alwayson-ebook

from an Event-Based StrategyALWAYS-ONALWAYS-ON

Moving to

VOL 1

PART ONE:

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

“Time and tide wait for no man,” goes the ancient proverb. Today, that could be said about the pace of change in technology and marketing. With the majority of your customers looking at multiple screens, a glut of information, and mounting demands on their time, event-based corporate messages get lost in the deluge.

03 MOVING TO ALWAYS-ON FROM AN EVENT-BASED STRATEGY

In the digital age, reaching customers means

having a conversation, rather than sending

a one-sided message. It means delivering

responsive, relevant, timely interactions

on the customer’s schedule. Marketing

dollars have the most effect when you offer

something of value, and when you engage

your audience consistently over a period

of time.

“It’s about giving first and attracting customers, rather

than chasing them.”Shane Snow,

Chief Creative Officer, Contently

This change in the marketing landscape

poses challenges for every industry, but

financial organizations face additional hurdles

dictated by regulatory and compliance laws.

Nevertheless, in many ways, financial sector

firms lead the way in social and content

marketing. Companies like BlackRock, Citi,

American Express, HSBC, and Visa consistently

produce quality, relevant, timely content that

engages with key social audiences to the

benefit of the company’s bottom line.

Others, however, have yet to take the first

step. We see a widening gap between

organizations that use social media

successfully and those that don’t.

INTRODUCTION

“The risk of not doing something interesting

is bigger than not doing anything at all.”

Paul Butcher,

Head of Digital Communications, Citi



“We need to shift from brand campaigns to social conversations.”

Clara Shih,

CEO and founder, Hearsay Social

This guide offers a road map for steering your

company to an always-on social strategy. We’ve

gathered the perspectives of leading social and

content marketers, including many who lead

those financial sector success stories. Read on

to get an idea of what you can expect, how to

address the legal challenges, and what best

practices you can learn from the trail blazers.

INTRODUCTION

PART TWO:

WHAT DOES ALWAYS-ON MEAN?


“It means that instead of thinking in terms of campaigns, stunts, or short-term initiatives, you consistently aim to build and retain your audience on an ongoing basis—more like regular exercise than a shot in the arm.”

—Shane Snow

“Always-on leads to quality content generated on a consistent basis. A successful always-on strategy involves establishing an editorial calendar that addresses both organic evergreen and real-time content.

— Lorin Suslow,

Social Media Marketing Strategist, BlackRock


“Education that inspires.”

Financial companies have a solid advantage

when it comes to getting attention and

building audiences. They’re in the business

of helping people manage their money, so

they have expertise that everyone needs.

Anne-Marie Kline, former SVP of social and

digital at Digitas calls always-on an “everyday

brand building” strategy. “Mainly,” she says,

“it’s about living in the education space—

but education that inspires… trying to

find people in those moments when they’re

searching for specific information or

planning something in their life.” To inspire

your audience, she says, don’t think in terms

of products, such as checking accounts or

credit cards. Instead, think about how you

can help people gain financial independence,

invest for the future or start their own small

business off on the right foot.

E-Trade offers a great example of a financial

brand changing its strategy from “talking

baby” entertainment campaigns to always-

on content targeting investors hungry for

financial education. As E-Trade CMO Liza

Landsman said at the 2014 Ad Age Digital

Conference, “It didn’t make sense for us to

pretend investing was easy. Hence, the

baby went into retirement.”



“Always on means creating a continuous flow of relevant, engaging content and actively sharing it (mostly through social media) with your relevant audiences. By doing so, you can create an ongoing interaction with clients and prospects.”Johan Hillebrand,

Head of Content Management, Robeco



“In a world of continuous conversations and relationship building, branding and lead generation don’t have to lead separate lives. They should be part of a continuum—an ongoing conversation with the market that allows you to find the customers who are… in market to buy.”Michael Weir,

Sr. Director Digital Marketing, Pivotal

PART THREE:

WHAT STOPS FINANCIAL MARKETERS?

