On Wednesday, October 5^th, my colleagues Siobhan Ford, Katherine Kilpatrick and I were fortunate to attend an event hosted by IBM Global Business Services entitled “Social Business is Driving the Bottom Line.” We were joined by a virtual audience via IBM’s Livestream channel and the Twitter hashtag #IBMbanking. The event included several presentations and a panel discussion revolving around the opportunities and challenges that social media represents for financial services companies. Here are some of the highlights that we took away from the morning’s informative discussions:

1. Rehearse your disasters

Leslie Klein from Citi’s Global Transaction Services offered up a number of useful insights from her firm’s experiences with social media, but one piece of advice that struck me was her suggestion to always plan an exit strategy. In financial services firms, social media activities are largely still experiments – in fact, she cited a study by Oxford Economics which found that only 17% of financial services executives are currently planning to make a significant investment in social media. As companies continue to take a test-and-learn approach, some will not be successful – and nothing screams “#FAIL” like an abandoned blog displaying a months-old post as its most recent update. Be optimistic and plan for growth, but also prepare for a graceful exit (just in case).

2. Video, video, video!

One of the most persistent themes of the morning’s discussion was that audiences crave video content – yes, even in B2B. In fact, Klein remarked that a video posted on YouTube by one of Citi’s Global Transaction Services local professionals following political turmoil in Egypt earlier this year surpassed their consumer-focused content in terms of viewership. IBM’s Boxley Llewellyn also emphasized the opportunity that video creates for financial institutions to “put a face on banking” (see more of his insights in this article for Bank Systems & Technology).

3. Leverage the wisdom of the crowd

Did you know that Sametime, IBM’s ubiquitous workplace instant messaging platform, was the product of an internal social networking exercise designed to encourage innovation? Many businesses approach social media as another channel via which to disseminate their message to their target audience – but that’s only half the story. An engaged community is an invaluable resource for ideas on how to develop better products, improve service offerings, or identify unmet needs. If you’re a bank looking to grow your Gen Y customer base, listen to their money-related pain points (credit card debt? Student loans?  Desire for mobile banking options?) before you tell them about your products. Whether you overtly solicit feedback from a community, or just monitor the chatter for nuggets of wisdom, you’re likely to learn something about your audience that could strengthen your business offerings – and your bottom line.

What would you have added to the conversation? Or, for any that tuned into the webcast and Twitter dialogue, what did we miss?

To connect with Kelly:

Phone: 212.840.1661
Email: kellyd@blisspr.com
Twitter: @kellydavis226
LinkedIn: Kelly Davis

“Fear not” said the angel, and she was right.  It’s time for financial marketers to get beyond their fear of social media and use it as a brand building tool.

What, get aggressive?  How would that be possible?  There is so much to be concerned about!  A lot of this concern centers around how to manage the sales force, which is likely going “rogue” with unauthorized social media participation.  According to a recent survey by LederMark, “85% of financial services professionals under 50 are utilizing social media.”  Yet the June Socialware study that shows 32% of reps said their firm didn’t have a firm social media policy, and another 11% were unsure.  Seems like lots of folks are ignoring the FINRA guidance.  The fire of fear is then fueled by headlines like the one from just last week – “FINRA Starts Social Media Audits.”

That’s a heart stopper right there. As business development expert Kip Gregory noted in a Research Magazine article: “Who could blame any firm operating in a regulated industry for taking a cautious approach…? Especially in financial services, which is at its core an industry built around the management of risk.”

But let’s not forget that the past 24 months has led to a crippling amount of mistrust of financial brands by the American consumer.  In a post-Madoff, post-financial crisis world, financial marketers need to build back consumer trust as much as they need to breathe.  The compliance fear is cutting off brand creativity like a tourniquet.

