Social is a catalyst for breaking down organisational silos: HootSuite’s EMEA marketing director Merinda Peppard
Video, social media advertising and customised social media education are all the big trends of 2014, Merinda Peppard, HootSuite’s EMEA marketing director, believes.
Speaking to The Drum as a judge of the Social Buzz Awards in association with iomart, Peppard pointed out the success of the HootSuite "Game of Social Thrones” video, which has garnered over 750,000 views to date, as proof that the social video space has expanded from the launch of Vine and Instagram video last year.
Coming from the marketing side of the business, Peppard reveals that “unlike traditional marketing strategies, social media has one key advantage- the ability to respond to real-time live events meaning your strategy can be flexible and adapt to your changing customer needs”.
She believes that social has “had huge business impact” in aware businesses, stating “social is so much wider and social touches all elements of business from traditional brand marketing, communications and lead generation through to HR, crisis management, recruitment, sales and customer service”.
“It has been the conduit for change and a catalyst for breaking down organisational silos. It is also amazing to see that in some traditional industries, social has played an important role in elevating transparency in business communications and company values,” she adds.
As such, Peppard will be looking for entries where departments have worked together in order to achieve social objectives, when she judges the Social buzz Awards in September.
“This type of integration would really demonstrate social maturity and evangelism for social across an organisation,” she says.
Real business results, and rich, engaging content across multiple platforms will also be top on the list of what Peppard is looking for in entries to the awards.
To put forward your social campaign for an accolade, visit the Social Buzz Awards website before 13 August.