FEATURE INSIGHT
A prime example of how this can be done comes from Revell Ward, an accountancy practice based in Huddersfield. The company uses a variety of ongoing social media content to drive engagement and website traffic, such as ‘meet the team’ profiles, Q&As and case studies. It also supplements this with special campaigns posted via individual and personal twitter accounts. For example, during National Payroll Week in September 2018, the firm ran a campaign to encourage businesses to sign up for a free payroll audit. The initiative was fronted by the company’s payroll specialist, director Jennifer Davies, with content created to drive traffic to the website and tweets posted via Davies’ own profile to increase awareness of her professional skills. Content included ‘top tips for making your payroll more efficient’, payroll client testimonials and video case studies, and links to opinion-led media coverage where Jennifer commented on the importance of payroll in business. The figures speak for themselves: total tweet impressions between August 2018 to November 2018 were 21,642. Profile visits increased by 163% between August and the end of September, and during the
National Payroll Week campaign, tweet impressions peaked at 5,803 and profile visits went up by 85%. ...power of social media for the payroll profession is clear Davies says: “Producing regular and timely content has been the key to Revell Ward’s success with social media. We have had to really put the effort into creating ongoing content, such as ‘meet the team’ style posts and top tips pieces, alongside mini campaigns such as National Payroll Week. This combination of tactics has helped us to significantly increase levels of engagement on Twitter.” Davies also emphasises the importance of involving the whole company. “We’ve highlighted the role that social media plays in promoting Revell Ward and the team as a whole to our staff,” she explains. “Most of them now have Twitter profiles, and we encourage them, alongside the directors, to re-tweet and comment on content from the company Twitter account via their own profiles. This brings a personal element to
what we’re doing, and also enables us to highlight individual skillsets within the team when we need to.” It’s also important to spread the word via social platforms when traditional media takes an interest, says Davies. “Any media coverage we achieve is promoted via our social media channels,” she explains. “Editorial coverage is very powerful and ensures we stand out above competitors on social media, as well as helping us to achieve good levels of engagement.” The power of social media for the payroll profession is clear. But if you’re not sure where to start, Cliffe provides the following seven-point action plan: get your profiles in order; find a voice; don’t be afraid to use it; be authentic; be professional; be consistent; and engage with others. According to Day, it is predicted that there will be 42 million people on social media platforms in the UK alone by the end of 2018. “That is a huge, free, and already receptive audience that an individual or a brand can reach out to,” he says. So, if you’re not embracing social media to promote yourself, your company or the payroll profession as a whole, what are you waiting for? n
A recent report by ReportLinker analyses the social media behaviour of companies Companies’ social media behaviour
T he report, which looked at country rankings, can be found here: https://bit.ly/2z8Dk9c. The top purposes for which large companies use social media are: ● promoting products or their image ● for customer service ● recruiting employees ● involving customers in development or innovation of goods or service. The top European companies where social media is used to promote a product or their image are located in: Cyprus (69%); Sweden (62%); The Netherlands companies across Europe with over 250 employees and presents
(61%); Finland (60%); Iceland (58%). Romania ranks last (20%). When it comes to customer service (obtaining or responding to customer opinions and reviewing their questions): the UK is fifth (45%); France 24th (24%); with Luxembourg last (14%). Enterprises also turn to social media for human resources purposes. When recruiting new employees, The Netherlands leads the way (55%); followed by: Norway (49%), Belgium (44%), Sweden (43%), and Finland (41%); with Slovakia (10%) in last place. When involving customers directly in the innovation or development of a service
or goods the leading EU nations remain approximately the same: Cyprus ranking first (41%); The Netherlands (32%); Finland (30%); Sweden (25%); and the UK (24%). In contrast, only 5% of large employers in Hungary use social media in this way. Instant messenger and chat services play major roles in company communications. Earlier in 2018, ReportLinker found that 43% of respondents use instant messaging applications at work, with 71% of employees in the tech industries relying on the application. In international companies, it’s used by 62% of the workforce. n
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | December 2018 / January 2019 | Issue 46 40
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