WHAT STOPS FINANCIAL MARKETERS?

“It’s not free.”

Kline remembers a time when marketers

equated social with free advertising. “I think

we’re over that part,” she says, “but we’re

still dividing the dollars between media,

nonworking dollars, and working dollars.

Developing content, sourcing content,

incubating it, predicting the escalation model—

all of that takes time, resources, and money.

It’s not free.”

Top management foot-dragging

For that reason, top management must buy in.

But it’s not only buy-in that’s important. Amy

McIlwain, president of Financial Social Media,

says active C-level participation on social

platforms is critical to success. “When senior

management is unwilling to engage from a

personal standpoint… they’ve really missed

the understanding and the opportunity.”

Siloed organizations

Lack of communication and collaboration

between departments can also kill a social

strategy. Social media doesn’t work when

it’s controlled by one group or distribution

channel. Turf wars on who “owns social” can

keep the best ideas from surfacing and

discourage would-be ambassadors. A viable

social strategy often requires a shift in the

organizational structure, which can be difficult

for large, established financial firms to pull off.

Legal and compliance concerns

In a world where a misplaced tweet may

violate compliance laws and cost companies

heavily in fines, financial employees and their

managers have reason to be nervous. But

when a single Facebook post requires dozens

of people to sign off on it, and content

languishes for months in the legal queue, the

result looks more like “always-stonewall” than

“always-on.” There is a happy medium, as

companies like BlackRock, American Express

and Visa prove every day.

The measurement conundrum

Let’s face it—always-on is, at its root, a

holistic strategy that makes measurement

a complicated task. When an average of

10 pieces of content is consumed before

a sale, who’s to say which one played the

biggest role? Measuring always-on success

and tying it to the revenue numbers that top

management cares about is difficult—

and essential.


What keeps some marketers in the financial space from pursuing an always-on strategy, even though the writing is clearly on the wall? We see five main challenges:

PART FOUR:

HAPPENING NOW: A SHIFT IN THINKING



The BlackRock example

Asset management company BlackRock

is proof that social media success doesn’t

necessarily take years to unfold. In just a

few months, the company doubled the

engagement rate for the content they posted

on LinkedIn, and produced consistently top-

ranking updates.

Our own research

A study of LinkedIn clients conducted in Q4 of

2014 shows that companies across the board

are embracing sponsored content. Compared

to a similar study in Q1 2014, field customers

with an always-on sponsored content strategy

went up from 25% to 42%.

Despite the obstacles marketers face, the shift to an always-on strategy is inspiring change and innovation within the financial industry.


“Brand trust is what you build between a past and a future interaction. It’s a matter of time and a matter of integrity.”

—Paul Butcher


Positive implications

The shift toward always-on is taking hold as

senior management teams begin to realize

the benefits for their organizations. While the

initial impulse may be to tap into revenue

opportunities, an always-on strategy also

helps financial firms manage risk and build

trust. People are talking about your brand,

and your presence in that conversation can

make all the difference.

Operational benefits abound as well in

the realm of customer service, employee

engagement, and the ability to attract and

retain talent. Empowering employees and

creating an environment where they feel

like they’re making a difference will make a

positive impact on your business’ culture.

Time Integrity

Trust

PART FIVE:

HOW TO: CONVINCE STAKEHOLDERS



“The tipping point is when senior management starts to get online and engage personally. They start to see their competitors online. They start to see consumer brands and they connect the dots: ‘Wow, if it’s working in that industry, here is how we could apply it to our industry.’

“Social media is no longer only geared toward the younger demographic. We see more and more baby boomers and seniors getting onboard with social, and that baby boomer generation is typically in the leadership role. They’re starting to see the true value beyond just personal use and how it can really help grow their business.”

