Instead, Marketing should take up the challenge to perform true social networking by using social platforms to build direct connections with customers and prospects. To achieve this, marketers must answer key questions about our goals for social business, including:

• What messages does your firm want to deliver via social media?
• Will your use of social networking go beyond standard business communication?
• How will you drive real engagement—conversation—rather than simply publishing more content?

Marketing User Group Asks: “Social Content? Or Social Conversation?”

At Socialware’s latest Marketing User Group meeting, several members talked about the different types of content they have tried using to foster conversations on social networks. One member said that her firm had tried (with limited success) to start conversations around regulatory issues and accounting issues. Another member recommended putting oneself in the consumer’s shoes: “What do I want to hear from a company? Do I want them to sell me something?” In many cases, consumers probably do not want “brochure” content that aims to sell the firm’s products.

One attendee made the good point that content will differ based on the advisor and the type of clients served. Advisors ought to know what their clients want to hear, and prospects choose advisors based on styles of communication they like. This helps explain, for example, why some advisors constantly ask for more research to share, while others don’t want any. The goal of this particular attendee’s firm is to provide as much content as possible so that advisors can pick and choose what they need.

Should Marketers Start Conversations around Non-Financial Content?

As a marketer, do you believe it’s your responsibility to create content that is not financially related? For example, would you send out a message commemorating MLK Day?

In general, our User Group members agree that there should be a mix of messages, including topics outside of finance. One attendee said that his firm actively pursues other topics, for instance with content about families, living healthier, or keeping kids safe on Halloween. They find that this mix of non-financial messages is good for both retention and lead generation.

One attendee said that his company is focused not on pushing out just financial information, but on brainstorming articles and publishing content—financial or otherwise—each day that leads to conversation with prospects and clients.

Running the “Marathon” of Social Conversation

“You are embarking on a marathon.” That was the reminder offered by my colleague Carolyn Pawelek, who facilitated the User Group meeting. From everything we’ve seen, many advisors don’t know what to say via social media—and so they don’t say anything. Carolyn’s marathon analogy is meant to drive home the point that Marketing departments should provide tools for advisors to continually broaden their networks over the long haul.

Excitement and activity around social media creates intangible benefits like a greater sense of trust and connection between clients and advisors. These in turn lead to tangible benefits, from greater share-of-wallet for an individual advisor to higher revenue for the firm. But these benefits emerge most strongly when marketers and advisors invest the time and energy to build meaningful social connections.

Image source.

Last week I sat down with Socialware CEO Chad Bockius for our 2012 Predictions webinar, in which we discussed the social media trends he sees emerging in financial services. Now you can listen to the archive of the webinar to hear why Chad thinks that this is the year when social business gets personal, along with his specific predictions for consumers, financial advisors, regulators, and enterprises.

Social Business Questions Advisors and Enterprises Must Answer

Early on, Chad made the observation that “Social is how we live now—not just how we play,” and pointed out that consumers are increasingly turning to their social networks for trusted recommendations on handling their finances. We then talked about a number of issues that financial professionals must address if they want to get the most out of this sweeping change, including:

• What do enterprises need to do to build momentum in social business?
• “Social is the unfair advantage of 2012”—but how engaged does an advisor need to be to expect returns from social?
• What actions can we expect from the SEC and other regulators this year, and what can companies do to be ready?

As you’ll hear in the webinar archive, we left half an hour for Q&A—but still weren’t able to get to all the topics raised by audience members. Here were some of the questions we discussed:

• “Companies are losing support and engagement from the broader firm because only a select few have access to social media. . . . What would you recommend?”
• “Do you have any advice for social networking as it pertains to independent broker/dealers? Is there an added benefit in social media for a B2B-based firm?”
• “When you talk about 100% adoption, are you referring only to the sales force, or to all employees including marketing, product, and support personnel?”
• “We have brokers who are on LinkedIn and they always ask, ‘I’m on LinkedIn, I have connections, now what?’ How would you answer them?”

To hear the discussion around these questions and many others, click here for the webinar archive page. And feel free to leave more of your own questions in the comments on this post.

Image source.

