The social media manager for the Financial Times (FT) has said that responding quickly is vital for exploiting social to its full potential.

Likening it to carrying  a newspaper around under the arm, Rebecca Watts added that it was the best way to quickly broadcast news.

Explaining that the fast-paced atmosphere and energy involved with scooping competitors to get story coverage is what it is all about, Watts said:

“Sometimes that means quickly setting up a paid ad campaign to promote a scoop before anybody else breaks the news.”

She went on to say that with minimal notice given about a story and the pressure to make the cut ahead of everyone, working on social was both a challenge and exciting.

Watts also said that with engagement on social being critical, such marketing campaigns need to be creative and innovative. It should also add a dimension to the business that other marketing methods do not, said the judge of this year’s Social Buzz Awards.

Twitter is the primary tool of choice for the FT, while Facebook is used for video and photo stories.

Subscription-led, Watts said that free pieces of FT content drives the number of subscriptions converted from its Twitter followers, while all videos can be viewed free of charge.

She continued to add that with online content accessed differently too, exploiting mobile, which tends to be driven by social, is important for businesses to connect with a younger audience. Watts explained:

“Young people don’t visit news websites, they see what’s being shared on social media, on their phones.”

Companies with social campaigns that have been run in the past year can enter the Social Buzz Awards. With 31 categories to contest, those organisations with the best campaigns according to the judges have until August 13th to get their entries in for consideration by the panel.

Steven Morris