CorpComms Magazine

Yesterday saw the third successful business-to-business social media 'huddle' for senior in-house communications and marketing professionals. The event was hosted by Dell and For Immediate Release (FIR) and was held at Google's London offices.

With a diverse range of attendees from HSBC to the Royal College of Nursing, the uniquely democratic event called on participants to lead their own discussion groups on social media initiatives, share best practice advice, and generally learn from each others' experiences.

Keynote speaker Brian Solis, principal at research-based advisory firm Altimeter Group, suggested that there is no instruction manual for organisations hoping to engage with their audiences through social media, and that return on investment could not be measured effectively. Solis, a global thought leader and published author on the subject of new media, instead urged business leaders and communicators to invest time and research in understanding their own audience and finding the right tools to engage with them, rather than jumping on the latest gadget or social media bandwagon.

Notable breakout sessions included a presentation on the value of Facebook for business-to-business engagement by Krishna De, digital strategist and founder of BizGrowthMedia. Participants discussed best practice and shared examples of which organisations had used Facebook to good effect.

Marta Obrebska, online marketer at Dell, and Kate Matlock, digital strategist at Dell's agency Ketchum Pleon, presented a case study on engaging influencers through social media, a strategy used to great effect to launch the #TradeSecrets campaign, promoting the new Dell Vostro V130 laptop. The new model was sent to various bloggers and digital experts considered influential on social media, wrapped in James Bond-style top secret packaging. Upon opening, a video tailored to the influencer was played, with a Moneypenny style character inviting them to take part in a top secret mission. The influencer was then invited to test out the laptop and share their trade secrets on making a great first impression, using the #TradeSecrets hashtag on Twitter. Many of the influencers blogged about the laptop's features and their user experience, prompting a considerable buzz around the product and encouraging others to share their trade secrets.

A pre-event lunchtime discussion also saw Aden Davies, innovation technician at HSBC Technology Services, and Ruben Govinder, senior officer for campaigns and digital at TfL, discuss the difficulty of implementing social media strategies in conservative industries. Chairman of Ecademy, Thomas Power, highlighted the difficulty small and medium businesses face in finding the time and resources to set up a social media strategy - particularly those businesses led by an older, traditionally less digital-savvy generation.

Image source: Benjamin Ellis

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