Q&A: JBN Congress Speaker Mark Saxby on No-Nonsense Social Media

12 May 2022

Ahead of his talk at the JET Business Network’s annual Retail Jewellers’ Congress on Monday, June 13, 2022, speaker, Mark Saxby answers our questions about whether independent retailers can ever truly crack social media. Fortunately, his answer is ‘Yes,’ but with some important considerations.

Discover the NAJ Summit 2022

At the Retail Jewellers’ Congress, part of the second annual NAJ Summit 2022, Saxby will deliver a talk titled, “The Truth About Social Media and How to REALLY Win Over Your Audience”. He will use more than 11 years of sales successes on social media to offer practical guidance to JBN members, including myth-busting anecdotes and guidance on the algorithms used by the most popular platforms.

Here, we ask Saxby some questions about his approach to boosting the social media output of small- to medium-sized retail businesses…

What questions should independent jewellery businesses ask themselves before tackling social media?

Who is my audience?

What do they really want?

How do they want to feel?

How can I give them true value?

How did you get started in social media and how has this shaped what you do today?

I am a former BBC and ITV news editor, and I was taught how to use social media to find news stories. I combined this knowledge and my communication skills to found Status Social back in 2011 - when specialist social media agencies didn't really exist! Since then, we've trained more than 6000 delegates on how to use social media to achieve their organisation's objectives, run nearly 100 social media strategy workshops and managed around 200 social media accounts. We've worked across scores of sectors including jewellery, retail, manufacturing, finance and education, from micro-businesses to multinationals. I would say our specialism is we understand how to win people over - and then use social media to achieve that.

In your experience, what are some of the biggest mistakes that small independent retailers are making on social media? 

Running social media to a lesser standard than they conduct the rest of their business. They (hopefully) run their businesses with excellence, yet their social media is sloppy. Most small business owners don't take the time to understand social media properly and therefore waste their time, money and efforts on a media that generates few results.

Many businesses worry that social media is time-consuming and simply not reaping rewards. How do you typically respond to this attitude? 

I agree with them! I tell business owners not to do social media at all if they can't do it properly. Or find out the different techniques they can use to get rewards while not spending a lot of time.

If an independent jeweller wanted to take on a third-party social agency such as yourselves, what kinds of things can they expect or should they ask before signing on the dotted line?

There are a lot of ‘social media experts’ who promise the world but deliver nothing. Unfortunately, a lot of social media (when done properly) is fairly complicated. I think business owners should educate themselves as to what is ‘good social media’ before engaging a third party. Plus, there need to be results from every campaign - and never measure success through 'vanity metrics' such as likes and follows. If your business objectives are being achieved, that's success. And whatever you do, do your due diligence by asking their other clients what success they've had (if any!)

What are some of the questions you get asked most often by business owners?

The most common question I get is: “I've been ripped off/wasted my time on poor social media management or training before. How can I be sure you're not another one of those people?" On the one hand, it makes me sad there are so many social media charlatans out there, on the other hand, I'm glad they finally want to invest in doing it properly.

Many businesses want to make money through Instagram shopping, for example but are struggling to get traction. What are the building blocks for making this work?

Instagram is an incredibly difficult platform to get right unless you know what you are doing. There's got to be a robust strategy in place and an understanding of the algorithms at play. The biggest building block? Understand your audience, what they want and how to win them over.

What will you be focusing on at the NAJ Summit this year?

If you try and drive up a steep hill, don't start in second gear. If you do, the car will struggle, and you won't get the desired result. Unfortunately, most businesses go straight into second gear when it comes to social media - and as a result, they waste time and effort. I'm going to go back to basics - aiming to shake up the way the delegates think about social media so they CAN achieve their objectives.

 

About Mark Saxby

Mark Saxby is a former award-winning BBC and ITV journalist who set up one of the UK’s first specialist social media consultancies, Status Social, more than a decade ago. He’s trained more than 6,000 delegates in eight countries on how to use social media to achieve their objectives - plus he’s helped organisations generate more than £17.8 million in sales through social media. Status Social has worked with organisations including Vision Express, Denby Pottery, Marriott Hotels, national retailers, and many SMEs including jewellers. Mark is a big believer that success on social media is all about winning others over by using the tactics on offer to us on social media.

 

Visit the JET Business Network 

Reach out to an existing JBN member to get first-hand advice about joining by emailing: michael@thevalueinnovator.co.uk.

Source: National Association of Jewellers