— Amy McIlwain,

VP, Social & Digital Strategy at Moore Communications Group

How can you convince top management that they need to get serious about social media and an always-on strategy? Point to personal experience, competitor successes, and consumer brand examples:

Show evidence that it works

“There have been several occasions where,

for one reason or another, content marketing

spend has gone dark. The decline in

awareness, consideration and engagement

correlated perfectly with the reduction in

spend.” – Lorin Suslow

As a marketer trying to convince top

management to support an always-on

strategy, the most important thing you can

do is demonstrate how it contributes to the

business objectives they care about. Connect

traffic and brand engagement to sales, and

you’re on your way. The shift to always-on

involves a fundamental change in the way

marketers relate to revenue.

LinkedIn success stories: How HSBC, Citi, Zurich, and others measure results on LinkedIn

https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/social-media-case-studies




“If you can show management that relevant clients and prospects are ‘liking’, commenting, forwarding and downloading your content, then its relevancy becomes undeniable.”Johan Hillebrand,

Head of Content Management, Robeco




“Instead of marketing being a cost center (spending money to reach people), marketing helps you accrue assets (audience relationships, email addresses, customers). Always-on helps you to build audience rather than simply reach audience.”Shane Snow


PART SIX:

HOW TO: SET YOUR COMPANY UP FOR SUCCESS


“Efforts to generate greater awareness around a brand should be linked to discovering and exploring parts of the customer life cycle, not just to any particular organizational fiefdoms such as PR or advertising. This gives marketing leaders the opportunity to erect teams to hit marketing goals effectively according to customer needs, not the traditional marketing organization chart.”

— Ryan Skinner,

“Build the Case for Content Marketing on Efficiency,

Differentiation, and Granular Metrics,” Forrester

Research, October 8, 2014


Break down the walls

It’s important that everyone understand your

organization’s goals, guidelines, and top

priorities when it comes to social media. Clear

lines of communication and responsibility are

key, which may mean breaking down political

and organizational barriers.

The transition to an always-on strategy is ideally a collaborative exercise where everyone in your company takes ownership.



Get everyone on the same page

After you’ve defined a clear organizational

structure, put everyone in a room together to

decide on priorities. Collaborative workshops

allow people to connect on a personal level,

giving them a sense of ownership in the

process and raising the liklihood of successful

program implementation.

Enlist legal as a strategic stakeholder

Your legal department is there to keep you

out of jail, but that doesn’t mean they need

to play the role of antagonist. “Embrace

legal as a vital part of the machine,” says

Kline. “Share ownership of your program

with them, and respect the role they play,

instead of fearing it.”

Suslow agrees. “Legal and compliance

play an important role in the crafting of

content,” she says. “We always brief them as

far in advance as possible in order to remain

compliant throughout the entire process of

content creation.”

Develop guidelines from the beginning,

rather than looping legal approvers in at

the end of content creation—and above

all, respect their time. “Usually, there aren’t

enough lawyers to approve content—this is

a function that everyone is learning,” says

Kline. She recommends setting up a recurring

meeting for approvals, “so it’s not a fire drill

every five minutes.”

“Content marketing is so much more effective when all the channels interact and build off of one another.”

—Lorin Suslow



“Through a combination of technology, training, and policy, we have proven we can engage in a productive dialogue with regulators and develop an effective working model that empowers firms, marketing teams, and regulated employees to successfully engage and delight customers.”Yasmin Zarabi,

Head of Compliance,

Hearsay Social



“If you get a good partner, legal will help you figure out how to create good content that’s compelling and that people want to share versus advertising that is totally vetted and, you know, focus-grouped, and figured out to the hilt.”Anne-Marie Kline



“During my time at Citi and GE, we shared our marketing plan and calendar with legal at the beginning of each quarter, and treated them as a stakeholder in our go-to-market plan. Their contribution was essential to our success.”Jennifer Grazel,

Global Head of Category Development-Financial Services,

LinkedIn

PART SEVEN:

HOW TO: SOURCE GREAT CONTENT


“iShares recently launched an always-on program called iThinking, to translate market trends into actionable investment ideas. My team takes this content and creates thought leadership pieces on the blog, to then be distributed to the appropriate channels and target audiences.”