Social media creates dialogue, and peer to peer interactions.  In financial services in particular, there’s an opportunity to inspire a more emotional, more intimate and honest relationship through social channels than with ‘push communications.’  Banks and brokerages have not moved ahead as forcefully as other brand marketers with innovative, big idea campaigns that get their customers thinking about how much they LIKE their brand, how much they IDENTIFY with the product or service provider.   The brand should aspire to to connect with the SOUL of the consumer and demonstrate how much they CARE about his or her business.  The brand can make people feel GOOD and have some FUN. Let’s just say there’s not a lot of that going on in financial services.

So yes, deal with social media policies and requirements for your sales force.  Develop a social media relations strategy for sales. Make sure you archive everything you can, and automate that process if at all possible.  Make sure they are trained on how not to trip the tripwires of suitability and endorsement.

But in the meantime, use social media as a tool to speak on behalf of your brand and engage your customers in dialogue that’s above product.  To quote Marc Pritchard, Chief Marketing Officer for P&G about the role of PR and social media – “it is a great amplifier, builds relationships and invites consumer participation.”

Fear not.  Focus on the brand.  Develop ideas to reach out and touch your consumers.   It’s time for bold moves.

To reach Abby:

Phone: 212.840.0088
Email: abby@blisspr.com
Twitter: @abbycarr
LinkedIn: Abby Carr

For investors under the age of 40, much of their adult life has been occupied by accelerated boom and bust cycles in the world of finance, peppered liberally with doses of scandal and market turmoil.  A lack of growth in the Dow Industrials and S&P 500 over the past 10 years (don’t ask about the NASDAQ) has led to the this period being referred to as a “lost decade.”

So what are the lessons to be learned by a young investor?  If recent media reports are any indication, it seems to have been: Live for the now – and avoid any kind of risk with savings and investing.  A day spent observing the financial media suggests that young investors – those that should be most willing to take more risk in their investments – have become extremely risk averse.  Can we really blame them?  Setting aside the historic data on market performance, we are dealing with an investing demographic that has been conditioned to view the financial markets like a casino – one where risk taking is rarely rewarded and the odds appear to greatly favor the house.

But this will have to change eventually, right?  Interest rates are at multi-decade lows at a time when a large contingent of investors are looking for a major uptick in inflation (there’s a method to the madness of those gold bugs).  The future outlook for social security is increasingly uncertain.  As difficult as it might be to admit, the way to grow an investment portfolio and preserve the purchasing power of money is by taking risk.  And, with the luxury of time being on their side, it is younger investors that are among the best-suited to take on more investing risk.  And while I’m not an advisor, I do remember the basics of “be aggressive when you’re young and work your way to a more conservative model as you approach retirement.”  Otherwise, I wonder if the current youngest generation of investors is willing to accept a smaller future nest egg in exchange for greater peace of mind today.  Something tells me that’s not the case.

I can’t help but think that something has to give here.  Will it take yet another bubble?  Or just a return to normal returns from the markets?  Will younger workers begin to save money at a higher rate than the overall population?  Are we providing enough education in the workplace to help this generation think more clearly about their long term goals?  Is there a golden opportunity for advisors to take on this generation and hope for a loyal customer down the road?

Something will have to change or we risk seeing the “lost decade” in the markets leading to a “lost generation” of investors that are less able to provide for their future financial needs – and those of their families.  What do you think, are younger generations putting their financial future at risk by shying away from investment opportunities now?  And if so, any suggestions on how to reach them with this crucial message?

To reach Donna:

Phone:  212.584.5479
Email: donna@blisspr.com
Twitter: @donnamcsorley

We recently conducted some research (on a client’s behalf) to better understand which major banking players are incorporating Facebook into their marketing/PR/CRM strategies, and what we can learn from them. We audited twelve banks, ranging in size from national players (Chase, Bank of America), to community banks (Umpqua, M&T) to a non-traditional bank (Charles Schwab). Of those twelve banks, eight have at least one corporate-sponsored or corporate-owned Facebook page. We did not count community pages in our research.

