There were two reports at the end of last year significant to social media and retail: 'Understanding the High Street' by Mary Portas and 'International Communications Report' by Ofcom.
If the reports had a combined message, they could have proved to be very useful for UK businesses during the busy holiday season. However, this isn't an ideal world where departments and organisations regularly share information like this, is it?
The retail report
The first report, was tasked to now well-known businesswoman and retail professional Mary Portas and written in conjunction with GENECON LLP and Partners, through the Department for Business Innovations & Skills (BIS).
Entitled 'Understanding the High Street' (opens as a PDF), the report looks at how high streets around the UK are failing, a decline that has been happening for quite some time due to a number of different factors. The report offers recommendations for all high street businesses, many of which are transferrable to those without a bricks and mortar store.
Understanding the High Street was featured extensively across various media, including the BBC. On the BBC's website for example, the story has attracted almost 1,100 comments (positive, negative and anecdotal) before they were closed, quite an incredible response, given how many comments BBC articles normally attract.
There's no doubt Mary Portas is a skilled professional that offers great insight. She is personally experiencing the battle across the high street now, having a brand catering for women for over 40 fashion at House of Fraser (Mary & House of Fraser).
However, there is a distinct absence of digital guidance within the report, which is startling. Facebook and Twitter are more mainstream now, so there are little excuses for advisers in this sector, regardless of them being digitally savvy or not. They have to be aware of the impact of digital media, as all business owners should be. One can only hope that if the 'International Communications Report' was placed in front of Marty Portas, 'Understanding the High Street' may have been a more comprehensive report. It may be something that the government could now address properly, or indeed Portas who has the ear of government and quite a slice of the UK too.
Mary Portas press conference on the High Street Review
The government is soon to publish a response to the report, so we look forward to that in the hope they take on board the reaction of businesses, media etc., to provide actionable advice, because the UK economy certainly needs it.
It must be a pretty place to sit though, where hindsight and feedback can be channeled into a report the government could of led better in the first place, especially if resources were pooled more effectively. Lets hope it looks to some more socially aware brands, recent attempts to understand and set out guidelines by organisations such as Acas http://www.elementalcomms.co.uk/blog/1-in-10-uk-businesses-don-t-have-a-social-media-policy on how to meet the digital and social media challenges ahead.
The media report
The sixth annual International Communications Report 2011 by Ofcom was released not long after the Portas report (the full report opens as a large PDF).
At a first glance, it's probably daunting, but it isn't when time is taken to review it carefully, and it's broken up in sections on the Ofcom site if preferred. It addresses subject matter such as the global communications market, availability and use of broadband, landlines, mobiles, TV and radio in 17 countries. If businesses are to understand media in order to learn how to reach its publics, it's an essential read. If anything is to be taken away from the report, it's how the UK is developing as online shoppers and individuals' continually adopt and ingratiate digital media into their lives.
Ofcom summarises this in an article on its site entitled 'UK consumers are a nation of online shoppers', which reviews media and technologies including mobile, internet, social media and so on with plenty of facts and figures to illustrate the developments.
Some of the points to take note of include:
- The report found that eight in 10 UK internet users (79%) said they had ordered goods or services online in 2010, higher than any other European country, with just 27% of consumers in Italy claiming to have done so
- UK internet users were also more likely to visit retail websites online than other countries, with nine in ten (89%) claiming to do so in 2011
- In addition to having more UK consumers shopping online, shoppers also spent more time on retail sites - an average of 84 minutes in January 2011, compared with around 20 minutes for consumers in Poland and Italy
Retailing changed a long time ago (not solely due to digital media), and it continues to evolve with the digital and social media landscape at the forefront.
Businesses that are struggling are likely to fall into some of the following camps:
- not having digital presence
- a splattering of digital presence (e.g. a blog, some social accounts and website) that's incohesive and confuses users
- being old hands, but unsure how to change up gears to meet growing demands
European internet usage
In the interests of balance and also if your markets are further a field, or could potentially be (and if you can stomach another report) eurostat from the European Commission has research on internet usage. It was released in December 2011 and shows the hot and cold spots of internet usage (opens as a PDF). It's not all great reading for digital initiatives with the research showing (opens as a PDF) that there are many households where residents have never used the internet (although the UK's usage continues to grow significantly).
Slow internet adoption isn't the best argument for a review on how to incorporate digital and social media. However, this is just one relevant point that strengthens the argument that businesses need to look to an integrated approach and ascertain the best routes to success for them. The eurostat report focuses on non-existent or nascent areas, which could allow businesses to adapt and build strategies to address opportunities.
Setting the social media scene
The goal for businesses should be to adopt the use of practical and straightforward digital marketing and PR channels (including social media). Over the coming months we'll share how businesses (regardless of their stature and size) can adopt these approaches to support activity, and hopefully ride the wave of recovery. Although the approaches outlined may be digitally led, there is an understanding and appreciation of more 'traditional' channels that can't be ignored. Instead the approach will endeavour to integrate them seamlessly, an approach practiced at Elemental.
Depending upon the knowledge and experience with digital media, whether it is completely new, or a refresher course, businesses should understand how to implement a flexible digital approach embracing a rapidly progressive sector. Any guidance we provide largely keeps retail in mind, but will be useful whether businesses operate within the retail sector or otherwise. It would be ideal if the aforementioned were collated in one report, particularly because time may be of the essence for retail brands, but it's a long-term approach.
In the meantime, what tips can be taken away from a digital marketing and social media scene now? Below are some top tips and questions to ask of the business and its direction. It's not an exhaustive list, rather than an initial guide.
10 things to consider
- Employ a prevention before cure school of thought in determining whether activity has the necessary resources (both time and financial)
- Is the business ready and flexible enough to be immersed more into the digital age and use channels like social media?
- Can time be allocated to manage skilling up yourself and your teams and meet any new or additional demands of the business?
- Know where the business can source additional advice / support including business, legal, marketing and/or technology
- Look to competitors and what they may be doing, but don't copy or follow. Instead focus on how you can differentiate your approach
- Build a strategy that address the needs of the business including all departments and individuals regardless of their roles and stature
- Research and explore how implementation, nurturing and building upon any changes is managed employing measurement to analyse performance
- Decide where the brands' digital first port of call is going to be (preferably not a third-party) and how to future proof it
- Don't spread the business brand across social networks without researching and understand how to ensure they remain healthy
- Take a cautious steps and don't rush into digital environments without considering the above and being ready for the long game
Although far from being a new medium, social media has become more engrained in businesses and society as a whole. Although the approaches above may not harp on about social media, they inevitably encompass it.
View the reports below