FreshNetworks Blog

When working with the big banks and insurance companies, as they embrace the potential of social media, their adoption of change can be fairly slow. The highly regulated (and risk averse) financial services industry often lacks the appetite to engage in online social conversations and (they could argue) “why do we need to?”. The answer is that, if you don’t, then you get left behind. There are competitors and some new entrants already building a successful social media presence.

As an example of a new entrant, in the banking sector, I’ve been following Zopa for some time. It started in the United Kingdom, and promotes itself as the first marketplace for social lending. This means that members of the Zopa community lend and borrow money with each other, sidestepping traditional banks. The premise is that both lenders and borrowers get better rates, because Social Lending is more efficient than traditional banks, which, with large overheads, must take bigger margins on the money that passes through them.

With over 400,000 members, Zopa appears to have hit upon a successful formula, and one that is now being copied in other countries, such as Prosper in the US, Smava in Germany and Boober in the Netherlands

And because it has empowered their online community, it becomes natural for it to add the social media features that further enhance its proposition, such as frequent blogs and online conversations between its members.

Time will tell whether this business model will be successful and sustainable. But it demonstrates that a new entrant into the marketplace such as Zopa can shake-up an otherwise cautious banking industry, and maybe move them faster towards embracing social media. It’s going to happen – it’s simply a question of when.

Read all our posts about social media for financial services

I have just typed “How do I” in Google today, and the fourth suggestion that it proposes is “…delete my Facebook account.”

There’s clearly some discontent out there. What’s the cause of these rumblings? Well, it was reported last week that there has been a significant review of security policy at Facebook HQ. Facebook user profiles are publicly accessible by default, and it seems that a growing number of commentators such as Jason Calacanis, chief executive of the question-and-answer website Malaho, are calling for a boycott of what is now a “not trustworthy” site.

And yet, this is against the backdrop that Facebook will shortly announce over 500 million users, and that’s 40% of everybody on the internet.

So, the dichotomy for businesses that have online security as a top priority, such as in the financial services or pharmaceutical industries for example, is how they should engage in social media when Facebook, the most popular of social media tools, is so open. And this question is always most loudly voiced in the Boardroom of the banks and insurers, where the decision-makers for a social media strategy will be immediate detractors because they consider the simple equation is “Social Media = Facebook”, and they can see no further!

The important resolve at the Boardroom must be that the social media strategies for banks and insurance companies should not focus upon social media tools. Instead, the message for the Boardroom is that the best uses of social media will demonstrate that it can yield amazing results without compromising security or the confidence of your customers. And to achieve this it can be better to think of more creative ways to engage people. We’ll be looking at some of these in the coming weeks.

Read all our posts about social media for financial services

It sometimes feels as though parts of the financial services industry are in the grip of a social media frenzy, with a keen anxiety to “do something”. We’ve written before about why tactics such as “We want a Facebook page” are not a social media strategy and will not, in themselves produce long-term engagement and benefits for the brand. Sometimes Facebook as a presence is right for your brand and what you are trying to achieve, but there are some great examples of financial services organisations being more creative in their use of social media.

One such example comes from the US and is AXA’s My Retirement Shop. Rather than just trying to engage customers in their brand or products they are offering a real service. They are meeting their own business objectives, engaging a defined audience and also providing them with a service and an enhanced brand experience over and above their existing transactional relationship. It is one of many ways that financial services firms can make themselves relevant and also engaging. For many consumers insurance is not an engaging topic, but by adding this additional service to them it can become so.

We see many examples like this, particularly coming out of financial services firms in the US and increasing adoption of them in the UK and Europe. Brands moving from just using social media to engage customers in the brand, to providing a real service and value to them. Of course for many brands, a combination of both as part of a coherent and ongoing social media strategy would be the best option.

Developing these solutions comes best from a thorough review of why a financial services organisation is using social media in the first place. At FreshNetworks we work with clients, though our social media workshops, to identify the overall business aims that social media can help with and the best audiences for the business to target. Then we figure out what will bind the audience as a community and hence encourage them to participate.

It’s not necessarily all about Facebook. And it’s not necessarily all about engaging with your actual product or service. When you are using social media to engage customers make sure you focus on your business aims and target audience, and then be creative about the tactics you use.

