How financial services can hit their social media sweetspots

HOW TO HIT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SWEETSPOT

Michael TaggartHead of digital and

socialMRM

Suddenly, everyone is talking about Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and the rest.

Suddenly, everyone is talking about Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and the rest.The UK’s biggest and best brands are selling their wares, promoting themselves and conducting customer services on the social web.

Suddenly, everyone is talking about Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and the rest.The UK’s biggest and best brands are selling their wares, promoting themselves and conducting customer services on the social web. But what about financial services?A bank, insurer, adviser or fund manager tweeting? Wouldn’t that be a bit like...

Suddenly, everyone is talking about Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and the rest.The UK’s biggest and best brands are selling their wares, promoting themselves and conducting customer services on the social web. But what about financial services?A bank, insurer, adviser or fund manager tweeting? Wouldn’t that be a bit like......

...watching your dad dance?

Then there are these issues

1. Compliance

Then there are these issues1. Compliance

2. Financial services are boring

To work out how to hit your sweetspot, you need to understand:

To work out how to hit your sweetspot, you need to understand:

1. Where social media came from, what it has changed and why that matters;

2. How to join the conversations that could affect your business or maybe already are;

3. How to influence those taking part;4. And how to check if your efforts are

working for you...

To work out how to hit your sweetspot, you need to understand:

1. Where social media came from, what it has changed and why that matters;

2. How to join the conversations that could affect your business or maybe already are;

3. How to influence those taking part;4. And how to check if your efforts are

working for you...without looking like a dancing dad.

But let’s start at the

beginning

But let’s start at the

beginning

Before the world changed

In the 1980s, most businesses communicated only like this

It reached you like this

And like this...

And like this...

But it wasn’t exactly a conversation

Then, along came the internet...and communications looked more like this

People soon realised that if they could talk to the company, then they could complain, review and ask

inconvenient questions.

So marketers removed ‘unhelpful comments’. Which led to people questioning the point of engaging with a

company that censored real conversation, when you could interact with peers instead?

So this happened...and it changed everything

The social web is about multi-faceted communication where you follow people, and people follow you. And every user is at the centre of a network of people and ideas that that are relevant to him or her.

The reason people went online in the past was so that they could see

things, experience things, and search for things. The reason

people go online today is to be a part of other people's

communication. To be connected, to be there, to be available, to join

the conversation.

That’s why these are so popular

26m active users (42% of pop.)

5m active users

17m active users

4m active users

UK social media usage by numbers

?

IT’S RUBBISH

ONCE YOU GET THE

PACKAGING OFF!

!!!!

OUR PRODUCT IS BRILLIANT, LOOK

AT THE PACKAGING!

It means you can’t dress up poor products in shiny packaging anymore

So how do yousell your financial services on thesocial

web?

PermissionPermission

PERMISSION

Permission

Permission

PermissionPermission

Permission

Permission

PermissionPermission

PermissionPermission

PermissionPermission

PermissionPermission

P e r m i s s i o n

Permission

Permission

Permission

Permission

Permission

Permission

That means you don’t always talk about yourself…

That means you don’t always talk about yourself…...you help others and share

content that will be useful to them

And when you are talking about your products, you don’t market them…

And when you are talking about your products, you don’t market them…

...you share them

Start by listening...to find out• What people are saying about you, your competitors and your industry

• Who the influencers are in those conversations

• Where they ‘hang out’ on the social web

Why? So you can...• Join the communities that matter to you• Identify critics and turn them into advocates• Identify advocates and turn them into evangelists• Generate sales leads• Gather feedback• Spot threats before they become crises• Defend your reputation by responding to negative feedback

MRM conversation audits

• Measure metrics

• Make sense of data in relation to business objectives

•Make recommendations

Content Marketing

When you can’t get in the media, create the media

Good content marketing is:• Unique• Useful• Polished• A good match with the media channel

We’ll help you...

• Prepare your content ‘to go’

We’ll help you...

• Prepare your content ‘to go’• Think in ‘bite sizes’

We’ll help you...

• Prepare your content ‘to go’• Think in ‘bite sizes’ • Embrace Twitter

We’ll help you...

• Prepare your content ‘to go’• Think in ‘bite sizes’ • Embrace Twitter• Make a blog your ‘content engine’

We’ll help you...

• Prepare your content ‘to go’• Think in ‘bite sizes’ • Embrace Twitter• Make a blog your ‘content engine’• Become a curator

Community Building

We’re digital natives who know the rules of

engagement...we’ll help you

• Feed the beast

• Promote your community and their stuff

• Engage in realtime

Crisis Management

We’ll help you...

• Listen• Assess• Act decisively• Fish where the fish are• Be polite• Take control• Redirect the crisis• Follow up

Word of Mouth

We’ll help you...

• Influence the influencers

• Energise brand advocates

• Create ‘social proof’

We’ll help you...

• Influence the influencers

• Energise brand advocates

• Create ‘social proof’

To have your cake and eat it...

HAVE YOURCAKE AND

EAT IT!

Michael Taggart, MRM

Email: michael.taggart@mrm-london.comTwitter: @michael_taggartBlog: www.mrm-london.com Tel: 020 3326 9913Mob: 07780 008939

CONTACT

Attribution

All images used under Creative Commons licence:

SLIDES 1, 9,10, 11: Sweet Sunday Afternoon by MankamundoSLIDE 6: Dancing Dad by MrMancSLIDE 7: No Entry Painted1 by SatguruSLIDE 8: Yawn! by QuinnAnyaSLIDES 12, 13: Blue Marble (Planet Earth) by Nasa Goddard Flight CentreSLIDE 15: Reading the newspaper by pedrosimoes7SLIDE 16: Television Desert Dream by canthcSLIDE 17: Radio by…SLIDE 18: One Way Ewell2 by SatGuruSLIDES 32, 33: Ear by Menage a MoiSLIDE 35: Arsat Fisheye Test by The NigeSLIDE 42: Overflowing Ants by Jaxxon SLIDE 43: Attendees of the 1898 Indian Congress [Afraid of Eagle, Sioux] by Boston Public LibrarySLIDE 44: Licorne2 by Pierre JSLIDE 46: I don't think you have washed this bit by EledaSLIDE: 49: Day 163 – Happy Birthday by Christophe Verdier