New Research Shows Social Media Strategy Is Not On The Boardroom Agenda

A recent survey conducted by ICSA and the Financial Times reveals almost half of FTSE 350 companies have not discussed social media at board level. This may come as a shock in the digital age, but does it represent the low priority given to social media by board level executives?

Being at the very top of such powerful and large corporations, UK boardrooms are losing out by ignoring social media. What’s even more worrying is that only 26% of the companies surveyed believe social media is important. This figure ought to be considerably higher as 85% of customers expect businesses to have a social media presence.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is presenting the value and potential ROI of social media to board executives. Understandably, they must secure returns for investors – therefore they’re interested in the figures, statistics and metrics of social media, as opposed to the number of followers, likes or comments.

So why should social media be included in the boardroom agenda?

It provides real-time information to companies that listen – as social media is constantly evolving, the updates and insights are current. In a time when consumers value speed, it’s important to monitor activity closely and practice social listening – 42% of consumers who complain via social media expect a response within 60 minutes. However, a social strategy is not just limited to social listening. With 1 in 3 customers preferring to reach out to companies through social media and over 9 million questions asked by customers on Facebook and Twitter in 2014 to date, social customer service strategies are also imperative to companies that wish to remain ahead of the competition.

With the key benefits of a social strategy presented, it’s difficult to see why 32% of companies think social media is unimportant. Now social media is an integral part of everyday life, it’s time to prioritise social media strategy at board level.