Admit it.  Sometimes in the dark of night, when you’re alone and no one is looking, you gripe about how annoying those people who expect customer service on social are. They get in the way of how corporations wanted to do customer service: “Your call is very important to us, please continue to hold.”

Prior to the expectations social customer service brought, it seemed like the goal of most customer service was to actually break down the customer and frustrate them out of wanting help at all, supported by a brand attitude of, “Wow, you sure seem mad. But what are you gonna do about it?”

Along came social, and suddenly they actually could do something about it. We want customer service on social because:

It’s faster…or at least it should be.

53% reaching out to a brand for service on Twitter expect a response within an hour. 32% expect a response within half an hour. And 57% expect the same response time on nights & weekends as during business hours. Sitting on hold for 30 minutes on the phone is regarded as an abuse that older folk had to endure, but that’s no longer tolerable. In fact, J.D. Power tells us 18 to 29-years-olds are more likely to use your social for customer service (43%) than for marketing stuff (23%).

It connects us to a human.

We’re a generation that’s fine with automation and letting robots help us…to a point. What the bots lack is the ability to project caring or a personal investment in the resolution of our problem. It’s hard to have a relationship with automation, but when a community manager saves the day, the customer feels like they have a hero inside the brand. That’s relationship building.

It acknowledges my problem is not like “all the others.”

FAQs and reams of self-help pages project that you, the customer, are nothing special and neither is your problem. It’s a problem someone else has had, and there’s an answer. All you have to do is shut down your work and devote as much time as necessary to finding it. If you find it, hopefully the generalized solution will actually apply to your specific situation. If not, it’s off to the user forums, where the advice you get might take days, and may or may not come from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. The extent to which brands try to keep from interacting with you makes quite an impression.

It more aggressively seeks to resolve my problem.

55% of customers get frustrated if they have to repeat the same info several times to several different people. 65% get frustrated if they have to contact the brand twice for the same issue. Managers of brand social channels know they have no such luxury to put a customer on ice or pass them around like a hot potato. The public is watching the interaction, so there must be a timely, happy ending to each customer service story. Integration into CRM systems helps make that happen.

It empowers and sets us up to publicize mistreatment.

American Express says the average number of people a social customer will tell about a good customer experience is 42. The average number of people they’ll tell about a bad experience is 53. Increasingly, customers feel it’s nothing short of their duty to warn people about you. 58% are more likely to share their customer services experiences now than 5 years ago.

It empowers and sets us up to publicly express pride in the brands we like.

Likewise, your customers want to be happy and proud to be associated with you. In addition to the advocacy and the help marketing your company, when you execute good service on social, those delighted customers spend 20% to 40% more with you. Take that to the next social ROI conversation with your boss.

So splash that customer service email or phone number everywhere you want. Force people into fix-it-yourself trees or open forums. People are still going to go on your social channels seeking customer service. Questions on Facebook Pages alone are up 85% over last year. And if the experiences don’t match up to modern expectations, you’re largely in the disappointment business.

BONUS EYE-OPENING STATISTIC:

70% of Marketing departments are involved in social, compared to a mere 19% of Customer Service departments – Ragan

@mikestiles @oraclesocial
Photo: Belovodchenko Anton, freeimages.com

It’s the nightmare every C-suite exec envisioned back when talk of doing social media first started…what happens if the brand makes a catastrophic and very public social media mistake? Don’t people realize how much money has been spent on marketing and PR to make sure every syllable the brand puts out is soft, safe and sanitized?

Social is 24/7, real-time, revealing, and involves interaction between humans. That is not a recipe corporations seek out. But it’s the one they’re now forced to deal with. And just as they feared, mistakes are going to be made.

Case in point, this week’s disastrous tweet on the US Airways account containing a photo I really can’t describe without getting into trouble myself. To its credit, the airline is not firing the social manager who made the mistake. Skift.com found US Airways sends over 400 reply tweets a day, with an average response time of 38 minutes. Despite the horror of the mistake, that’s a solid record. An organization dispensing with the “off with their heads” mentality when it’s not warranted is quite mature and refreshing.

They are hardly alone in taking a social media stumble. Sometimes it’s innocent error. Sometimes it’s being greatly disconnected from how the public feels about you and what they’re likely to do, such as a financial firm’s cancelled Q&A after followers seized the solicitation for questions as a chance to mock the brand and industry mercilessly.

All too often, it’s a lack of judgment or a lack of awareness to make good judgment calls. Far too many brands have piggybacked on trending current events for marketing purposes, only to meet with blowback from followers for being exploitative. Light events like the Super Bowl, fine. Tragedies & anniversaries of tragedies, not fine.

Sometimes, it’s rogue employees such as the live-tweeting of a mass firing at HMV on the brand account, made worse by the marketing director then publicly asking followers, “How do I shut down Twitter?”

And sometimes, bad things even happen from what you don’t do. British Airways lost Hasan Syed's luggage and didn’t respond to his Twitter inquiry, so he simply bought a promoted tweet and amplified what happened, which was his right. British Airways later admitted its Twitter feed was only open during the day.

So here are a few things to keep in mind about when bad tweets happen:

• As some of the above examples illustrate, you’re often your own worst enemy. Learn to do social right.
• Have a social media policy so you’ll minimize risk and instantly know what to do if something goes wrong.
• Get the best social listening tools you can find so you’ll know what’s being said about you.
• Understand that if you make a mistake, it’s going to go viral, especially if it’s funny. You better find a sense of humor about your corporate self if you don’t have one.
• Know that social is a human endeavor…if it’s done right. Mistakes are going to happen. Don’t over-react.
• Don’t hire your social managers carelessly. They have to be smart, aware of the world around them, in tune with their audience, able to stay calm in a crisis, and have solid judgment.
• If a bad tweet happens, do NOT try to be slick. Own up to it, explain it, apologize if necessary.
• Know that a bad tweet usually isn’t as big a deal to readers as it is to you. They’ll express snarky outrage if it’s in bad taste. They’ll have fun with it at your expense. But they’re generally understanding and forgiving. Remember, they do social themselves. They know it’s a high wire act.

@mikestiles @oraclesocial
Photo: freeimages.com

Hey, don’t go assuming that being kept up all night is always a bad thing. When you think about what’s swirling around in a CMO’s head, it might be worry that keeps them tossing and turning, or it could be excitement about the cool changes we’re seeing.

To be on safe side though, let’s just assume it has to do with confusion.

And that’s understandable, because marketing has been turned on its head in a very short period of time. Here are 5 things the CMO-on-their-toes should be asking themselves. If they don’t know enough to even be asking the questions, well, there are bigger problems.

1. Seriously, Am I Going to Be in Charge of EVERYTHING Now?

The demands on today’s CMO have gone far beyond branding, PR and advertising. Since the disruption to business had its epicenter in Marketing, the CEO is looking to the CMO to “deal” with every ripple effect resulting from it, no matter how far out into the organization it reaches.

Suddenly, it’s not about getting leads for sales, it’s about conversions. Suddenly, the CMO must understand the tech that drives marketing execution or harvests the metrics by which they’ll be judged. Suddenly, with social a big part of recruiting, the CMO has a big hand in HR. Suddenly, with customer service via social, the CMO is invested in that customer interaction. Suddenly, the CMO is culling feedback that informs product development.

Today’s CMO might notice the c-suite doesn’t require as many offices as it used to.

2. What Do My Customers and Prospects Want From Us?

Nothing good will come from a CMO that lies awake at night thinking about the next campaign or corporate message. If you’re going to lose sleep, lose it thinking about how to find out exactly what your customers do and don’t want from you. It’s called customer-centricity. Lots of companies talk about it, but frighteningly few actually do it. If you care, and if you listen, you’ll be more than halfway to sleeping through the night.

3. How Am I Going to Cope with Being a Media Company?

No matter the platform, marketing is increasingly content marketing. With an all-out war on to capture attention from a mobile, over busy, short-attention-span public, only content that entertains, informs, or provides tangible value will score.

You’re probably not an entertainment or journalism brand. That doesn’t matter anymore. You have to be. Imagery and video are huge in terms of engagement. Your blog has to rock. 24% of digital marketers even plan to add podcasting this year to capitalize on the intimacy of in-car listening and car connectivity. The days of not resourcing content, not hiring people who know how to consistently make it, or trying to commoditize it, are OVER.

4. What Tech Am I Supposed to Invest In?

Many brands are trying to operate with disconnected, standalone solutions. That’s an untenable position as Marketing continues its expansion and social extends to nearly every function of the enterprise. Not having integrated components means you’ll be leaving big data advantages on the table. The right hand won’t know what the left hand is doing, and the feet will be completely clueless.

It’s unlikely most brands are ready to jump in to the largest social and marketing ecosystem for the enterprise available. Therefore, a technology partner that gets you the components you need today, but that also sets you up for the addition and quick integration of components like CRM, will help you rest easier.

5. What If I Pursue a Strategy and Then Everything Changes?

Good news: you don’t have to wonder about that, because you can already be 100% assured everything is going to change…probably often and quickly. Looking for a point at which you can say, “Okay, we’ve totally got this down,” or at which you can go on autopilot, will only lead to anxiety.

The social networks themselves will always change, the ad products they offer will come and go, mobile technology will change, abilities to measure will change, trends & tastes will change, and consumer behavior will change – as will their expectations. The fact that change is inevitable makes waiting for things to “settle down” before you act a dangerous endeavor.

Asking yourself the questions is the first step toward resolving these pressing issues in your mind, which is your key to sleeping like a baby.

@mikestiles
Photo: freedigitalphotos.net

Reality check: like Facebook, Twitter has to make money.  And in the absence of charging users a subscription fee to use it, that money has to come from Twitter advertising.

The profitless Twitter makes most of its revenue from advertising, $219.6 million in Q4, which doubles the previous year’s numbers. So it occurred to them that if they offered you marketers more advertising products and options, that number would only go higher.

Enter 15, count ‘em, 15 new ad plays that will be coming your way from Twitter over the next 6 months. And from the reports so far, if your goals are downloads, subscriptions, or purchases, these products will speak more to your needs than existing offerings.

Expect most of these products to be fueled by the Twitter Card technology, which allows functionality to be programmed into tweets. This allows for a world of one-click calls-to-action not possible in regular tweets, which, given the speed and immediacy with which people use the platform, is almost a must to capture desired engagement. Users can download an app, get someone on the phone, make a purchase, sign up for a contest, etc.

But the big question: will Twitter users think these are cool opportunities? Or will they see them as highly intrusive, annoying ads? That depends a great deal on what you do.

Twitter hasn’t really upped the ad content since their first product in 2010, and that’s because they’ve been pretty diligent about the user experience. So far their ad products have not done damage, but these new 15 do represent risk. As it is, a Deutsche Bank Securities report showed 85% of users said the ads they get aren’t relevant.

So Twitter and you marketers are about to jump into the unknown together. These ads must be targeted and relevant. They must be served up at just the right rate. And they must be of quality; meaning what it always means for content - it entertains, it informs, or it offers something of real value. Put out flops and you inflict damage to both Twitter and your brand.

In short, when it comes to Twitter advertising you’re about to pay to get your content in front of more user eyeballs, and in so doing you’re placing a bet that said content is going to be appreciated and welcomed, not a user experience downer.

@mikestiles
Photo: stock.xchng

“Is social marketing over”?! It’s a question that might come as a bit of a shock seeing as how many brands are still in the “just getting started” phase of it.

So to get an answer to our question, and to lessen the shock, we should probably determine just what “social marketing” means. The method of marketing to people by building relationships with them and winning their trust is hardly anything new. Door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen figured that out long ago.

So social is not a marketing method. It’s a medium, a type of media. Look…it’s even right there in the name, social media. It’s a utility, a stage, a delivery and measurement system. It's a way for brands to utilize new technologies to get messaging to customers and prospects, and to help those people receive it in a way that lines up with how they’ve adopted technology into their personal, day-to-day lives.

So if you aren’t social marketing on the medium of social, what are you doing? You’re content marketing and influencer marketing. You’re not “putting out a social.” You’re putting out content and using the medium of social to do it. Certainly it’s unlike any other medium we’ve had access to before. It’s empowered the consumer, upped the mandate of real-time, raised the value of providing real value, and demanded two-way interaction.

Because of that, the medium has also come to be used for functions that formerly were not, but that are increasingly coming under, marketing’s domain; eCommerce, Customer Service, A/B Testing & Research, Recruiting, even Sales & Fulfillment.

This, my friends, is the social-enabled enterprise. In it, CMO’s have more responsibilities and accountability than ever, and it’s the utility of social coursing through the organization like electricity, touching and integrating its multiple components, that has created this new business reorganization.

So the perception that you’re doing “social marketing” when you post on Facebook is technically true. But that’s like saying you’re doing print marketing when you publish a book. In both examples, what you’re actually doing is content marketing. You’re just employing two different types of media to do it.