Here’s what we found:

1. Know why you are on Facebook

It’s not useful – to a brand or to its customers – to “be there” without saying something worth listening to or providing a service. Banks that have created a Facebook page without taking a hard look at the “why” behind it often end up with Facebook pages that languish with little engagement and fewer fans. Facebook may not be the best social media channel for CRM – Twitter has proven itself to be very useful for managing customer questions, so spend time thinking about why a Facebook page is important to those you want to reach. PNC Bank is not helping itself or its target audience by having a Facebook page with no content.



2. Develop a content strategy

What kinds of ideas do we want to share, and what type of information motivates our audience to take the action step that we want them to take?  Chase’s Facebook page is a good example of a content strategy that has motivated 2.5 million people to take part in its charitable works. Chase uses Facebook to promote its Chase Community Giving campaign, where Facebook users can vote on which charities should receive funding from Chase and raise money for organizations they believe in.



3. Provide Education, Tools & Guidance

Banks have also found success on Facebook by creating content strategies that provide consumer education tips/tools. SunTrust created the Live Solid Facebook page to promote its “Live Solid” concept – the belief that when your priorities are straight and your finances are in order, life is freer and more gratifying. The Live Solid Facebook page is a mix of personal finance information/tips/tools and charitable giving.  The page generates a good amount of dialogue. The Live Solid page has more than 15,000 “likes,” while SunTrust’s corporate page has 2,050 “likes.”



Charles Schwab recently created a second Facebook page for its Schwab “MoneyWise” campaign. Schwab MoneyWise is an extension of its Schwabmoneywise.com website and offers “tips and tools that demystify the ABCs of personal finance.”



4. Create a game plan for when/if it goes horribly wrong

Bear in mind that empowered people are also empowered “complainers.” Should you choose to create a dialogue with Facebook users (which some successful pages don’t – e.g. Charles Schwab) be prepared to answer some tough questions.

Huntington National Bank’s Facebook page (a corporate page about the bank with about 375 “likes”) is a good example of this. When a customer offers criticism or asks a question on the page a representative quickly answers. If it involves an account or a transaction, the representative provides options for taking the conversation “offline.”



5. Keep it Fresh

Creating the page is only half the battle. Banks (and any other organizations using Facebook) that have achieved success have done so by continually engaging with their Friends and those who “like” their page. Posting fresh content on the Facebook wall regularly – at least every other day – and responding to wall posts is critical.

What did we miss? Are there best practices that you’ve adopted? We’d love to hear them.

To reach Meghan:

Phone:   212.840.1661
Email: Meghan@blisspr.com
Twitter: @meghanlantier
LinkedIn: Meghan Lantier

Last week, Junta 42 and MarketingProfs launched a new study on B2B Content marketing trends. The results show that the B2B sector has come of age as a publisher of branded content; nine in ten of the 1,100 B2B organizations surveyed use branded content for marketing purposes – regardless of industry or company size.   On average, these marketers spend roughly a quarter of their promotional budgets on content marketing.  And more than half (51%) report that they plan to increase their spend on content over the next 12 months.  Despite the growth in spend, most B2B marketers are unsure of their ROI on content marketing.  They are long on commitment, but short on measurement.

Content marketing – defined by the study’s authors as “the creation and distribution of educational and/or compelling content in multiple formats to attract or retain customers” – is also known as custom publishing, custom content or branded content.  Of the industries surveyed, computing/software reported the highest level of adoption (94%).  Banking and financial services companies (while operating in highly regulated industries) also reported high rates of content marketing adoption (93%).   Use of social media, however, was significantly lower in this sector than in other industries (62% adoption versus 79% average).  

On the measurement front, marketers across all industries are struggling to identify credible metrics and track effectiveness. Web traffic (56%) is the most popular measure, followed by direct sales (49%), sales lead quality (44%), qualitative customer feedback (44%) and sales lead quantity (36%).  Commonly-discussed metrics such as SEO (28%) and inbound links (24%) ranked significantly lower.

