Social Media in the Finance Industry 15th May

Social media: why now?

Lisa HarrisUniversity of Southampton

15th May 2012

About meLisa Harris runs the MSc programme in Digital Marketing and is co-chair of the University’s Digital Economy Research Group. She is an accredited tutor for the University of Liverpool online MBA programme. Lisa is working on projects investigating how small firm ‘early adopters’ of new technology are using social technologies to ‘punch above their weight’, integrating digital literacy into the curriculum, the interaction of ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ space in learning and event management contexts.• https://digitaleconomy.soton.ac.uk• http://lisaharrismarketing.com• www.twitter.com/lisaharris• www.slideshare.net/lisaharris• www.delicious.com/lisaharris1• http://uk.linkedin.com/in/lisajaneharris

WHY IS THIS HERE?!

Social Media Trends

• Eric Qualmann (3 minute video, statistics of social media growth)

• B2B (blogpost from Socialmedia.biz “How sales and marketing can cooperate in social business”)

• Where will we be in 2016? (from the SmartInsights blog)

http://www.socialnomics.net/2011/12/28/infographic-every-60-seconds-on-the-web/

Social media for business

• Engaging with customer fan base• Resolving customer service issues• Effective, real time internal communications across

the enterprise and hierarchies• Tracking trends and testing the “zeitgeist”• Crowdsourcing of new product development or

market research • Networking to source expertise or business partners• Improves search engine visibility

Applications across the business

Kunert, B. (2011) Social Media Study Switzerland: From Web 2.0 to Online Dialogue. Zurich: Bernet PR

It’s all about doughnuts

• Here’s why

B2B

• Online and offline behaviour affects level of trust• Online interactions are far less costly than offline. B2B

firms can reduce their cost of sales by using social platforms to: – discover and qualify prospects– get meetings– share breaking insights with existing clients– research prospects through their alumni– introduce firm experts or existing clients in online discussions– build relevance and reputation of individual sales

professionals and the firm.

EMC Community

The Scope of Twitter

• Customer service Become known as a reliable and informative source of help @comcastcares @albionsoven

• Special offers @delloutlet • Get Feedback. Ask for advice and you’ll receive ‘collective intelligence’ from

your community @ibmresearch• Direct traffic. Include links in a tweet to direct traffic to your blog or to the

recommended posts of others. • Read News. subscribe to feeds for specific websites/conferences, or from

content providers such as the BBC. • Network for business benefits. Interact with other like-minded people, or

experts in your field. Develop relationships for future mutual benefits such as testimonials or peer recommendations.

• Find Prospects. Twitter can be used as a means to find potential customers or clients online.

• Provide Live coverage. For example to provide real time coverage of conference keynotes, or travel information @tubeupdates

• Set Up Meetings. An informal and casual way of arranging adhoc meetings. • Satire @fakesamcam• Fundraising @bletchleypark

AVG Free: over 1 million ‘fans’

• Provides useful information about online security• Shows the team behind the community• “Superfans” get VIP treatment – invitations to

offline events, profiles showcased• Awards for fans who answer the queries of others• Activists can be called upon to publically support

the company in times of crisis• More details here

Research in the finance industry

• ‘late adopters’ in terms of their own presence but customers are still googling them!

• Research online then buy offline• People trust recommendations from friends

and even strangers online more than supplier messages

• Majority would appreciate financial firms engaging in discussions and answering questions directly on platforms

Social Media business objectives in the Finance industry (Swiss data)

• Customer dialogue (64%) • employer brand (59%) • image and reputation (52%) • public relations (41%) • customer relations (35%) • recognise crisis (35%) • not missing trends (31%) • create trust (28%) • distribution and product information (21%)

YouGovPsychonomics (2011) Social Media in Financial Service Industry

How can SM add specific customer value?

• Establish product reviews and ratings as well as information exchange among customers

• Interactive explanation using pictures and slides or video of how to fill in forms ‐• Make complicated customer cases public and share experiences with all customers• Offer free advisory services via a public forum • Product terms and conditions of (small print) are explained in short videos.• Provide information about new legal requirements and taxes• Suggest products that other/similar customers have bought• Run an information channel providing essential information associated with

categories such as legal advice, tax advice and health advice

Opportunity or threat?

• Allow interaction and engagement between business and customers

• Allow customers to engage with each other• Customers now more likely to take recommendations from a

stranger than one directly from the supplier • Companies can no longer control the content of their

message, but can influence the dialogue to some extent • http://mashable.com/2009/09/22/social-media-business/ “Businesses who choose not to adapt to the new culture will be at an increasing

disadvantage…we are now in the age of open communication, engaged dialogue, and transparency, and business success has less to do with the size of ad budgets than the quality of interactions with customers.”

Summary

• Businesses cannot avoid social media...conversations about the brand will be taking place online regardless

• Social media is moving beyond an experimental marketing strategy to impact upon all areas of the business

• Significant structural and cultural change may be required to realise the benefits