One question I'm always asked is how to explain what social media strategy and participation looks like so senior executives can (at least) contextualise what this all means.

A simple approach that I've found has worked in the past is to take an actual business or (even better) an incident or event in the Australian business market and then retrospectively examine how social media might have helped manage a situation or led to a different outcome. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

One such situation has been playing out over the past few months and relates to a Australian Federal Government scheme to insulate homes. The scheme ran into issues as unscrupulous contractors flooded into the market installing foil insulation without proper training or safety measures. The issue has blown up because people are dying, houses are burning down, and thousands of homes are now unsafe.

Enter Master Electricians

A leading industry body, Master Electricians was the first to raise the alarm and has been in the mainstream media trying to draw attention to the very serious problems of laying foil insulation over wiring and using metal tacks to hold it in place (amongst other issues).