Substantial social media change and growth

The entire social media landscape has evolved quickly on the regulatory front (the release of FINRA 11-39 was already months ago!), technology front (numerous updates to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and more), and also, very importantly, best practices as financial advisors discover and improve upon using social media to develop new and strengthen existing business relationships.

A few weeks ago, Chad Bockius, Socialware CEO, and I hosted a 2011 Year in Review webinar. There were so many potential discussion topics, yet we focused on a few specific points:

• Growth of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
• Evolution of the regulatory landscape (For even more recent developments, read about SEC and FINRA updates this week.)
• What it takes to deliver social business success within a firm
• It’s about the client, not the firm: how client relationships are changing and why social media matters.

Future social business potential

Since we are already in the second week of January, now it’s time to move onto the potential of 2012.

This week, Chad tackles 2012 Predictions for Social Media in a live interview regarding what to expect going forward. Social networking is getting personal for firms. Here are few topics that you can look forward to exploring:

• Overarching trends for business social networking
• Realizing corporate leadership commitment for social media
• How to grow social media use effectively throughout your organization
• What are some of the emerging social media technologies for 2012?

Tune into the webinar and the Q+A to learn more about what to expect for social business developments in 2012.

Podcast about Social Business for Financial Services

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to speak with Donna Sullivan of LIMRA about the social media developments in the industry.  We recorded an 11 minute podcast, LIMRA Industry Pulse Podcast: Social Media Use in the Financial Services Industry, that highlights our conversation surrounding how networking has evolved for agents and advisors, how social media leaders reflect on social media for financial services, and also what advisors are saying about the opportunities and challenges of social media.  There are also related videos with more detail to these conversations.

Business Social Networking: Stages and Success Metrics

More recently, I was fortunate to speak to marketing leaders from more than a dozen firms at a meeting we hosted in Boston.  There were representatives of wealth management, asset management, insurance, and more.  The meeting discussion took many twists and turns about social media, but one observation really stayed with me after the meeting.

One attendee who is responsible for the social media roll out to thousands of financial advisors shared a very nuanced and skilled philosophy about preparing the firm to be “social media ready.”  This included cross department conversations and alignment, education to create social media content or retrofit existing content, train corporate and field teams on social, and to develop measures of success that made sense depending on the stages of the process.  For example, the firm would not plan to measure social media success in terms of lead generation until this process was in place, advisors were trained, and these advisors had the time to build their social network connections.  This methodical and thoughtful approach was setting the firm up for alignment and social media success.

Upcoming: Social Media 2011 Review, FINRA 11-39 and more

We are all looking forward to the 2012 conversations to begin, but before leaving 2011, Chad Bockius, Socialware CEO and I are hosting a 2011 Year in Review webinar on Friday, December 16.  We welcome you to join us and compare if our highlights from the year match yours and perhaps provide additional insights.

As social networks continue to evolve four years later, there is still a lot of truth in the POST concept since it speaks to the need to bring business objectives and the customer central to decisions about social media.

One anecdote that I heard recently from the Austin Facebook team is the insightful comment by the CMO of Diageo, Andy Fennell, who spoke recently about marketing no longer being like bowling where you are pushing out a message in hope of it hitting the audience.  Marketing is now more like a pinball game with dynamic interaction.  This involves listening, responding, engaging rather than just sending a message one way at people.

There continues to be new technology capabilities on social networks sites, but the question is still… what business objectives are you trying to achieve?  I overheard a set of questions during a social media conference along the lines of… should we do such and such on Facebook or on Twitter?  While each social network has unique aspects, often, the answer comes from what are you are trying to achieve and how will you measure if it is working vs. jumping directly to the features and capabilities of each individual social network.

One key strategy question is whether you are looking to use social media to speak as a company brand with an arm distance relationship with your fans, followers, or friends?  Another option for many companies with large distribution channels is to approach social media as a way to have a much closer, engaging relationship from person (advisor) to person (client or prospect) vs. a company speaking to people.  It may even be a combination of both strategies that works best for your firm.

