As the world looks back on what was certainly a very successful ‘home’ games what are the key lessons that people are taking away from London2012 – what does achievement look like?  Should we all aim for the same stratospheric successes as ‘Team GB’ (remember, #SuperSaturday?) What is it that we can all learn from our fellow countrymen?

One particular interview stuck with me over the course of the games. While the French were looking at Team GB’s ‘magic wheels’ Dave Brailsford was talking about a focus on small margins.

“If you break down everything that you need and improve every little aspect by one per cent then that can make a difference…”

This philosophy was exemplified by Sir Chris Hoy and Laura Trott, but can service based industries take something away from Dave Brailsford’s doctrine and attention to detail?

Dave Brailsford (or Sir Dave Brailsford as many have suggested) had every detail covered, including re-teaching the team how to wash their hands (!), and the same needs to be considered in social campaigns as the job only starts with ‘the idea’.

Planning and documentation in the build-up before going live is important but all can be rendered insignificant if the detail is not in the delivery. By their very nature service based industries have a lot of working cogs and, while no one likes to admit it, this means that there is plenty of room for human error.

Social media is no exception; community team members (both client and agency side) run campaigns that need on-going community management and require attention to detail.

A considered social media campaign has many different levels of output, aside from the variable of a real-time interface with an audience. While creatives and strategists strive for excellence and difference in equal handfuls, it is the community team who have to be constantly be on hand to close the loop on all executions and conversations while at the same time aligning themselves with the overarching plan.

While Brailsford talks about small margins he also acknowledges the need for “talented athletes, commitment and… brilliant coaching”. While 2 out of the 3 may have talent, talent won’t always lead to greatness, and the same goes for any service. You need the right people to deliver the right job at the right time with acute attention to detail which only comes by working in a team which provides individuals with the relevant support structure and training.

Community management is a specific job role that is not akin to anything that has previously been seen before – for example, in marketing.  Community management requires a combination of skills associated with account and project management, copy writing, and audience insight (research and insight).

It is the detail of the delivery that distinguishes a great idea from a successful campaign. And it will be the community management team who are responsible for a campaigns success which comes from their ability to make incremental improvements to the campaign; the effect of closing the loop can be the difference between an improvement of 500-1000%.

The nature of social media is constantly transforming so it is crucial to be diligent as well as quick off the mark. Unfortunately it no longer sufficient to take the approach ‘the strategy is set’ – adaptation is key. Adaptation is only possible with a team who have an intrinsic understanding of the landscape and the time to tweak and finesse the project – it is these details that matter and guarantee the effectiveness of social media.

Simon John is a director at Roost.