotion. With heavy fines applicable for those who over step the mark as a result of the Financial Conduct Authority social media guidelines (published March 2015), the future success operationally will be dependent on finding the right formula of creative and customer insight, delivered within a controlled environment. The success of an automotive led social media campaign should always adhere to the following: 1) Define purpose and objectives for the social media channels, determining the extent to which social media assets need to be segmented by audience and location 2) Allocate resources wisely - to all aspects of the social media mix e.g. brand messaging, customer service response and customer to customer advocacy as well as the teams tasked to manage these areas 3) Invest time to identify and create content that resonates with your audience to drive engagement 4) Deliver the right insight to the right people at the right time acknowledging that social media environments operate 24/7 5) Support with training, development and sharing of social insights and best practice 6) Create a seamless brand experience across online and offline environments, encouraging transition between sales environments with social for prospects to quickly find peer influencers 7) Identify and manage the risks of social media using an appropriate management tool to ensure campaigns are monitored, compliant with regulators and governance procedures 8) Evaluate the right metrics and use it to innovate 09 “Risk management encompasses all relevant risks, including legal and reputational risk, as well as regulatory risk.” Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) THE IMPACT OF THE FCA GUIDELINES The FCA released their guidelines, following a period of consultation in early 2015. The release of the guidelines were delayed, highlighting the immense challenge of translating the demands of compliance in a rapidly evolving social media environment. The guidelines require that organisations not only consider the risks of social media but ensure the provisions within the ‘senior management arrangements, systems and controls’ are in place to manage social media ‘in the course of business.’ A key challenge is in how we define the term ‘in the course of business’, recognising that many individuals utilise personal social media channels to mention aspects of their business day in day out. However, the guidelines are clear that those who identify themselves with their business are linking the two by association meaning that this content also becomes governed by the guidelines. The guidelines stipulate that thorough record keeping is vital for both compliance and brand reputation management. Companies are reminded that they not only need to demonstrate compliance, but also that records are important for protecting the consumer, when “queries and complaints from customers may require evidence”. It also outlines that social media is not considered ‘real time’ in its nature, reaching a wider audience and as such it is essential that records are kept of all interactions. misleading or placing customers or firms at risk. This means that whilst social media can signpost to financial promotions, the destination of the ‘click through’ must contain all the relevant risk warnings as well as the social media post being stand alone compliant itself. This has also led to the need for the ‘two sets of eyes’ protocol to ensure that outbound messages and customer service responses are compliant and meet the standards laid down by both the dealer and manufacturers. Getting into the detail of social media delivery, the issue of hashtags and retweets has posed some interesting dilemmas. For example, the guidelines state that whilst a retweet may not be a direct message from the organisation itself if it contains a benefit of a regulated financial product or service product, that it would be seen as a financial promotion, despite the business not originating it. The full impact of the FCA guidelines are yet to be seen, as organisations begin the task of translating them into practice, but 2016 will be an interesting year in gauging how the automotive industry responds and is judged against them. The guidelines tighten up the area of financial promotion, ensuring that it is clear, fair and not 10 A NEW ERA IN RISK MANAGEMENT The FCA guidelines, alongside high profile blunders are leading to a new era of awareness around the successful management of risk. In fact, in January 2015, the Institute of Risk Management recognised the global risks of social media for the first time shortlisting CrowdControlHQ – the UK’s leading social media risk management and compliance platform in the category of Risk Management Solution of the Year. The Respect Model of social media management risk identifies the key areas that have been found to contribute to the risk factors associated with the delivery of enterprise social media. The bottom line is that risk management across social media demands a combination of policy, training and effective risk management tools to ensure that a brand is both protected and leveraged across social media channels. The adoption of enterprise social media management tools such as CrowdControlHQ has sought to mitigate the key risks alongside the need for effective delivery protocols such as collaboration and evaluation. The Respect Model of Enterprise Social Media 11 Enterprise social media management platforms support organisations in managing the risks of social media such as: PASSWORD SECURITY AND IT GOVERNANCE: Research has shown that social media access and passwords are often shared widely amongst internal teams as well as outside the organisation with support agencies and partners. Research has even suggested that as many as 1 in 5 of us, despite the warnings, write passwords down and worse, store them near (if not stuck to) our computers or desk. The result has been a number of high profile cases where anonymous posts, attacking the business or