So how do you not only get started, but start effectively, efficiently and importantly, quickly? If the social networks keep releasing new technology options, than there’s no time to spare.  That means looking for resources that already exist from trusted sources, so you don’t have to recreate the wheel.  Examples include:

• Policy templates
• Quick start guides
• Best practice examples aggregated from firms that have already initiated programs
• Programs to get employees up and running on social media

The discussion around social media has so many metaphors, but social media really isn’t like a light switch except possibly a dimmer switch.   It is your firm’s decision how quickly and fully to turn on the light and embrace social media while keep in mind those key considerations:

• People (your current and future clients)
• Objectives (what are you trying to accomplish and how does social media fit in)
• Strategy (quick start programs, best practice resources, and employee training)
• Technology (ensure compliance, enable measurable results, stay on top of social technology changes)

Social Media is a Key Financial Marketing Tool for the Future — Just Comply!

Tom Groenfeldt, Forbes

Financial firms are striding into social media with their peripheral vision scanning for warnings from regulators of compliance problems.

Mastering Social Media

Ellen Uzelac, Research Magazine

Social networking cannot be ignored, and there’s a right way to do it.

How to Deal with the Brave New World of Social Network Policies

Tom Steinert-Threlkeld, Securities Technology Monitor and Financial Planning

Social networking? Everyone’s doing it. Particularly your next generation of fund customers. You will want to reach them, as they walk and talk through the Internet.

New York Life: Allowing Negative Comments on Social Networks Will Positively Build Your Brand!

Bradon Gutman, Forbes

In this Brand Innovator Spotlight, Ken Hittel, VP Corporate Internet at New York Life explains how the insurance company is growing a positive brand presence online by allowing consumers to speak freely.

Get With The Social Media Program

Mike Byrnes, Financial Advisor

Firms that prohibit use of social media are fighting a losing battle, and should instead focus on how to use it compliantly, said attendees at a social media conference in Boston.

When you hear API, proxy, or hybrid used, it will typically be centered on the topic of social media archiving. And when it comes to compliance, there are some fundamental facts we know to be true:

• Social is a form of electronic communication and thus requires regulatory compliance.
• Archiving business communication on these platforms is a requirement.
• Archiving some of the communication on social networks is not enough.
• Having an effective system in place to detect misconduct is a requirement (MetLife was fined for this last year – they had a policy for email archiving, but the system of management wasn’t effective?)

Just because this is a new medium, it doesn’t mean that regulators will settle for half-measures or incomplete policies/solutions. Firms have a real challenge to not only address the core compliance risks but also figure out how to make social work for the business. And while you are evolving your strategy, be sure to keep an eye on the regulators. FINRA, for example, is issuing additional guidance in September as an extension to Notice 10-06. And in the midst of all of this, social networks are changing daily requiring a constant focus on how those changes impact policies and procedures.

While the conversation typically starts with compliance, it can’t end there. The other side of the coin is business success. You wouldn’t give the keys to a brand new car to someone who doesn’t know how to drive. Social media in financial services is no different. The guardrails of compliance are critical, but those that are getting access must also have the tools and education to deliver results for the business. If they don’t, why take the chance of giving them the keys to the car?

You might be saying, “Yes, I agree, but we are just going to start with compliance.” I can’t fault that approach. The time this becomes dangerous is when the organization focuses on the short-term deployment vs. the long term strategic needs of the business. It is a little like getting in a car to drive cross-country but deciding to leave your GPS at home. Social adoption is a journey, not an event. The road you set off on initially will determine if that journey ends in success or failure.

This puts a premium on having all of the information and education you can before making a decision. Here are some resources to help get you started:

• Social Media Adoption Life Cycle Webinar
• Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Social Media Strategy (video)
• Social Business Activity Cycle

In addition, here are a few questions you should ask of your team or your technology partners before starting your social media journey:

• Can we capture all of the content being created on social sites for business purposes?
• Can we limit access to features on the social networking sites without removing end users from the social networks themselves?
• Do we need to rely on end users to register their own accounts?
• How do we manage personal vs. professional content on these sites?
• Do you have a strategy for how you will ensure end user success (not just access)?
• Do you have a proven mechanism to associate social activity with business results?

These are just a few of the key questions you will want to dive into. After 3 years and 100+ customers, we can share many other questions that your firm will want to consider.