If content marketing is going to live up to its promise in the B2B sector, marketing officers need to close the measurement confidence gap.  And because metrics are linked to leads and customer feedback, marketers also need to build better bridges between content and sales.  B2B marketers and sales managers need to work as a team just as “editorial” and “distribution” are doing in traditional publishing.

We can all identify the companies at the forefront of B2B content marketing today– companies with robust blogs, active microsites and engaged social media communities.  The next wave of content marketing leadership is likely to be defined by companies that build integrated marketing/sales capabilities. 

In your view, which B2B companies are best-in-class examples of marketing-sales integration?

To reach Meg:
Phone:  212.840.0095
Email: meg@blisspr.com
Twitter: @megwildrick
LinkedIn: Meg Wildrick

So you can imagine that recent announcements from US Bancorp and Bank of America on partnerships with Visa to pilot programs where customers will be able to pay for purchases with their smart phone have left me giddy.  I can’t wait to walk out the door, smart phone in hand, leaving my 3-pound wallet (stuffed with old receipts and hundreds of pennies) behind. 

But the rise of mobile payments presents significant challenges, and opportunities, for marketing and communications professionals as they look to build brand loyalty and awareness among bank customers of today and tomorrow. Smaller screens mean fewer opportunities to market on website homepages when consumers go to check balances and pay bills. Fewer customers receiving paper statements may limit opportunities to include new product and service announcements. Simply leaving the card at home means fewer opportunities for your customers to “touch” your brand. So what’s a bank or card issuer marketer to do?

Exploit existing communications channels

The first step is to evaluate your current communications program. As a financial services product marketer, how are you using Facebook and Foursquare to engage with your customers? Are you thanking them for “checking in” at your brick and mortar banking outposts, like the folks at North Shore Bank are? Are you acknowledging their “likes” on Facebook with loyalty points? Does your Twitter feed have a customer service component to it, and are you being proactive by acknowledging tweets that mention your brand? All of these considerations will become increasingly important as consumers move away from checking balances on their desktop and laptop to connecting via their smart phone. Reaching consumers wherever they are (both physically and in the digital universe) will be critically important to marketers in the coming months. 

Find new communications channels

The fact that Generation Z (born after 1991and before 2001) and a significant number of Generation Y don’t know what the world was like before mobile communications should lead to a significant number of early adapters to mobile payments (once they’re old enough to have a bank account, of course). But how you’ll communicate with them and build brand loyalty is another issue entirely. Email is for old people. Twitter hasn’t taken off. Facebook is becoming lame because everyone’s mom is on it. So what’s next? How will today’s financial services institutions reach tomorrow’s consumers?

Our clients have grown increasingly interested in video, and we expect banks and card issuers to incorporate more video communications as consumers go mobile (see how Wells Fargo directs its customers to download mobile banking apps on YouTube). And while Tumblr is a relatively untapped channel among financial services companies today, the blogging site offers another way for banks and card issuers to reach current and potential consumers.

What do you think? Will the emergence of mobile payments have an impact on the way marketers target consumers? If so, how?

To reach Meghan:

Phone:   212.840.1661 
Email: Meghan@blisspr.com
Twitter: @meghanlantier
LinkedIn: Meghan Lantier

Like many media relations enthusiasts, I crave the opportunity to really sink my teeth into a story and bring our spokespeople’s strategic thought leadership to life. In the case of financial reform, it is essential to investigate the media coverage around the issue and work closely with spokespeople to make sure they offer not only compelling insights during an interview, but also that they present their point of view in a way that is digestible for the media – and in turn, their potential clients and the media’s audience.

