Social Buzz Interview: Butlins' Jae Hopkins
Head of Communications for Butlins Jae Hopkins is one of the judges for this year's Social Buzz Awards (entry deadline is August 1 remember!) and as well as giving her time for an interview, she's also agreed to answer any questions about how Butlins uses social media for us online today.
What to do is take to Twitter and drop us a tweet with the hashtag #askjae at the end. We'll collate all the answers and get them online before the end of the week.
What got you into social media?
My sister moved to Australia in 2006 and suddenly online time-zone-ambivalent connectivity became an essential component in my life.
Who does it well - either as an individual or company?
No7 (make up from Boots) and Disney. And Butlins of course - I'm really proud of our Facebook and Twitter presence and reactivity.
Q Is it for every business?
Yes. That's not to say Facebook, or any other individual channel, is for every company but there are forums (always want to write fora there!) that would be useful for every business out there somewhere.
Is there a lot of snake oil about over social media?
Nothing that makes any real difference - just some people trying to mysticise it for their own gain. And making sure we all get to tick a box on bullshit bingo every day!
There’s an old argument that PR/marketing/advertising should own social media - should any of them?
Own? Hmmm. At Butlins, social media and PR both sit with me, but for both it's the policies, strategy and content decisions that sit with my team - they both infiltrate the rest of the business in many ways. And I work with our contact centre for the customer care/service side of social media - which is key for us at Butlins
Q Why is there such a fear over traditional ROI? Surely it’s the best metric to be using?
It's the best but it's not great or easy is it? I'm not sure whether we'll find anything better as its what makes business sense, but maybe we'll get smarter about what/how we measure.
What are your favourite social media sites?
I love watching the Twitter stream when the TV show about giving birth One Born Every Minute is on; it's hysterical - full of women saying "I'd throw him out if he was eating chips while I gave birth" and "I had six babies with no pain relief and never moo-ed like her". And Mumsnet Talk Roundup on a Friday often gives me the best laugh of the week. Mum-power is all over social media.
In your eyes, what’s the biggest barrier to adoption of social media? And how would you tell people/firms to overcome this?
Fear and lack of understanding. They need to just do it and accept that they'll get some bits wrong initially. It drives me mad when companies don't respond to their customers on social media; it's like not answering the phone, but really publically in front of the whole world. If that's the channel your customer chooses to speak to you (or about you) on then you should be there.
If you had to choose one platform - for you personally - what would it be and why?
Facebook. I need to know what my sister is up to and see photos of my nephew. And the parents of my children's school have a FB group which is incredibly useful for finding out what the homework is when a bookbag has been forgotten, or reminding me that they all have to go dressed as nursery rhyme characters tomorrow!
What’s the can’t live without App on your Smartphone?
Hootsuite on my iPhone.
What’s the must-have Apps on your tablet?
I don't have one - do you think I should?
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?
Playing football or jumping on the trampoline in the garden with my three sons.
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?
What's the alternative?
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?
It'll die out - it's just part of media. And people don't know which is which already; we did a live web TV show from the foyer of our Wave Hotel & Apartments two hours after it opened earlier this month. It included answering questions as they came through on Twitter, and was played out on various blogs, forums, and newspaper sites, as well as on our Facebook timeline. Is it social media in itself though?
Companies seem to be concentrating their efforts on Facebook - is this a dangerous move?
Not if that's the space most of their customers want to talk to them in. And it's useful for creating policies and understanding the principles of social media, which can be applied to other sites as and when they need to be.
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?
A huge element of business is based around customer satisfaction. And so it should be!
Where do you see social media being in five years time?
On my iPhone or some similar device. You've definitely made me think I need a tablet now too!
For those thinking of getting into social media, any tips or pointers?
Just get in there and get on with it. It's not the future - it's the present. You'll make mistakes (I can do you a nice presentation about all the shockers I've made!) but you'll learn.
Remember, if you've got any questions for Jae, drop us a tweet with the hashtag #askjae at the end before midnight UK time tonight (Thursday).
Previous Social Media Interviews: