Kelvin Lee, the global director of social media at Refinitiv, one of the largest providers of market data to the institutional financial industry, shares some tips on social media's role in digital marketing.
Kelvin Lee, global director of social media at Refinitiv, one of the largest providers of market data to the institutional financial industry, and a former DJ, is our guide through the social media universe so we can apply the power of digital tools to our digital marketing strategy. Kelvin breaks down how we should think about our digital content, channels, and communication so that we can find our place in this vast, ever-changing digital world and engage more efficiently with our digital community.
Elyse:
Welcome to Digital What?, a podcast series where we join UNDP personnel and experts in conversation about the digital communications questions you’ve always wanted to know, but were afraid to ask.
Today we speak with Kelvin Lee, the global director of social media at the Refinitiv, one of the largest providers of market data to the institutional financial industry, about the role of social media in digital marketing. We caught up with Kelvin from his high rise apartment in Singapore, specifically in his three month old daughter’s nursery. She was sleeping in after last night’s wild dance party. Kelvin is a former DJ…
Kelvin:
Yeah so we do DJ Spotify and DJ Youtube at the moment. We're starting with the retro 80s. First, a bit of George Michael, the Beatles, obviously 60s, 70s. And we mix it up with Old MacDonald had a farm.
Elyse:
Alright, now that we broke a sweat with DJ Kelvin, let’s take a breather and get down to business. Figuring out what it means to develop a social media strategy from a digital marketing and communications point of view is tricky, so we first ask Kelvin how he would describe what he does.
Kelvin:
So it's really not about just posting updates on LinkedIn or Twitter. It's about pulling together all the different components of what makes a strategy and having a well-rounded approach that matches up to the marketing and business goals.
Elyse:
And part of having a well rounded approach is having a two way conversation.
Kelvin:
From a classic point of view, the role of social media permits the extension of marketing communication opportunities both from a business to business, B to B, and business to consumer, B to C, aspect in ways that, years ago never would have thought possible. It's allowing firms, businesses, individuals to rethink the way that once communication was...a one-way stream, broadcast approach. But today, because of social media, it allows two-way communication using these social media channels as a way to increase visibility, stay in touch, engage clients and customers and, of course, build communities around themselves, their businesses or their firms.
Elyse:
And Kelvin says in order to have perspective, you really have to stay present when using social media.
Kelvin:
But what I want to say as a philosophy or approach... that we think about a lot of the role of social media in communication...the focus (should be) on social, being social and not just doing social. Less about the channels, less about the media, but more about the social, the human exchange, the actual two-way communication that is supposed to happen, for better or for worse. Over the last couple of years of great examples of how we've seen social media bring communities together, especially in this current era of Covid 19, impacting all of us, but also the negative side of things where certain communities have used it for their own advantage. Pretty much anyone who has something to say, has an opportunity to create a following or a micro community around them to create that two-way conversation, that act of being social.
Elyse:
And of course, social media’s role in digital marketing has changed over time. Kelvin breaks it down into three slices of time. Past, present, and future.
Kelvin:
The first slice is perhaps starting in the 70s from a channels point of view.
Elyse:
Channels like chat rooms and myspace.
Kelvin:
Then on the second slice around 2003, 2004, we started to see some of these sites which do exist today. Facebook was created in 2004, LinkedIn in 2003. We saw Twitter 2006. YouTube 2005. In 2010 as well, Instagram was created. Obviously, many of these platforms continue to thrive in today's environment. Then I would say the third slice is looking forward into the next 5 to 10 years, we predict the rise of virtual social environments. Facebook obviously owns Oculus. They have already started to think and create VR rooms. And these platforms allow users to meet virtually to attend live events, meetups, attend classes. These scenarios and environments could not have a better place today in this era of Covid 19, and where many of us in business have to figure out a way to connect virtually beyond just Zoom and Microsoft teams. I actually believe the kind of virtual environments, especially in the social context do present an opportunity for many firms and businesses in the next five to 10 years.
Elyse:
In the social media universe, we are also seeing the rise in the use of messaging apps like Whatsapp and the creation of new apps that combine the tools of several apps down into one. And then there’s all the visual content generated on social media, from photos to videos to live-streams. It’s complex, but Kelvin says we have to adapt and evolve our social media strategy -- so that we can stay connected in real time. Most importantly, to have a good social media strategy, Kelvin says we need to have these three things:
Kelvin:
Number one, content. Number two, channels, and number three community.
Elyse:
So let’s start with your content.
Kelvin:
From a content point of view the approach is to create jobs and design content for conversation. Too often, firms are creating content as a one-way channel. Let's just lob it over the wall and hope something sticks. Focus on what your firm has. That means working internally with your leadership team, with your comms team, with your product teams, with developers.
Elyse:
And as Kelvin suggests, try not to copy what your competitors are doing.
Kelvin:
Of course, look to them for inspiration, but speak from the heart and the head. Really bring up the value of why and what your firm stands for in this highly complex global world that we live in.
Elyse:
Next, let’s think about the channels you’re using.
Kelvin:
A channel strategy would entail understanding what works best for that specific community that we are serving and the specific type of clients and customers that you may be trying to engage with. There's obviously a myriad of channels that we have to consider today. And it's often a mistake to jump into launching 10 channels across your brand. So don't spend too much time on launching too many. Focus on one to two channels, first as a start and make a bigger difference there. And over time, expand that range of channels that you may have to then build it up for a bigger success.
Elyse:
And then, there’s community -- online and internally at UNDP.
Kelvin:
And, of course, from a community point of view, which platforms you choose will allow you to be close to those respective communities using the different types of content hashtags, and of course, videos, et cetera, to be able to be relevant for these respective individuals.
Elyse:
And it’s really important that we pay attention how well we engage with our community online. There is a lot of responsibility to keep the conversation going, such as...
Kelvin:
...replying to questions, answering queries and really genuinely helping your community and your network to be better at what they already do and why they may be following you, to connect with you.
Elyse:
And so although it feels strange to have this entire community out there that we can connect with on social media , Kelvin says we better get used to it.
Kelvin:
The future is here. The future is coming faster than we think. Who would have thought just four or five months ago? We wouldn't be in this global virtual and social digital experiment
Elyse:
And we can’t really opt out from being a part of this universe.
Kelvin:
I feel strongly that today the social media universe is more complex than ever. It is impossible to ignore social media in 2020 and beyond. It is a critical channel as part of an overall business, marketing, digital and communication mix.
Elyse:
So might as well approach this universe with a sense of wonder, to look towards social media as a way to connect with people we’d never meet, kind of like looking up at the night sky and feeling this energetic connection with the constellations. There’s a whole world out there to discover.
Kelvin:
Just as how the universe started with the Big Bang, and even up to this very second, it is expanding at a ferocious speed. The social media universe –in its infancy when it started from usernets, evolving into bulletin boards, into ICQ, and now to public social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.– this universe is constantly expanding. Whereas I feel very passionate in this space is that every day I'm learning and every day this space is evolving. Every day there are new approaches, new communities, new clients, new users who are coming on board the social media train
Elyse:
And the train has already left the station.
Kelvin:
The advice is for us who are perhaps not on the social media train to try and jump on as we go and learn along the way and to rely on genuine experts or agencies to help you along this journey.
Elyse:
This episode of Digital What!? is produced by Oscar Durand and myself. Our theme music is by Lemon Guo, and additional music is by Chris Zabriskie and Tinus, and sound design by myself. Special thanks to Kelvin Lee from Refinitv, for taking the time to speak with us. To listen and subscribe go to wherever you find your podcasts or DigitalNow dot UNDP dot org.