Her win commemorates her decade-long career as a trainer and mentor to young industry professionals. In particular, her experience in growing the brand of local music festival, Rocking the Daisies (RTD) tipped the scales in her favour.

According to Little, “A key project was the Superbalist is Rocking the Daisies 2016. It encompassed a variety of elements including content, paid media, community/object-relational mapping strategies, as well as consumer engagement and social customer service. Our work culminated in RTD’s biggest social media campaign in its eleven-year history. We sold out for the fifth year in a row, once again increasing attendance numbers.”

Social media is a customer communication tool, and Little believes that brands cannot hide from detractors, fans or communities talking about their brands online. Instead, businesses need to implement sound social relationship strategies that not only listen to consumer insights but place the customer at the heart of their business, ensuring that the brand promise matches service delivery. Customers are no longer faceless individuals, but powerful influencers.

Little says that building brand trust requires an authentic relationship with its customers. The benefit of this is an increase in referrals and repeat purchases. The success of RTD flowed from the team listening to every social media mention, and monitoring trends. The quick resolution of issues and the adaptable business strategy ensured that the customer’s feedback and ideas were placed at the heart of the brand, creating a truly social business.

“We turned detractors into advocates because we demonstrated an authentic business that truly cares about its fans. We increased our online reach and exposure threefold when compared to 2015,” Little says.

For more information, visit platinumseed.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.