Philip Deacon, group communications manager, Ridgeway Group

Ridgeway Group has used social media across its business for more than three years and has discovered a way to use it positively.

Initially social media was used as just a sales channel, but it quickly became apparent this wasn’t the way to go.

Deacon said: “We wanted to educate ourselves about it and understand how we could use it.

"We used the first three months to sit back and analyse what was working and what wasn’t.

“We then developed a strategy which was focused on creating content that makes people come to us.

“Using it as a sales channel provided no interaction with customers.”

As part of the “no sales pressure” attitude, all mentions of monthly payment finance deals and any sales pitches or adverts were removed.

Deacon had to present to the board to justify the time and effort before incorporating social media into the group’s digital strategy.

It took a year for ROI.

He said: “We’re in it for the long game.

"We don’t spam sales messages, we keep it topical, human and we don’t alienate people.

"We always respond – positive or negative.”