—Lorin Suslow


Use “big-rock” content or events to produce

smaller, ongoing content pieces

No one has time to read a 20-page ebook

or watch a 30-minute webinar every day. But

from these cornerstone pieces of content

can come additional, more quickly digestible

nuggets of information.

Repurpose high-performance content

An article on time management that hits a

nerve with readers in January may be just as

relevant in July. Don’t be afraid to re-sponsor

high-performing old posts, or to try old

content on new audiences.

“If the content is performing, keep it going!”

–Ashley Helfrich, Account Manager, LinkedIn

The prospect of producing enough content to fill an always-on editorial calendar can be daunting. Here are some strategies:



Partner with brand journalists and publishers

Small and medium-sized business owners

follow financial brands on social media

largely to stay up on the latest financial

trends, according to a 2014 LinkedIn survey.

Partnering with publishers and news

services offering the skills of experienced

journalists brings credibility to your content

and gives you the ability to quickly respond

to market events.

Here are a few publishers and services that

our experts recommend:

• Contently

• NewsCred

• Skyword

• StoryFul

• The Wall Street Journal

Enlist your audience

Creating effective content starts with listening

to find out what your audience cares about,

but customer conversations, photos, or

videos can themselves make great content.

Whether you open up opportunities, such as

contests or surveys, or just amplify insightful

comments, audience participation posts can

engage customers on a whole new level.

Reach out to industry influencers

When you read a good article, see someone

posting great comments in a group, or listen

to an inspiring talk at an event, don’t hesitate

to reach out and say thanks. Over time, you

may be able to expand your communication

to the point where you feel comfortable

asking that person to contribute to your

content program. Just be strategic about

when and how you approach them.

Think about it from the perspective of

starting a relationship.

“Take their personal and professional lives into account. Prioritize influencers who are the most likely to have time available when you need them. For example, finance executives are not likely to want to create content at the end of fiscal year, and accountants are most likely out for the count around April.”

—Caitlin Roberson,

VP West, Skyword

PART EIGHT:

HOW TO: USE ALL YOUR PLAYERS



Senior financial leaders already have stature

in the industry, and may be quoted in the

news frequently. It makes sense to amplify

that voice through digital media. Build up

figureheads—thought leaders within the

organization that are always on, always

communicating and representing the brand

when they’re out in public.

Make social training part of the on-

boarding process

McIlwain recommends training employees in

social from the moment they come on board,

and not to make it only about legal dos and

don’ts. “Connect them with the social media

team,” she says. “Empower them with the

tools they need to best represent the brand

online. Coach them and show them the

positives of how they can help distribute

the message.”

Two top finance brand ambassadors on LinkedIn:

Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman, Templeton Emerging Markets Group, Franklin Templeton Investments linkedin.com/in/markmobius

Linda Descano, Managing Director and Global Head of Content & Social, Citi linkedin.com/in/lindadescano

Your most valuable source of content is likely the people who work for your organization. From top management to product experts, committed employees make passionate and believable brand ambassadors. Your job is to empower them and give them a platform for communicating their expertise.

linkedin.com/in/markmobius

linkedin.com/in/lindadescano


Training tips from the McIlwain playbook:

• Think carefully about your personal

brand. Include a personal element, but

stay focused. “For me, it is entrepreneur,

social connector, and traveler, so anything

I’m posting, I keep in mind, does it fit one

of those three buckets? If it doesn’t, I don’t

share it.”

• Keep public and private accounts

separate. “If you want a private Twitter

handle for personal use, don’t say

that you work at XYZ Company or

use your work email address.

Use a different headshot.”

Unleash the power of your sales team

In the offline world, there is no more powerful

group of brand ambassadors than your

salespeople, who represent your organization

day in and day out. Mobilizing them on social

media taps into the power of their individual

networks, aligns their daily conversations

with the brand, and is an easy and powerful

multiplier of ROI for brand initiatives.

