Waikato Business News March/April 2021

16 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS March/April 2021
Leaders: hands-off social
management is missing a trick
PR AND COMMUNICATIONS
> BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB
Heather Claycomb is director of HMC Communications, a
Hamilton-based, award-winning public relations agencys.
If you’re a business owner or leader,
I have a few questions for you:
When’s the last time
you visited your
company’s social
media sites? Are you inputting
into the content being
shared? Who makes the decision
around what you share
and do you trust them to represent
your brand to the public?
Is the person responsible
for posting and monitoring an
integral part of your team or a
junior staffer far removed from
the heart of your business?
I ask these questions
because I’ve found lately that
many business leaders aren’t
taking their social channels
seriously. Frankly, some leaders’
views of social are stuck
in 2010. They think of Facebook
and Instagram as ‘something
their kids waste time
on’, Twitter as an American
channel irrelevant in New Zealand
and LinkedIn as nothing
more than an online CV.
If that sounds a bit like you
(or your boss), keep reading.
Here are just a few business
goals social media can help
you achieve.
Sales
A prolonged, persistent and
strategically honed social
media presence should be contributing
to your bottom line.
If it isn’t, you should be asking
questions.
Even if you are a not-forprofit
and don’t ‘sell’ a product,
your social media actions
- adverts and non-paid posts
- should still be contributing
to your top organisational drivers.
If they aren’t, I would tend
to say either stop completely,
or invest into making them
work – why waste time on the
middle ground?
My caution here, however,
is that you need to be in this for
the long-term and get expert
advice on how to move people
through the online sales funnel.
It’s a complex and technical
process that requires expert
advice, particularly when it
comes to reaping a return on
paid posts. And you also need
to realise that sales rarely flow
in from ‘day 1’. But a longterm,
patient approach will pay
dividends.
Keep in mind that organic
posts – those that are not
adverts, non-paid – are still
really important as your social
channels work hand in hand
with your website as an online
‘shop front’.
You need great content
for people to find as they do
their online research. But also
remember that only around 5
percent of your followers will
see your non-paid posts. So,
any serious social media strategy
needs a small budget for
advertising.
Business
development offshore
Covid has trapped us all on this
beautiful island!
While we’re incredibly
fortunate in many respects, as
a nation of exporters we can’t
get in front of customers and
prospects offshore.
While social media will
never, ever replace a handshake
and an in-person meeting,
it can help bridge the
gap while you wait for the
borders to open.
We’re helping a client at
the moment to target new
customers in California and
Brazil through Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter. Thanks
to the power of targeting, it’s
possible.
Leadership reputation
If you want to be perceived as
a leader in your market, you
need to demonstrate that leadership
in places where your
audiences ‘hang out’.
Media publicity still plays
a major role in a leadership
PR strategy. And what you
say and do online is equally
important.
Voicing your opinion
on industry issues, starting
conversations of importance to
your audience, offering your
perspective on topical news
stories and more is a great way
to make your social channels
work for you to build profile
and awareness of yourself and
your company.
So, if you haven’t visited
your company’s social media
sites in a while, go take a look.
Does your content reflect your
brand in the right way?
Or do you think it’s time to
hit the reset button, develop
a serious strategy and tap
into the power of these very
important communications
channels?
Kiwis play part
in remote control
ventilators
A
team of innovative volunteers
are tackling the
Covid-19 pandemic
head-on with the design and
build of remote control ventilators.
Trust director Alan
Thomas is leading an international
team from Auckland
with trustee Michael Ilewicz in
Germany.
ArdenVent’s mission is to
maximise the efficiency and
effectiveness of the world’s
medical workforce fighting
Covid-19.
This project is Kiwi ingenuity
at its very best, solving the
world’s problems with the perfect
marriage of software and
hardware.
Company-X is backing
the project, with senior software
developer Mark Nikora
volunteering his own time
with Arden Auxiliary Medical
Trust. We were thrilled
to hear about the project, and
will support Mark in whatever
way we can.
The web interface Mark is
contributing to can be accessed
from any internet connected
device, meaning personal
computers, smartphones and
tablet computers can be used
to save lives on the other
side of the world.
The trust is designing and
building sophisticated lowcost
ventilators to artificially
respirate Covid-19 patients
that can be operated and controlled
from an internet connection
anywhere in the world.
This project demonstrates
the internet of things in action.
Remote control internet-connected
ventilators
allow someone in another
country where the pandemic
is less severe to operate the
devices and help save lives.
It also allows an operator
who cannot risk exposure to
Covid-19 because of their own
health to keep a safe distance
from a Covid-19 patient in hospital
or their own home.
The project aims to provide
remote support to medical professionals
in the parts of the
world most affected by the
pandemic. New Zealand colleagues,
where the disease is
under control, are hoped to be
able to help patients where the
medical system is overrun.
The voluntary development
team is based in New Zealand,
the US and Switzerland.
A year ago, in this column, I
said the Coronavirus battle will
be won with medical science
and the latest technology.
It’s heartening to see Kiwis
playing their part in this battle.
BOOK
NOW!
TECH TALK
> BY DAVID HALLETT
David Hallett is a co-founder and director of Waikato
software development specialist Company-X.