Oftentimes, a spokesperson’s success during an interview depends upon your ability to effectively support thought leadership development as well as offer media training tips. Here are a few things you can do to strengthen pitches and help your spokesperson be a better interviewee:

1)      Regularly “Checking-In” is Key. Remember to talk to each spokesperson on an ongoing basis – especially if your financial services account relies heavily on media relations. This may seem like a “no-brainer” but it is something that can be neglected as media relations specialists work at a fast pace. Remember, your spokesperson’s insights add color to your pitches, so “check yourself before your wreck yourself” especially when pitching complex financial related issues. If time is of the essence, run the pitch by the spokesperson at the very least. But for pitches with longer lead times, its best to speak with the spokesperson to verify the content of the pitch and learn any additional – and hopefully new and different – points you can use to promote their expertise/thought leadership. 

2)      Focus on the big picture. Even high-level executives like Mad Men’s Don Draper need media training. In the case of financial services, many bank, insurance and asset management spokespeople possess such a wealth of knowledge that it becomes difficult for them to drill down to the four main points. Remind them that they only have five-ten minutes to speak with journalists so it’s important to avoid getting bogged down by the technical details. Asking questions can help so… 

3)      Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Offering probing questions helps the spokesperson focus on the most important aspects of an issue while enabling you to learn the key points you need to develop a thoughtful pitch. For example, questions you may ask a spokesperson about a topic like financial reform could be “What are the major provisions of the bill and why? What is missing from the bill? What will the passing of the bill mean for investors, businesses and consumers?”

4)      Pepper the pitch with sound bites. Examine the points the spokesperson makes and highlight the main takeaways in sound bites throughout the pitch. More importantly, share the final pitch with the spokesperson – this will further their understanding of what points you consider to be the most media-friendly. Further, the pitch can serve as notes that will sharpen their focus during the actual interviews.  

How do you help spokespeople be better interviews on complex issues? What resources do you use to strengthen your pitches on complex financial topics?

To reach Rachel:

Phone:  212.840.5476
Email: rachel@blisspr.com
Twitter: @RachelBethG
LinkedIn: Rachel Gerber

• One emerging positive story you may want to keep an eye on is the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market. Recently, after a hiatus following its collapse a couple of years ago, the CMBS market has seen signs of life, and experts I’ve talked to expect a return to the modest activity seen in the ‘90s. A strategic B2B PR program will leverage stories related to CMBS sooner rather than later. 
• For banks and other lenders and mortgage originators, another positive story is a possible increase in deal flow. If you’re a lender that hasn’t been doing much lending and you’re ready to start lending again, consider a ramp-up in media outreach as deal flow increases, since you want your clients to know that you’re back in action. 
• For other sources of commercial real estate capital, such as funds, life insurance companies, private equity firms, and institutional investors, the burgeoning commercial real estate recovery calls for a reassessment of communications strategy. In preparation for a possible increase in deals and capital placements, you will want to re-evaluate your target audience. When trying to place capital, go where the deals are. It may sound obvious, but many firms overlook the need to change their communications strategy as the market shifts. Are you targeting your current audience? 
• Then there are the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which are uniquely positioned to benefit from a resurgent market. The collapse of the market left most of its participants with no way to determine the value of the property in their portfolios or investments securitized by those properties. As the market recovers, REITs will be able to better determine the value of their holdings on the market and how much their debt is worth. If you work for a REIT, set PR strategy now on how best to announce acquisitions and dispositions.  As the gap between bid and ask prices on property and debt continues to narrow as a result of increased trading, assess who you need to reach with your PR program.

No one knows what the future holds – probably a good thing, as not knowing what’s going to happen is part of what makes working in B2B public relations so much fun. But it’s very likely that the commercial real estate market will show increased signs of life this year, and as it does we should be proactive to find positive stories for commercial real estate professionals to tell.

What are your positive real estate stories?

To reach Dave:

Phone: 312.252.7318
Email: dave@blisspr.com
Twitter: @davidmiranda
LinkedIn: Dave Miranda

The Twitter Business Center offers businesses three capabilities that aren’t built into standard Twitter accounts:

1. A “Verified Account” seal – you see this most frequently on celebrity Twitter accounts like @aplusk and @barackobama – the seal indicates that someone from Twitter has confirmed that the account holder isn’t an impostor.