Now, how does this mental delineation help you?

One, it should underline the degree of importance you should be putting on content creation. Two, it should shorten the debate over whether to “do” social. Marketers today are still driving social with the parking brake on, shocked that such an approach isn’t resulting in immediate, astonishing rewards. Are you prepared to attempt content, influence and event marketing while either eliminating or keeping a stranglehold on the entire medium of social? It’s akin to a CEO saying, “we’re serious about growing this business, but by golly we’re going to do it without phones.”

If you’re approaching social as a method and not embracing it for the medium that it is, then broadcast, print, and outdoor will no doubt still welcome you with open arms. Who knows, there might even be a nostalgic, anti-modern marketing charm to it.

@mikestiles
Photo: Mateusz Stachowski, stock.xchng

Yes, LinkedIn is a very different social network with very different users and a very different purpose than the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not a platform that’s always experimenting, evolving and changing like the others.

In the past few months alone, LinkedIn has made alterations that you, especially if you’re B2B, must be aware of in case they affect current strategy or serve as inspiration for new LinkedIn tactics for your brand.

Congratulations! You’re a Publisher!

Did you ever see a post from one of those LinkedIn Influencers and think to yourself, “Hey, that should be me”? Now it can be. If you can’t publish already, you can apply to do it sooner rather than later. Then you can get people to follow you who aren’t in your network and start building an audience for your content.

But just to give you an idea of how impressed people need to be with your content, the average Influencer post gets over 31,000 views, over 250 likes and around 80 comments. We guess that’s why they’re called Influencers, and we’re proud to count Oracle President Mark Hurd among them.

Hmm, That Didn’t Work, Part 1

In what LinkedIn described as a decision to focus on a few big bets, they shut down LinkedIn Intro. It had only been around less than 4 months, so the decision to stop focusing on it came pretty quickly.

Intro infused LinkedIn contact data into your iPhone email inbox. LinkedIn still likes that idea and will pursue it via partnerships, but to do what it did meant LinkedIn had to scan every email that came into your inbox, which raised security concerns and frankly, successfully scared many people off. Adding to the headache, those that did install Intro had to be sure to uninstall it or their email wouldn’t work properly after the shutdown.

Hmm, That Didn’t Work, Part 2

LinkedIn is shutting down Slidecast (which didn’t make the “we want to focus on this” cut either). That let LinkedIn-owned SlideShare users put up presentations complete with audio. That stops April 30.

I Don’t Have to Deal With You Anymore

LinkedIn provided something users had been asking for in large numbers, a way to block members. It’s called…are you ready for this…”Member Blocking.” But before going nuclear on someone and blocking them, LinkedIn encourages you to try other settings such as disconnect, change your profile visibility, use anonymous profile viewing, and be mindful of what activities you broadcast.

Hmm, That Didn’t Work, Part 3

Sell Hack thought its "Hack In" tool did a pretty cool thing. It let you go to any profile on LinkedIn and with the click of a button, get the email address of that person from LinkedIn’s database. Boy did LinkedIn not like that. After a cease and desist, the tool was removed, though Sell Hack said they’ll be back with something else that fits more in line with LinkedIn’s terms of service.

The Best Way to Get to People

The new “How You’re Connected” tool is right there on profile pages, and shows you not just who in your network knows them (which is pretty helpful in and of itself), but how they know each other. This way you can choose the person to make the introduction that makes the most sense given what you’re trying to accomplish.

How’s Your Content Doing?

Do you want an analytics resource that gives you insight into the impact of your paid and organic content on LinkedIn? Awesome, because that’s exactly how LinkedIn defines their Content Marketing Score. Take your unique engagement on LinkedIn, divide it by your total target audience and there you have it, along with tips on how to get your score up. It’s partner, Trending Content, shows you what stories are resonating best in a range of subject areas.

So Long Products & Services

Products & Services on Company Pages will be gone by April 14th. Who needs it when you now have “Showcase Pages,” which let people follow individual products without following the whole brand? That means more relevant content and communities. Updates still show up on the Company Page though, and show up there in search results.

LinkedIn is doing just fine, 277 million users and adding 2 per second. 40% of users check in daily. There are 3 million business pages and 2.1 million groups, with 8,000 more created weekly. With all that going on, be ready to stay on top of what the inevitable growth spurts might mean for you.