At Allstate Insurance, for example, nearly

every brand initiative—from TV ads, sporting

event sponsorships, corporate philanthropy,

and the popular Mayhem character—gets

promoted by Allstate’s 5,000+ agents on

social media.




“In the social era, traditional marketing, sales, product, and customer service functional silos must give way to a cohesive and customer-centric experience. Sales and marketing alignment has never been more important.”Clara Shih

PART NINE:

HOW TO: ENGINEER YOUR SUCCESS



“Get serious about targeting.”

While helpful content is important, the first

and most essential question you should

always ask is not “how?” but “who?” In its

Social Marketing Update report for 2014,

eMarketer charges marketers to “get serious

about targeting,” if they want increased social

ad spending to result in satisfying results. Be

clear about who you’re trying to reach and

the kind of engagement you’d like to see

from them.

Create customer journey objectives

and measure against them.

Buyers today do their own research, often

reaching out to sales only after they’re 90%

sure they know what they want. On average,

they consume 10 pieces of content before

making a purchase—which means content

must deliver customer value and offer

measurable business performance at each

stage of the buying journey.

“The approach generally is that stories lead to engagement (which you should measure in terms of attention time), engagement leads to relationships (which you should measure in terms of repeat attention and subscription to more content), and relationships lead to ROI (which you should measure in terms of conversions and brand lift).”

—Shane Snow

“I use a variety of indicators to aid in the content selection and amplification process. Some involve organic metric performance, and others include revisiting past high performing pieces of evergreen content. CTR and engagement rate combined with impressions served tells me a lot about the health and targeting accuracy of my always-on programs.”

— Lorin Suslow

Measuring and optimizing an always-on marketing strategy is a complicated process worth a more in-depth study. But here are a few key points:



To begin measuring performance, divide

your buyer’s journey into stages and create

business objectives for each stage. Each

organization is different, and the stages and

objectives you work with should come as a

result of internal discussion and collaboration

with your senior management team.

Here’s how we think about it at LinkedIn:

Reach content objectives:

Brand awareness and user engagement

metrics: page views, shares, return visits,

and time spent

Nurture content objectives:

Sharing of contact information, unsolicited

return visits, event attendance, quality

generated leads, meetings scheduled

Acquire content objectives:

Purchase or renewal, customer evangelists,

empowerment of brand advocates,

deepening of customer relationships

“As always-on has evolved within our overall marketing strategy, we realized measurement needed to be taken a step further. Instead of focusing on impressions, clicks and traffic, we are now focusing on metrics such as engagement rates, views, likes, shares and comments. We realized it was critical to define KPIs for each piece of content, as each piece of content served a different purpose.”

—Monu Kalsi,

VP, Head of Digital Marketing,

Zurich North America

PART TEN:

CONCLUSION: YOU’RE NOT ALONE IN THIS TRANSITION


The transition to always-on marketing can be messy—you may need to get comfortable with disruption and risk. But the biggest risk of all is that your company is left behind, unable to compete with others more willing to confront those challenges and lead their organizations— and their industries—to a new, transformative way of interacting with customers.


Remember that always-on marketing success

comes after engaging audiences consistently

over a period of time.

Be patient—consistency and responsiveness

may not happen quickly in your organization.

But when the right people begin to see the

logic behind your strategy, you’ll start to have

real impact.

The good news: You’re not alone. Thousands

of other financial marketers today recognize

that always-on strategies are essential to

career and business success.

You can mine their experiences and expertise

to help on your own journey. Start with this

checklist of always-on milestones, gleaned from

our interviews:

Define an always-on strategy for your

company.

Secure the support of top management.

Gather a broad spectrum of internal

partners, including legal, to agree

collaboratively on goals, guidelines, and

processes.

Establish clear lines of communication and

responsibility.

Enlist top management and other

committed employees as brand

ambassadors.

