Social Buzz Interview - Guy Clapperton

Necessity! I went freelance in 1993 and started using an online conferencing system called Cix, later moving into CompuServe and AOL. We didn't call it social media then but connecting disparate people electronically is what it was, and it was a life saver when it came to combating isolation during work hours. Also very good for work leads. I was surprised when everyone started talking about social media as something new because as far as I was concerned I'd been doing it for over a decade.

Who does it well - either as an individual or company?

Penderyn Whisky are pretty good as a company, as are Innocent, King of Shaves, Brewdog and a whole load of others. The question is "do I feel as if I'm talking to someone with a personality or a droid" - these guys are good. Many individuals are strong - Alan Stevens is good, and Max Atkinson, who inspires me a bit as a speaker.

Is it for every business?

Not at the moment but it may become that way. I was judging the Nectar Small Business Awards a couple of years ago and one company had surveyed its customers and found they didn't want social media. As long as they make sure they revisit that and keep it up to date, it's a good reason for not going to Twitter or Facebook, if your customers really don't want it.

Is there a lot of snake oil about over social media?

Yes. Loads of people seem to think you can pay the rent with "influence" or "likes". Would you buy shares in a company because they had "lots of likes"?

There’s an old argument that PR/marketing/advertising should own social media - should any of them?

I'm less worried about that than the social media 'owner' being taken seriously in a business. I held a seminar for a software company a while back and the PR woman was diligently referring any issues that came up on Twitter to the technical team. She was doing the right thing but crucially the tech team wrote her actions off as one of those PR things and didn't action the queries. Had they done so, their business would have improved - I really think this has nothing to do with who's actually doing stuff and everything to do with what actions are being taken.

Why is there such a fear over traditional ROI? Surely it’s the best metric to be using?

Absolutely. It's the sort of ROI you apply to PR and marketing, there are indeed soft benefits as well as solid financials but I'm a great believer in there being no new business rules. That's how the dotcom crash happened.

What’s your favourite social media sites?

Mashable is of course excellent, but a lot of 'ordinary' news sites are carrying an awful lot of good quality social media news too. It's in the mainstream.

In your eyes, what’s the biggest barrier to adoption of social media? And how would you tell people/firms to overcome this?

Inertia I suppose - and big organisations not being able to change their culture quickly enough. Being this directly accountable to individual customers is pretty scary. I usually tell firms to go and have a look on Twitter etc - they tend to find they're already being discussed. Once they realise they're *already* on social media and not controlling their marketing, they start to get the hang of it pretty quickly.

If you had to choose one platform - for you personally - what would it be and why?

Twitter. I'm a writer and it's all about words. Also as a jobbing freelance juggling many projects I have the attention span of a hamster.

What’s the can’t live without Apps on your Smartphone (and what make is the phone)?

I'm an iPhone man - we're very tribal and we do understand the competition is as pretty and less expensive. I use Twitter a fair bit, email on the phone is still crucial. And Angry Birds.

What’s the must-have Apps on your tablet (and, again, what make is it)?

As above - I also do a fair bit of reading and video watching while I'm travelling.

What motivates you when you’re down/seeking creativity - what’s the one thing that gets the brain going when you have to dig deep?

Unpaid bills! I've been freelance since 1993 and gave up on relying for inspiration a long time ago - you have to get on with it. This isn't a special thing, it's true of every job.

Given that the way most social media institutions - Facebook, Google, Twitter - are making their money is through the most traditional of ways - advertising - is this a failure of thinking? Surely if social media is such a paradigm shift, we wouldn’t be relying on advertising just like we have done since 1955?

OK, but would people actually pay for membership? Facebook's valuation suggests to me that there's still some mileage in the ad model.

Should the phrase “social media” be abolished as there is so much to it - it can be linkbuilding, community engagement, community building, sales, SEO, blogging, gathering and seeding visual information - should we be at a stage now where people get to specify what part of this their talents lie in?

I agree it's a broad term - rather like e-business was in the 1990s. The thing is, people kind of understand it so it's useful for the moment.

Companies seem to be concentrating their efforts on Facebook - is this a dangerous move?

As long as they ask their customers where they want to be and it's Facebook, no. If they just assume Facebook and then find all their customers are on Twitter or LinkedIn, they have a problem.

A huge element of social media seems to be based around customer satisfaction but should companies - and customers - accept that you won’t always get it your own way?

Yes but that doesn't mean not striving for better. A hairdresser I interviewed once in Covent Garden had a laptop in his reception so people could leave a review on Qype on their way out. I asked: what if you get a bad review? He told me he was a grown-up with a business who fully accepted sometimes he'd get a bad review and sometimes they might even be right.

Where do you see social media being in five years time?

Yes, I know this one, which is why I'm writing sunning myself on a private island off Barbados...oh hang on, this is Croydon. Seriously, it's not going away, the names of the big networks may change but the basic idea's going to be around for a while. As phones make it easier to upload video content I suspect - hope, even - you're going to see more than word-based social media around. At the moment it's easy for people like me to get our points across but I've always loved writing. A family member is dyslexic; if that was a disadvantage before then once you've established so much hinges around the written word online it's a nightmare.

For those thinking of getting into social media, any tips or pointers?

Get on with it and have fun. If you're doing it for business factor in the cost of your time, don't kid yourself it's free. Take it seriously - the customer who complains through social media is just as real as the one on your doorstep. But overall enjoy it - it's a chance to talk to customers directly in a way you haven't before and you might well find they say things you like.

Previous social media interviews:

Holyrood PR's Scott Douglas