brand could not be traced to the originator. The use of enterprise social media management platforms ensure that an organisation adheres to strict security protocols, requiring that each user has their own login and that passwords are not only robust but changed on a regular basis. POLICING POLICIES: Increasingly, policy is being used to underpin standards (and training protocols). It not only covers off the standards and rules for operating the organisation’s owned social media accounts but also the complex issues around engagement over personal social media accounts. Historically, there has been an issue of how to effectively police a policy. Today, enterprise social media management platforms provide a way of automating the policing of key aspects of the policy, highlighting key training and development issues as well as helping employees to share and shape future policy through ‘wikipedia’ style capture. LACK OF CUSTOMER LISTENING/RESPONSE: In 2014, the automotive sector did not feature in the UK’s top 10 for social media aired complaints[10], with mobile operators, high street retailers, utility and transport taking the brunt of public attack. However, many believe that the Volkswagen scandal will see the automotive sector enter the charts when it comes to brand detractors. The sector must be ready, willing and able to manage inbound as well as the delivery of outbound content, especially at peak social times such as evenings and weekends. Enterprise social media management platforms are giving organisations the freedom to automate the sorting of inbound content and signpost/email to specific parts of the business, radically speeding up the effectiveness and response time. TROLLS AND BRAND TERRORISTS: Increasingly protection of the public, who are using a brand’s social media asset is becoming a necessity. For example, the more popular a Facebook page, the more likely it is to be spammed or targeted for abuse. Organisations are expected to moderate and protect engagement within the social media environment at all times. Enterprise social media management platforms are designed to tackle this, offering a check point and moderation of content to protect the dignity of a brand. THEFT OF COMPANY OWNED ASSETS: There have been a number of examples of popular Facebook pages and Twitter profiles being lost or ‘stolen’ when an employee leaves an organisation. It is essential that the ownership of company social media assets are clearly defined and protected. [10] Plugging accounts into an enterprise social media management platform prevents any employee having the ability to take the assets with them when they leave, clearly marking which are company owned versus personal accounts. Statista | Services consumers complained about publicly on social media in the United Kingdom (UK) | May 2015 12 SABOTAGE: The most public (and damaging) example of this was when a disgruntled employee of HMV took the official brand accounts hostage, highlighting how vulnerable and trusting companies were of those tasked to deliver the social mouthpiece of the organisation. The Marketing Director and senior management team were left powerless to shut the account down. A risk based enterprise social media management platform allows senior management to act quickly to lock down channels in crisis, with a master key holder having total control at all times. AUDIT TRAILS: To remain compliant an organisation now needs to provide audit trails of who posted what and when, recording the conversation arising with customers. The FCA have mandated this in the most recent issue of their guidelines on social media. This is where enterprise social media management platforms really come into their own, being able to not only log who posted key content but by highlighting those that consistently fail to meet the brand guidelines or get declined regularly within the validation process. They also provide a critical source of reference during times of customer complaint. UK DATA COMPLIANCE: Whilst many social media platforms are located in Canada or the US, many governance policies now dictate that social media management tools need to store social media interaction in the UK in accordance with UK data compliance. The Safe Harbour ruling of 2015 is also set to have a major impact on the security and safety of off-shore data. It is now essential that all social media management teams have a full understanding of the location and security of the apps and tools that they use in delivering their social media. Ignorance is not a defence. The message is simple – buy British and ensure that penetration testing standards meet UK standards. DEFAMATION AND THE LAW: In the UK, the Defamation Act 2013 has strengthened the protection of channels such as Facebook and Twitter, which will encourage those who have been subject to libel to pursue those responsible for the defamatory post or repost. The impact and extent of social media reach and the damage arising is a considerable risk to organisations. With more CEOs and senior managers recognising the ‘value add’ of being a ‘specialist’ in social environments this is increasingly becoming a challenge, particularly when tackling public challenges. Having accounts plugged into an enterprise social media management platform, allows senior figure heads to plan and perfect their content with the safety net of support and ‘two set of eyes’ checking before it goes live. REPORTING AND EVALUATION: The speed of change across social media requires very robust and agile reporting practices to enable businesses to respond to challenges. During a crisis or an active campaign this could even demand hourly reporting. Lack of effective reporting and evaluation practices has been seen as a key risk factor in the early identification of aspects that could derail the successful implementation of a campaign. Reporting has been a challenge across the automotive sector historically. Fuelled by the use of a number of the early ‘free’ entry level management tools who charged a premium for reporting and evaluation as an ‘add on’, resulting in a lack of reporting protocol. Today, enterprise tools are expected to deliver reporting as a standard part of their social media management platform offer. 