A key to a successful social media strategy is to have your own content. You can only go so far using content from others. To be truly successful online, advisors need to demonstrate their own expertise.
This point was reinforced at the Boston Content Marketing and Communications Leadership Forum hosted by PR Newswire, in cooperation with the Business Development Institute.
Every Department Plays A Role
Jennifer Dowd, marketing manager in the global retail marketing department at MFS Investment Management, said that no single unit on her team owns social media. The MFS social media team is made up of compliance, legal, PR, electronic communications, Web site management, internal communications and market research.
It is important to know social media is a team effort, as all those involved have influence and input, she said. Plus, teammates should always be listening, identifying what is being said about the firm, and also looking for opportunities to develop fresh content to service social media followers. For example, MFS has one of its thought leaders write a blog, usually two times a week, often based on comments from readers.
With any marketing strategy, sometimes there is a bit of trial and error, Dowd said, adding, "Always be critiquing."
Consider your audience. What are people talking about? What is spiking?"
She stressed that listening is very important and that content should be frequently tested to see what works and what does not work. "Delivering content in the way your consumers want to receive it is important," she said.
Why Great Content Helps
"Great content is going to get engagement with your followers and audience," said Corinne Kovalsky, director of digital and social media in the corporate affairs and communications department at Raytheon Company. She added that once the engagement gets underway, you achieve amplification. That helps with her firm, as they are looking for social media to deliver "reputational lift."
To be more successful at this, she tries to think like a news organization. That's why she hired a brand journalist. This person is different from a public relations person because the goal is not to get the company's name higher in the story, but instead to leave a positive impression about the company. To be successful at this, a big organization, like Raytheon, needs bureau chiefs to help develop content, she said.
Michael Morrison, senior public affairs and social media specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, noted that they also run their content like a news organization. He said that social media plays a key role in their crisis management communications. He noted a Web site can go down in an emergency, but added, "It is hard to crash Twitter or Facebook."
Content Types For Inbound Marketing
Rick Burnes, director of product marketing at HubSpot, said that traditional marketing is now less effective. For example, people are skipping TV ads, throwing away direct mail, unsubscribing to email and so on.
Instead of pushing marketing messages out, Burnes said, "Create content that pulls people into your business." To do this, he believes you need to build your own assets instead of renting someone else's. Examples he gave were blogs, free online tools, podcasts and videos.
To develop the right content, Burnes recommended creating target client personas. He even suggested having cardboard cutouts of them in the office as a reminder of who the content is for.
The main goal of the content is to get found, but too often it is only used at the top of the sales funnel, he said. Once a visitor comes to your site, try to get them to convert. Then analyze and optimize what is working. He gave an example of having a landing page with a contact information form and an offer to sign up for an ebook.
When people come to your site, they are no longer cold leads, as they had some interest that brought them there. It then allows the conversation to move from a sales approach to one that is about helping the prospect. Burnes said, "The sales process is flipped on its head. Instead of 'Do you want to buy?' it becomes 'Can I help you?' Go from used car salesman to an advisor."
Benefits Of Blogging
"A blog creates new pages that are new lottery tickets that allow you to get found on social media and search engines," said Burnes. With more pages there are more ways to win new business.
At Hubspot, they see that organizations that blog get 55% more Web site traffic, helping them get found. Burnes said, "There is also a tight connection with content and social media. We see 79% more Twitter followers for companies that blog." As solid content grows, social reach grows and the power to amplify grows.
Looking For Content Ideas?
When it comes to good content, Kovalsky said, "No jargon. No acronyms. Spell it out. Put it in simple terms."
"If your content is not educating, informing or entertaining, take it down," she advised.
"Curation [of others content] can spell out that you are active in your space," she added.
Malinda Gagnon, director of Catalyst Intelligence Services, said, "Search will help to determine the key content topics to go after." She said to ask yourself, "What is my audience? How am I going to tap into them? Where are they going? How do I meet them?"
She also said to do online research to figure out what the competition is doing. "Can you pinpoint their digital marketing strategy?" she asked.
Mike Byrnes founded Byrnes Consulting to provide consulting services to help advisors become even more successful. His expertise is in business planning, marketing strategy, business development, client service and management effectiveness, along with several other areas. Read more at ByrnesConsulting.com and follow @ByrnesConsultin.