Over the past few months, I have consulted with around 20 banking and financial organisations, and I have got “under the skin” of their frustrations with, and their aspirations for, the untamed beast that is social media. In this series of posts I will outline the opportunities for financial institutions when entering into an online dialogue with customers in a risk-averse industry. I will look at why the answer isn’t simply a Facebook page and Twitter feed, but instead it’s about identifying and engaging with an online community that has a shared interest and the passion to get involved. There are some great examples (often from the US), and some not so great, that will enforce my argument.

Let me start by challenging the convention that financial organisations benefit from a Facebook fan page. It can help, of course, but the benefits are usually overstated. There is consensus among my clients that simply looking at the volume of Facebook fans flatters to deceive. If this was simply a numbers game then Facebook would win every time. So, instead, let’s look at the quality of the fans, not the quantity. Many of the Facebook fans that have been gathered by the banks and the insurance companies are employees of the organisation using the channel as another route to keep in touch with their business and each other. And, in general, the Facebook fans from the target audience (i.e. the prospective customers or existing customers) are generally inactive, and certainly more inactive than conventional Facebook fan sites.

The Facebook dilemma was nicely summarised by a comment on mashable recently as follows:

FaceBook taught its members that the social media platform was for socializing… not for purchasing. The wrongenvironment for business! The argument of ‘Be where the people are’ does not always apply. I have been to funerals with a lot of people but that does not make it a good place to market. FaceBook is packed with members who are there for one purpose only… to interact with friends and families. The fastest way to get me to de-friend you is to try and sell me something!

I was in a race yesterday – a 10-mile road-running race. During the run, I remember a point (approximately half way round) when my mind turned to considering selling inspirational social media solutions. The run was going well – I was feeling inspired – and I had one of those “I can do anything!” moments that fellow runners will recognise.

My inspirational thought on the run went something like this:

So, we know that social media offers an unlimited range of diverse solutions. These solutions will never adapt to a “one size fits all” approach, and every client will adapt a social media solution that is unique to them. Therefore, while some unfortunate organisations get constrained by such aspects as, for example, their web technology that is available, or perhaps the budget, or maybe the management resources, or countless other restrictions, we know that the best solutions are those that are driven by inspiration without constraints. For example, think MyStarbucksIdeas or Amazon.com or LinkedIn for inspirational and unique engagement ideas for communities that have revolutionised their online conversations.

Getting the inspired social media solution for any organisation is like getting the right ingredients for the Perfect Cake. Not too much sugar or vanilla, otherwise people won’t eat it, and get the correct quantity of self-raising flour so that the Perfect Cake will rise.

In social media, the right solution ingredients might include targeted blogging, mobile interaction, comments, polling, digital file sharing, online debates, ratings, forums, etc. But which of these ingredients would be right?

I truly love selling social media. I visit my clients with a blank piece of paper, and I let the inspiration flow, asking lots of open questions and delving deeply into the business needs. I don’t talk technology at that first meeting, it’s not allowed!  The best specialists, such as FreshNetworks, design and build inspiring solutions with exactly the right ingredients …. to bake the Perfect Cake!

Tim continues his series on Selling Social Media.

So we now get to the final phase in the Sales Cycle when selling a social media solution – the ‘Close’. Certainly this is the most enjoyable piece, when all the hard work finally delivers the outcome. If all the previous phases have been followed, then I find that this phase is also the easiest, because you have a proposition that meets the priority business needs and that has been successfully tested for a positive reaction from the client during the Propose The Solution phase.

From the clients perspective then this point is critical. It commits your funds and resources, it also ensures that, at the decision-making level, there will be no misunderstanding, and that all stakeholders (including the suppliers and vendors) will be ‘on board’ with the social media project that has been considered and will now be given the go-ahead.

When delivering the Closing question, the single most important lesson is that, at this point (and only this point!), it is important that your question is a closed question, not an open question. So, you are asking for agreement to proceed with the project that has been discussed, within the timescales and subject to certain preconditions (such as contract terms or technology dependencies). How you phrase the question is completely up to you, but when you have asked it, keep quiet and wait for the answer.  There is no need to elaborate, or to buy extra time, you are simply awaiting a Yes or No.

It is quite timely that this series of ‘how-to-sell-social-media’ blogs ends the year with the final phase, ‘Closing’. Thank you for all your comments and feedback, and I will be adding further thoughts and ideas next year. Happy Christmas!

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

We’re often asked how to build corporate support for social media projects. There are many social media advocates that find it hard to sell internally.  What’s the best approach if you’re a Marketing Director selling a social media proposition to the Board? Or a Department Head keen to include social media in your 2010 budget?

I have recently coached a client in selling his social media business plan internally. As previously explained (see my selling social media series), a key component in the sales process is to associate the business needs to the social media proposition. I see this often overlooked as people present their long lists of features and functions, many of which are superfluous, in the hope that quantity will overcome quality.  No!

So, to do this exercise properly with my client, we booked a meeting room for half a day, and we spent a couple of hours considering his business strategy and the corporate needs of the company. With the key business priorities apparent, we then started linking these to the components of the social media solution. We found that 7 of the company’s top 8 business needs could directly benefit from some social media features and associated community engagement.

We then created a simple powerpoint slide, with 3 columns, Need, Feature, and Advantage. Each business ‘Need’ with the relevant social media ‘Feature’ (or Features in some cases), that delivered a noted ‘Advantage’ to the business (ideally quantified and objective). And, finally at the presentation, as he talked through the slide, I coached him to ensure that he gauged the ‘Reaction’ (from the audience) to each item as he went down the list. ‘NFAR’ – Need, Feature, Advantage, and Reaction.

This turned out to be a great starting point, but there was still more work to do. Building support for any new proposition often requires a mix of 1to1 meetings as well as larger group sessions. Ahead of the team discussion you should meet with some of the key influencers on an individual basis to get buy-in. Just as you would have with any new initiative.
The final point to make is that an important part of selling is management of expectations. And when it comes to social media this is especially important. Social media is frequently over-hyped. As a social media agency, we’re always very keen to manage our own enthusiasm and focus on promising only the things we know we can deliver. Projects are always harder and take longer than people expect. Don’t damage your personal credibility by over-selling social media.

Tim continues his series on Selling Social Media.

You have spent time building an understanding of the business requirements. You have built a short list of prioritised needs; these could be, for example, to grow online revenue, cut support costs, enhance innovation, build the brand, grow customer service, gain partner insight, etc.

It’s now time to move to the next phase of the sales cycle, namely ‘Propose the Solution’. This is the phase that links these business ‘needs’ to the specifics of the social media solution.

A useful memory device that I use in this phase is the acronym ‘NFAR’. Against each Need, align it to a Feature, then explain the Advantage, and finally gauge the Reaction : ‘NFAR’. I use variants of this process depending upon the dynamics of each individual meeting situation, but the basic principle remains the same.

Here’s an example. I am working with an organisation in the air travel sector that needs to market itself outside of the ‘bargain’ holiday brand, i.e. away from its slightly blemished association with ‘laddish’ type short breaks, particularly to some of the cheaper European city destinations, where young people get too much publicity by getting drunk and misbehaving. The marketing director wants to refocus his customers upon those clients (the ‘silent majority’ as he calls them) that enjoy the quieter and more cultural weekend breaks to these same destinations, perhaps visiting museums and local artifacts.

I have proposed a social media solution that builds a vibrant and engaged online community based around this silent majority. It will add tremendous value to them as they share with others their various trip ideas, stories, pictures, blogs, videos, etc.

Let’s look at one social media feature for this social media solution – i.e. the voting feature. So, for example, this will give the opportunity for the community to vote upon the best city museum to visit. Within my NFAR device, this is a social media “Feature”.

I raise this Feature idea, and explain the “Advantage” to the client: The advantage of the voting feature is that this is a simple-to-use capability, that will entice even the most sceptical casual user to simply press a button that registers their vote and, voila, before they know it they are engaging with the others in the community. Even better, if this Advantage can be quantified (e.g. we will gain 1000 extra members of the community) then I am motoring towards a ‘close’, or sale.