The agenda sparked a lot of questions and involvement from the audience including topics such as the empowered consumer and the regulatory environment especially for financial services firms. When Chad Bockius, CEO of Socialware, was asked whether there was truly a high cost of not participating in social media, Chad explained that the train had already left the station.  Firms need to take advantage of the opportunities to build valued customer relationships using social media.  Since this is constantly evolving landscape, there is no perfect time or plan.  If firms wait six months to put the “perfect” plan in place, that plan will no longer address all of the changes that will take place from now until that time.

Addressing practical implications of setting a social policy, Steve Selby of LIMRA explained that the difference between a good and bad social policy is finding the right balance vs. operating at either end of the spectrum of complete prohibition or wide open access.  Steve went on to address audience questions about FINRA regulatory notice 10-06, specifically static vs. interactive content, and guidance from other regulators like the SEC.  Steve explained that we shouldn’t look for  a “sea stage” from an expected FINRA clarification on social media later in 2011.

Edgar Rodriguez of Distribion, Bockius, and Selby all discussed the connection between the relationship dynamics of social networking and the need for technology to assist in the large volume of interactions, and Edgar expanded on the ability to measure the effectiveness of these interactions and provided helpful suggestions for getting the most of the social interactions.  To learn more about the webinar, you can follow the conversation on twitter #socialmediawebinar and view the webinar.

Here are 4 ways to think about how you can utilize social media.

Your Personal Database:
Remember Bill Clinton’s index cards that we mentioned in a previous post. Bill Clinton created index cards for people that he met, along with a key fact about them. He would review and memorize these cards so that when he met people, he could not only call them by name, but also bring up a personal fact about each person.

That was before the age of LinkedIn.com or Facebook.com. You can now gather the personal information that Bill Clinton stored on Index cards and more just by visiting someone’s profile. Instead of building your own database, utilize pre-existing information on Facebook to gather personal information, and LinkedIn.com for professional information.

Easily Talk To Customers AND Their Friends:
The name of the game has changed. A birthday wish via a hand-written card has evolved into a Facebook post. While hand-written cards can still be very valuable, wishing a person “Happy Birthday” on Facebook.com reaches not only the recipient, but all of his network.

The other day, a financial adviser mentioned that his moment of clarity came on his Birthday when he received 50+ birthday wishes, with over half coming from his clients. Not only did all of his clients see those birthday wishes, but “friends” of clients who wished him a happy birthday viewed these warm wishes as well. What a great opportunity for warm leads!

Reach Prospects:

In the example above, you can see how easy it is to reach your customers AND their network. Referrals are the lifeblood of any business. On LinkedIn.com, you can look for connections of connections. By asking your connections to introduce you to their connections, you can simply expand your network to find new customers and partners.

Also, you can use Twitter to build your prospect list as well. Twitter users are very accepting of followers even if they do not know you. It is easy to “talk” to new people online. Through a quick search, you can find people that are researching finances or partner connections that can help refer business to you.

Time Savings Online:
Social media isn’t about changing your business strategy. The principles of building relationships and engaging with prospects are the same. However, the opportunities that social media can offer you can exponentially increase your reach, and save you time => Social Business.

Being effective is about using your time wisely to make the biggest impact. Social media gives you those tools.

Advisers recognize the importance of social media, but recognizing the value, and “finding time” to complete those tasks is a constant struggle when dealing with a packed schedule.

Recognizing and acting on those connections is a priority for your business.  Bill Clinton is a key example of someone who has utilized this strategy throughout his life. This knack for connecting with others didn’t just materialize over night. Bill Clinton created index cards for people that he met, along with a key fact about them. He would review and memorize these cards so that when he met people, he could not only call them by name, but also show him that he had been listening to them, by bringing up the personal fact about each person.

In your business, it is just as important to reach out to your customers frequently to let them know you are working on their behalf. A successful adviser connects with their constituents 28 times a year. With anywhere between 50 – 250 customers, it is difficult to reach all those people through email, postcards, phone calls, and in-person meetings. When you think about everything you need to do to be successful, adding social media to that current mix probably makes your head spin!

But, social media isn’t just an additional task. It is an opportunity to build deeper relationships, create new relationships and do it more effectively and efficiently. A key component of your day is still building and maintaining those relationships but how you deliver those touch points has evolved.