B&Q's Neema Cox joins Sookio Masterclass panel

events

2 Oct

Neema Cox, Social Media Executive for DIY giants B&Q, will be joining our autumn Sookio Masterclass to provide hands-on tips for your social campaign.

So. How do you fit it all in?' focuses on the practicalities of running a social media campaign to promote your brand, while at the same time dealing with the responsibilities of actually making your business work.

With such a big brand behind her, Neema is no stranger to maintaining a well-structured and scheduled presence on social. B&Q are the largest DIY retail chain in both the UK and China, with a Twitter presence boasting over 41,000 followers.

Neema's approach to social media

Neema says: "Social Media for brands isn't about sales and advertising. You need to remember why people use social media and the head space they’re in. They choose to invite you to share their news feed with friends and family and there is an expectation of brand behaviour there. Brands need to respect this and tailor content accordingly.

Social media for me is really about engaging and exciting your fans and delivering great customer service. It’s also a really key channel that can be used to monitor and manage your brand’s reputation. There’s a great quote from Gary Vaynerchuk:

“When I hear people debate the ROI of social media? It makes me remember why so many businesses fail. Most businesses are not playing the marathon. They're playing the sprint. They're not worried about lifetime value and retention. They're worried about short-term goals.”

About Neema Cox

Neema moved across from her home town of sunny Melbourne, Australia about 4 years ago ("to follow a boy"), where she worked for the Herald Sun newspaper. She worked in Advertising and moved into Editorial, where she was lucky enough to write for their travel section.

Her favourite assignment was covering a new deluxe experience package offered by Sovereign Hill (an open air museum and historical park which highlights the gold rush days of yore). She spent an exciting weekend living, dressing and speaking as you would in the Victorian era. It wasn't so exciting when they served up Pig Cheek and Ears!

Neema and her husband have adopted two animals; a one year old baby Elephant called Sokotei from the Samburu National Park in Kenya and Kierra, a matriarch of her herd.

In her spare time you’ll find her shamelessly taking photos of everything. She's in the midst of doing a 365 Grateful project on her blog, where she's tasked with finding one thing every day that she's grateful for over the year

She also volunteers with The Art2Healing Project, an organisation that helps women and children who have been trafficked.

After moving to the UK she fell into social media with B&Q and has been enjoying it ever since. She started as a temp and worked her way up to managing B&Q’s social channels, as well as working within the PR team. She's helped shape and build the DIY giant's platforms since they entered this space in 2010.

B&Q have recently won 2 awards for best customer service – the most recent being from Econsultancy where they were ranked number 1 out of the top 20 retailers.

Right now, her favourite social platform is Instagram.