2. “Contributors” – lets more than one user access a business account, and displays a “byline” for each individual user tweeting on a company handle (more here).

3. Non-follower DMs – allows business accounts to respond to DMs from users they’re not following. This feature is particularly relevant to businesses who use Twitter as a customer service tool, like @comcastcares; it eliminates the step of following a user back before responding to his or her inquiry or complaint.

The toolkit for business is currently only available to a select group of companies that Twitter has invited to test it out. Presumably, these are firms who are already using Twitter for business (one is @Starbucks) and will find value in the shortcuts and capabilities provided by the service. But even when it’s universally available, it doesn’t change the strategic thinking that should inform the decision to “tweet or not to tweet” – and that’s true whether you deal in derivatives or donuts.

Especially in financial services, where violating the compliance standards outlined by FINRA or the SEC has major consequences, social media is still an area in which to “proceed with caution.” Just as before, if your client’s target audience is on Twitter, and the client is prepared to devote the energy and resources to engaging there in a way that doesn’t jeopardize compliance, then by all means go for it! But just because Twitter is making a play for businesses doesn’t mean that every business should immediately jump on board.

That’s our Financial Services Practice Group’s “Two Cents” – do you think the Twitter Business Center is a game changer?

To reach Kelly:

Phone: 212.840.1661
Email: kellyd@blisspr.com
Twitter: @kellydavis226
LinkedIn: Kelly Davis

According to the “Small Business Success Index”™ (SBSI) conducted by University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business (and reported on by Hubspot and Mashable), one in five small business owners are integrating social media into their business processes. Nearly half (45%) believe their social media strategies will pay off financially in 12 months or less. Further, 75% of those surveyed have a company page on a social networking site, 61% use social media for identifying and attracting new customers, and 57% have built a network through a site like LinkedIn.

The benefit of social media to small businesses is pretty clear – social media is much less expensive than traditional marketing/advertising campaigns; and it gives you direct access to consumers and customer feedback. The opportunity to generate new business leads through direct contact with buyers is significant.

But flip the coin, and it becomes apparent that opportunities abound for financial services companies – especially banks, insurance companies, benefits brokers and financial planners – to tap into the online communities of small business owners to generate new business as well.

Bank of America and American Express are both reaching this audience through dedicated microsites. But if you don’t have the time or resources to commit to creating a separate site for small business owners, here are a few other ways you can connect:

• Webinars/Podcasts: A recent survey from Business.com reported in PRNews (subscription required) found that webinars and podcasts are two of the most popular platforms that small business owners turn to for business decision making. If you have content – i.e. tips on maximizing employee benefits, succession planning strategies, wealth management options for small business owners – it’s fairly easy to create a podcast or a webinar and post it to your website. Just be sure to leverage it through the various social  media channels available (e.g. Twitter, Facebook)
• Blogs: According to a very unscientific Google search, there are XX blogs dedicated to small business issues. Start commenting on these blogs. Answer other bloggers questions. According to the SBSI, 39% of small business owners surveyed have a blog on their areas of expertise – find them and start engaging. Share their blog posts with your contacts via Twitter and LinkedIn. Let these bloggers know about your content – the webinars, podcasts and blog posts you’re creating.
• Twitter: If small businesses are a major target of yours, be strategic about your tweets. The SBSI found that 26% of small business owners are tweeting about their areas of expertise. Do the same. Find interesting and relevant information for small business owners and tweet it. Start following small business owners and other thought leaders on small business issues.
• LinkedIn: Join as many discussion groups on small businesses issues as you can, and be responsive. Help small business owners get the information they need by answering their questions, or start your own discussion group about your area of expertise.

Opportunities abound for financial services providers seeking to engage with small businesses through social media. Small business owners are already out there, and are seeking information from people like you – it’s up to you to go find them.

To reach Meghan:

Phone:   212.840.1661 
Email: Meghan@blisspr.com
Twitter: @meghanlantier
LinkedIn: Meghan Lantier