But to check that this is of real value to the marketing director, I need to test his agreement that the Feature will have the Benefit, i.e. does he ‘get it’? So, I check, by asking him his “Reaction”. And he says that he loves it, and can really see the value of polling to engage with the community.

Of course, there are many other social media features that I could mention, that could have a similar impact. The polling feature is a simple example that I use in this blog to demonstrate the principle.

I am not yet moving towards the sales close (that will be soon), but first I am methodically addressing the business needs with the appropriate social media features that are relevant, and getting the tick-in-the-box from the client that the social media solution is the answer to his requirements.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

Tim continues his series on Selling Social Media.

So, we’ve got the attention of the stakeholder to discuss using social media within the organisation. By seeing a glimpse of some of the incredible achievements in social media for other industries or competitors, this has earned the right for a more detailed conversation with him. It’s now time to dive into more detail with him, and to align some of the various social media benefits against the unique requirements of this particular stakeholder. But what are the unique requirements?

This phase of the sales process is known as ‘determining the needs’.

Let’s use a real-life scenario and a brief recap. Say you have used the ‘elevator pitch’ to a Marketing Director in the travel sector and highlighted that Marriott achieved an additional $5m sales from people that accessed Bill Marriott’s executive blog. This is an impressive statement of fact, and you have his attention; and as a result he puts an hour in the diary for a more detailed chat on the subject.

What do you do now? The biggest mistake is to go to the one-hour meeting and then continue blindly selling the proposition, because you don’t yet know what’s going to be the business driver for this particular stakeholder. When marketing any service (and social media is no different), everybody’s individual business needs and priorities will be different. Grow revenue, cut costs, enhance innovation, improve customer service, and so on; it’s a long list of possibilities.

So, the elevator pitch grabbed his attention, but that won’t be the reason that social media may work for his particular organisation. The specific needs and objectives will be absolutely unique to this organisation, and it is your job to align these unique needs to the social media possibilities.

The rock band Weezer has a great single out at the moment. It’s called “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”. The brackets are in the title. I love this title because it encapsulates the blundering teenage angst that we can still remember from when we were that age. Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Similarly, the biggest mistake at this stage is to launch into the one hour conversation with a pushy “I want you to do this because….”, as if you were that teenager all over again! Instead, in this phase of the sales process it is time for a more consultative approach. You ask the questions, and then listen carefully to the answers. A bit like the doctor diagnosing the patient, you take the role of the consultant, and determine the business priorities that are most relevant for this stakeholder.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

Image by H. Lloyd via Flickr

One of the most important mantra’s of successful sales people is to ‘Earn The Right’; get some diary time, or hold a short telephone conversation with a new prospect or stakeholder, you must first ‘Earn The Right’ for their valuable time.

To get the attention of the stakeholder when you are selling social media, one technique is to inform what his peers or competitors may be doing. If his competitors may be gaining advantage from the use of social media then why wouldn’t he want to urgently explore this with you?

You may only have ten seconds in an initial contact with the stakeholder, and therefore your key message regarding their competitor (or other compelling justifications – I’ll cover these in future posts) must be snappy, relevant, and vital. For this reason, it is sometimes called the ‘elevator pitch’, i.e. you are in the lift (elevator in US!) with the stakeholder, and you only have a few seconds until he leaves at the next floor, what will you say to get his attention? Be concise and high level. Carefully rehearse the message beforehand. And then rehearse again, and again!

For example, I was watching breakfast television this morning, and Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chief Marketing Officer Kodak was interviewed, explaining how social media has re-shaped their business. He said that social media can excite, evangelise, educate, and engage their customers, and makes a real difference to their changing brand. Their brand was previously deemed old and out-dated, and now, with the help of social media, they have re-vitalised the company.

This is a great story. I know of at least five brands that would compete directly with this brand and I will contact them later today with my elevator pitch! Let’s see if it is effective and earns the right for a further dialog with them.

Read all our posts on Selling social media here.

Some more reading

• Kodak’s Social Media Tips (viralblog.com)
• Why Kodak Thinks You Should Use Social Media (kylelacy.com)
• Twitter at C Level (marketingpilgrim.com)