She admitted her team has the mandate of proving social media’s worth, but she admits it is still at its infancy. She joked, “Someday some sassy Gen Z-er will probably be on a panel saying we created a perfect attribution model.” However, they are not there yet.
A simple step she did take was to put up big plasma screens in the office. Her technology team created a social stream that showcases what is being said in real time and it is uncensored. Because of this, executives do not have to use social networks to see what is being said. Now every time someone walks by the screen it forces them to stay in touch with the good and bad. “It can be educational,” she said.
Saturday Is The Best Day To Earn Awareness
Eric Anderson, head of advisor social media for the financial advisor services division at The Vanguard Group, said knowing your audience and knowing when to engage is critical.
“Advisors are picking up content on mobile. They are picking it up Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is the biggest day. We added social then to get more people interacting with our content. Those days are popular throughout. In the week, it is early in the morning and in the evening. That is based on click throughs – clicking through our tweets to our bigger research pieces. We reached advisors when they’re receptive,” said Anderson.
“What is nice about social media is that people opt into it. If you can create content that resonates with your audience, from that point it is earned awareness. You are earning their mind share. We would rather dedicate resources to creating great content than advertising. That’s how you can organically grow your network,” added Anderson.
“Social has allowed us to get beyond the white paper,” said Anderson. He is working to open the eyes of his internal contacts that there is a better way. To change some of the thinking, he taps into how long it takes to get a whitepaper published. A tweet or video can be much easier and quicker to produce.
“Social keeps the cadence going. A lot of clients like these new digital touch points,” he said. By staying top of mind, when someone is ready to pick up the phone, you are then in the decision set.
Create Metrics To Improve Content
Sean Kellenberger, vice president of interactive marketing at Ameriprise Financial, Inc. advised that an organization needs a strong content strategy. Evergreen content is critical. Timely content is important too, and so is thegeopolitical category. Moreover, advisors need to be able to track the effectiveness of content. An organization should put in place key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, he suggested creating a scoring system like giving a point for a like, two points for a comment and three points for a share.
He also believes metrics can improve content. For example his content experts wanted to have a seven-minute video, but he knew that was too long. The video got a ton of views, but most people dropped off in the first minute. Now he can go back armed with analysis to the content experts to improve the next video.
Focus On Engagement
Jeff Leonard, senior vice president of digital marketing and social media at Wells Fargo, said that in their playbook they are trying to be both efficient and relevant. To do that, they are also very metrics-oriented, which allows them to know that volatility content was off the charts. “Engagement is the metric we track very closely,” he said.