@mikestiles
Photo: stock.xchng

Do you bore people out of their skull at parties?  Do people avoid you because they can never quite figure you out? Then you may not want to volunteer to be put in charge of your brand’s personality or voice.

We’ve all seen them, those charismatic people who can walk into a room and light it right up. People gravitate toward them, want to spend time with them, be associated with them. It’s like they’ve never met a stranger. That’s what you want your brand to be.

Imagine being at a barbecue and someone arrives looking out of place in a buttoned-up suit. They speak and respond to questions in carefully rehearsed lines. They only talk about their agenda. They offer no emotion or opinion. And oh yeah…they have their lawyers with them to carefully vet conversations. Wheee!

It’s very difficult to live life at its fullest with no personality. Yet for decades, corporations have actively fostered the “corporate veil,” which cast them as faceless, inhuman entities with walls that protect them from customers. Relationships? Are you kidding?

Now, post-social revolution, brand personalities are vital. Without one, no one can get to know you, connect with you, like you, root for you, vouch for you…everything we want them to do. Plus, social abhors a vacuum. If you don’t establish a brand personality, the public will project one onto you. And they may cast you as the villain, or the loser.

How do you get a brand personality and internalize it? You make a huge, jargon-filled whitepaper. Just kidding.

• Consider your mission and values
• Decide what you want people to think of when they think of you
• Think about what kind of people your targets are and what they like
• Decide what kind of experience you want people to have with you
• Settle on a tone

As for internalizing, “The Big Bang Theory” has multiple writers. But they can all write for the character of Sheldon because that character has been so clearly defined. They can hear the voice of Sheldon in their heads as they write. Beyond that, there are head writers, directors and the actor himself. If a line or action is inconsistent with the character, they’ll catch it.

Lay out a clear description for employees and representatives of your brand as to what the personality and experience should be. Make this personality the dominant vibe in the workplace (Brands get this wrong. Personality isn’t just for external consumption). Make the personality evident in all assets and communications. The more you live it, the more instinctive it becomes. And don’t half do it. You have to really put your personality out there, just like a person has to.

Some final thoughts on brand personality:

• Inconsistent or erratic personalities confuse (and scare) people. Commit to the character.
• Personalities are hard to break up with. Mysterious inhuman organizations aren’t.
• Studies show brands that display human characteristics connect better because we’re more receptive to messages from those we have an emotional connection with.

Would anyone become an enthused “fan” of Katy Perry if she were a dull, unimaginative wallflower? Even if they liked the songs, without Katy’s personality (present and evident in everything she does), it’s unlikely her brand would be what it is today. What could the power of personality do for your brand?

@mikestiles
Photo: stock.xchng

Today’s post is from Jack Newton, Dir. of Outbound Product Management & Strategy for Oracle Social Cloud. He dispels some of the myths around social ROI, and demonstrates how to put ROI measurement on solid ground.

I have social ROI set up as a Google Alert, and it's rare that a day goes by when there's not something posted about it. There are good reasons for this.

One is that there are many myths about measuring ROI. And just like the definition of a myth – “a… legendary story… with or without a determinable basis of fact” -- myths tend to endure, get passed down and then repeated.

Every good story needs a hero. That hero can be you by following some steps to get your company on solid ground with measuring ROI. And at the same time, set the company on a course to make the entire customer experience better.

Myth 1 – There isn’t a way to correlate social indicators with broader business objectives and metrics.

You may be surprised at how social analytics being collected today can be used to show progress against business goals and objectives.

• Conversations: Number of customers or prospects
• Likes/followers: Customer retention or advocacy
• Customer service requests: Customer satisfaction; time to resolve
• Reach: Brand value or engagement
• Demographics and location: Market expansion

Intrepid Social Spotlight blogger Mike Stiles has covered this topic in more detail – “Social Media Metrics Explained.”

Myth 2 – Social media only applies to marketing.

The fact is, taking advantage of social business practices and sharing insights across the organization can benefit everyone while improving CX.

• Commerce & Sales: Stronger and more relevant messages and customer loyalty
• Customer Support: Call center cost savings and better service
• Human Resources: Talent pipeline strength and employee retention
• Internal Collaboration: Speed to market with new products and services and richer consumer insights

Getting started may take some reaching out to other groups within the organization, but it’s well worth the effort. Nearly two-thirds of Marketing and IT leaders who collaborate report that they’re more effective as professionals.

Myth 3 – