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

What are the best practices in digital marketing for financial services? This is the question that Bill Wreaks of the Gramercy Institute and Frank Dudley of Brand New Media set out to answer when they undertook a year long research project that surveyed senior-level marketers at Bank of America, UBS, Prudential and MetLife.

Overall, it’s clear that financial marketers are shifting more money than ever into digital marketing – according to Frank, this increase in dollars is at a “tipping point.” Perhaps because of this larger spend, marketers are very focused on rationalizing their investment; they all want better metrics, analytics and strategy. And while today marketers appear to be focused on driving traffic to their website with banner ads and search engine optimization, they think that by 2015 social networks and mobile strategies will top their list in importance (I’ll blog about those findings in a later post).

So what are the lessons that digital PR agencies can learn from the research?

1) Provide education

Two-thirds of respondents believe that it is extremely or very important for senior marketers to have digital marketing experience, and 89% say that it will be important in 2015. This means that clients both need and want education about best practices, trends and new technologies so they can be at their top of the game. This education need is particularly true for marketers responsible for individual product lines (whereas those focused on overall brand marketing are slightly ahead of the curve).

2) Show your strategy brain power

This is a bit of a no brainer, but one finding from the research that surprised me was that many companies are moving their digital marketing capabilities in-house, as opposed to using an agency – and this is especially true for planning, strategy and analytics. For digital PR agencies, this means that there is a big opportunity to show marketing partners your institutionalized metric systems, wow them with strategic thinking, and demonstrate how digital strategies can move the needle in their business. Help them make the case to their boss that digital marketing investments make sense for their (unique) company.

3) Push for content creation

One of best practices that Bill and Frank shared from the research was to “develop relevant and timely content,” and ideally that responsibility would fall to the line of business. While I 100% agree that this model would be supreme, I also believe that it may be somewhat unrealistic in terms of timing. But financial services public relations firms have real expertise in “pulling” ideas, stories and thought leadership from business leaders to develop content – often to bring to the media. However, this expertise can be used to fuel digital marketing projects as well (which can also help to save the line of business’ time!)

What do you think? Do you think that the increased spend by financial service marketers opens a door for digital PR agencies?

To reach Katherine:

Phone: 212.584.5475
Email: katherine@blisspr.com
Twitter: @kilpatrickk
Linked In: Katherine Kilpatrick

“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

When Harry Met Sally is one of my all-time favorite movies. I’m a real sucker for romantic comedies. Plus, there’s something about Meg Ryan’s and Billy Crystal’s unlikely friendship – and ultimate romance – that’s ennobling. It’s a story of growth. Two opposite temperaments learning to understand, befriend, complement and enrich each others’ lives.

The same could be said for the C-suite’s odd couple – marketing and finance. As marketers face a semi-permanent squeeze on budgets, financial measurement has become a critical part of the CMO’s job. And savvy CMOS are eyeing a more integrated partnership with finance.

According to Avi Dan of Advertising Age:

Marketing was traditionally a siloed operation. This is changing. It’s moving from a hands-off

Department to a much more integrated function within companies, whether it’s under sales of customer service. Nowhere is this going to be more evident than in the growing closeness between marketing and finance. CMOS are aware that finance is important to their success. For example, when asked which additional skill they wish they had, the answer I hear most often is:  ‘better understanding of finance.’ (The New Normal for CMOs)

As CMOs  struggle to  crack the code on web analytics – and identify new, more relevant ways to measure outcomes – the relationship between marketing and finance is evolving. For now, the common goal is ROI and efficiencies. But over time, the potential benefits of analytical marketing are enormous. And so are the opportunities for partnership, coordination, integration and growth.

Do you have examples of partnerships between Marketing and Finance in your organization?

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

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

How immersed are you in the industry you publicize? In today’s world, attending industry events brings great value to public relations programs – for both agency and corporate public relations professionals. Beyond networking, events bring unique value to understanding the context of industry media coverage, and getting to know what issues keep the decision-makers up at night.

Here are some tips and video on how to get the most value from business networking events.

BlissPR Tips: Leveraging Industry Events for PR Advantage

1. Leverage events to get to know your industry. There’s an old PR saying that you should be, “a mile wide and an inch deep.” Not true for B2B public relations. B2B PR is a knowledge-based business (instead of a product-based business), and to truly understand our clients, we must be a part of their world. Attending industry events gives us an avenue to immerse ourselves into the industry’s culture and learn the language. In the following video, hear more about using events to get to know your industry, from BlissPR’s Margy Sweeney, Lindsey Schober and Berj Alexanian:

But don’t take our word for it – here’s more on the importance of events, from a company that organizes them “for a living”. In this segment, BlissPR’s Berj Alexanian takes us behind the scenes immediately after the Bisnow Chicago Real Estate Summit for an exclusive interview with Michael Farber, Bisnow Vice President of Expansion, to talk about the importance of networking events in the real estate industry.

More BlissPR Tips: Leveraging Industry Events for PR Advantage

Here are three more tips for getting the most out of industry events for PR pro’s, including more video “Live from Bisnow-Chicago” with more context from our BlissPR Chicago professionals.

2. Mine the events for pitch and story ideas. Industry networking events are prime places to pick up a new pitch or story idea. Pick attendees’ brains about new industry trends and ask questions about what’s top of mind or what’s keeping them up at night.

 

3. Meet the media. Industry specific networking events are a great opportunity to get to know trade media reporters. Make sure to seek them out, and be prepared with questions for discussion (see Tip 5).
4. Personal relationships are key – Industry networking events are often a relaxed and pressure-free place to strike up conversation and deepen personal relationships with peers, clients and reporters. Make sure to introduce yourself to people you don’t know, and don’t be afraid to ask lots (and lots) of questions.

A little coffee and a nosh can be a great beginning to a conversation that would not normally take place otherwise. Here’s more:

5. Do your homework – Any networking event can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know anyone or are new to the industry. Before you go, do your homework. Develop a plan. Be sure to know the basics of your industry and the current issues. Read the trades and the publications your industry values. Find out who is attending, and pick out three or four people you want to talk with. The goal isn’t to collect as many business cards as possible. The goal is to have a strategy going into the event, so you can gain knowledge and develop relationships that will bring value to your clients and your firm. Please find the final link below where the BlissPR Chicago team stresses the importance of properly preparing yourself prior to a networking event.

What helps you to make the most of events in your industry?

To contact Margy Sweeney:

Phone:  312-252-7314
Email: margy@blisspr.com
Twitter: @margysweeney
LinkedIn: Margy Sweeney

When it comes to social media, I think a number of insurers run the risk of looking powerful but passive…like they just got handed a bar of kryptonite. 

Though many insurance companies are now aggressively pursuing the potential of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, some see it only as a new distribution point or as an extension of CRM. After all, those are the “safe” opportunities.

Make no mistake, there is real risk involved in managing regulatory compliance and reputation in the insurance sector. Fears about “who you can talk to” and “how you can talk to them” make this a complicated marketing decision.

Nevertheless, it still seems a bit short-sighted to minimize the real power of social media – the chance to engage with your audience and build significant relationships with your policyholders.

A new report by Accenture sizes up the digital opportunity for insurers – and also loses sight of the real prize. “Achieving High Performance in Insurance through Social Media” makes a case for companies to:

• Establish listening posts: Capture customer “life events” to improve alignment of customers, offers and channels
• Engage Customers through Inbound Marketing: “Implement automated solutions…to ensure accurate, compliant content in the environments that can be controlled”
• Leverage social media in the Insurance Sales Process: Identify the next generation of agents that excel at developing online relationships

Insurance leaders will find useful “Examples of U.S. Regulations Affecting Insurer Use of Social Media” and “Examples of Leading Practices for Insurers.” They’ll also find a “Social Media Management Framework” to help clients develop a roadmap for their social media strategy.

What you won’t find – in the chart or the white paper — is much discussion of consumers. Social Media is meant to start and end as a conversation. A rich dialogue between two people offers the opportunity to build a mutually beneficial relationship, not just act as a “touchpoint.” Therefore, after gathering the data that Accenture suggests, insurers should:

1. Turn data segments into “characters” or “personas” that can guide content development
2. Assess current website traffic patterns and KPIs to see what’s getting your visitors excited – and what’s not
3. Create conversational themes that help the company understand what really matters to their policyholders…then start talking to them about it. Use a digital PR firm if it makes sense.

Ironically, insurers understand human behavior better than almost anyone. After all, they are in the business of managing the risk and messiness that most of us would prefer to ignore. If they start by sharing their experience and hard-won advice, they’ll already be walking down the right road. And better sales and agent development will swiftly follow.

How do you think insurers are handling social media? Do you see any trailblazers? 

(photo by DavidChief)

To reach Elizabeth:

Phone: 212.840.0017
Email: elizabeth@blisspr.com
Twitter: @elizabethsosnow
LinkedIn: Elizabeth Sosnow

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