Make social training part of the employee

on-boarding process.

Identify target audiences and set clear

customer journey objectives.

Invest in high-quality content that supports

business objectives, along with the needs of

your audience.

Measure content performance against

customer journey objectives.



PART ELEVEN:

15 CONTENT MARKETING AND FINANCE EXPERTS TO FOLLOW



Paul Butcher

Head of Digital Communications, Citi

linkedin.com/in/paulbutcher1

@paulwbutcher

Ashley Helfrich

Account Manager, LinkedIn

linkedin.com/pub/ashley-helfrich/9/3a8/b08

Monu Kalsi

Vice President, Head of Digital Marketing,

Zurich North America

linkedin.com/in/kalsi

Jennifer Grazel

Global Head of Category Development-

Financial Services, LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/jennifergrazel

@jgrazel

Johan Hillebrand

Head of Content Management,

Robeco

nl.linkedin.com/pub/johan-

hillebrand/3/67a/973/en

@Johan3704

Anne-Marie Kline

Former SVP of Social & Content, Digitas

linkedin.com/pub/anne-marie-

kline/1/2b8/620

@amkline

linkedin.com/in/paulbutcher1

https://twitter.com/paulwbutcher

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/ashley-helfrich/9/3a8/b08

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalsi

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifergrazel

https://twitter.com/jgrazel

nl.linkedin.com/pub/johan-hillebrand/3/67a/973/en

nl.linkedin.com/pub/johan-hillebrand/3/67a/973/en

https://twitter.com/johan3704

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/anne-marie-kline/1/2b8/620

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/anne-marie-kline/1/2b8/620

https://twitter.com/amkline



Ryan Skinner

Senior Analyst-Content Marketing,

Forrester Research

uk.linkedin.com/in/ryaneskinner

@rskin11

Clara Shih

CEO and founder, Hearsay Social

linkedin.com/in/clarashih

@clarashih

Shane Snow

Chief Creative Officer, Contently

linkedin.com/in/shanedsnow

@shanesnow

Caitlin Roberson

VP West, Skyword

linkedin.com/in/caitlinroberson

@caitlinmarketing

Amy McIlwain

VP, Social & Digital Strategy at

Moore Communications Group

linkedin.com/in/amymcilwain

@amymcilwain

Lorin Suslow

Social Media Marketing Strategist, BlackRock

linkedin.com/pub/lorin-suslow/12/644/508

@LorinSus

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryaneskinner

https://twitter.com/rskin11

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarashih

https://twitter.com/clarashih

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanedsnow

https://twitter.com/shanesnow

https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlinroberson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amymcilwain

https://twitter.com/amymcilwain

https://www.linkedin.com/pub/lorin-suslow/12/644/508

https://twitter.com/lorinsus


Michael Weir

Senior Director, Digital Marketing, Pivotal

linkedin.com/in/michweir

@sparqlight


Yasmin Zarabi

VP, Legal & Compliance, Hearsay Social

linkedin.com/in/yasminzarabi

@yasminzarabi

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michweir

https://twitter.com/sparqlight

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasminzarabi

https://twitter.com/yasminzarabi


LINKEDIN MEMBERS NUMBER 313+ MILLION PROFESSIONALS.

That’s over one-half of the 600 million professionals on the planet. This represents the largest group anywhere of influential, affluent and educated people—44% of whom engage with financial institutions on social media, according to our research.

Professional Publishing Platform

Our evolution into a professional publishing

platform drives increased engagement on

LinkedIn. Compared with other professional

publishers, content on LinkedIn works

differently. The rich data on our platform

means we can deliver the most relevant

content to our members.

For more about marketing on the LinkedIn

platform, download The Sophisticated

Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn, or

visit LinkedIn.com.

https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/c/14/1/sophisticated-guide-for-marketing

https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/c/14/1/sophisticated-guide-for-marketing

https://www.linkedin.com/

alwayson-ebook

Documents