13 THE QUESTION OF POLICY As a result of the FCA guidelines and increased understanding and profile of the risks, the issue of internal and external (e.g. partnering) social media policy is now being prioritised. Whilst the policy sets out the rules when it comes to establishing accounts, password protocols and brand management issues, it also covers more practical aspects of working practices and procedures. However, it appears that some are still reliant on HR policies or employment contracts to manage issues of confidentiality and reputation, even though they were not historically created with social media in mind. The social media environment continues to create new scenarios that are testing people at the forefront of social media delivery. In an environment where exposure of a direct message could be seen as a confidentiality breech or a retweet as an endorsement, the policy needs to be bang up to date to support those tasked to deliver social media for the organisation across a number of scenarios. Today, the key to the success of the internal policy is having it fully integrating into HR policy so that it can be checked and challenged, alongside a robust training programme to enhance understanding and practical delivery. Looking externally, more scrutiny needs to be undertaken of agencies tasked to deliver social media for automotive clients. Whilst the organisation itself may have a robust policy, if a third party agency fails to meet the required standards for security, compliance and financial promotion then there could be trouble ahead. Plus it is increasingly becoming more important to be explicit about the ownership of social media accounts established in the brands name by external partners, with robust agreements in place for what happens in surrendering the accounts at the end of a contractual agreement. 14 “The longer it takes an organisation to own, architect and manage a social-driven ecosystem, the longer it will take to recover lost ground. In short, doing nothing really is not an option.” PWC THE FUTURE – WHAT DOES IT HOLD FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR? Social media is set to secure much greater investment in 2016. This comes on the back of greater recognition than more traditional forms of advertising - particularly print media, are not only failing to deliver the level of data capture in comparison to digital channels but are much weaker when it comes to the strength and speed of relationship build needed to turn someone into a brand fan. Indeed some, such as Jaguar Land Rover have already refocussed almost entirely on digital to try to get ahead of the online game. The use of brand advocates will be at the top of the priority list as marketing teams grapple with how to loosen up brand control and empower their customers to do the talking in a credible and relevant way. Showrooms will become more experiential, with emphasis on entertainment, whilst working harder to operate more seamlessly with the social environment, offering the ability to share pictures and test drives on social media channels to grow engagement and advocacy. Collecting and responding to information gathered through social media will not only provide new innovation but response to customer service demands will segregate the elite performers from the rest of the pack when it comes to service impact that counts in the value stakes. This will mean thinking differently about social media delivery models and keeping social media channels open at peak times such as weekends and bank holidays. With more purchases made online, the role of social media will extend across many different selling environments and streamlining of finance and insurance industries will be needed to ensure that customers are not bogged down in red tape at a time when customer referral and celebration of purchase is at the forefront of social sharing. The automotive sector will also create new approaches in the use of social media around aftercare and servicing, using the rapport building and sharing potential of social media to grow loyalty. With greater integration of social media into the driving environment itself, we look forward to seeing the innovation in the creation of seamless mobile social environments. 15 ABOUT THE AUTHOR James Leavesley is CEO of CrowdControlHQ, the UK’s leading social media risk management and compliance platform built for enterprise organisations. He gained his MBA from University College Dublin and has a degree in Russian from Leeds University. Prior to co-founding CrowdControlHQ he was responsible for setting up a new division of BOC gases and led business development in Russia and Eastern Europe. ABOUT CROWDCONTROLHQ CrowdControlHQ is the UK’s leading social media risk management & compliance platform built for enterprise, recognised by global research organisation Forrester as a ‘worldwide contender’ in 2014. The web based software gives organisations a single dashboard from which an organisation can manage all accounts, social media account users and campaigns, helping people to optimise their social engagement through elite crowd engagement features, such as listening, geo-targeting, and customer profile monitoring. CrowdControlHQ also provides UK based organisations with the most advanced security and risk management features available alongside enterprise collaboration tools to manage the risks of social media and grow impact. The platform delivers advanced analytics – all inclusive for one fixed monthly license fee, supported by a UK based customer support team. If you have a question or would like to talk to CrowdControlHQ about your social media challenges please call on 0845 686 5044, visit www.crowdcontrolhq.com or email [email protected] 16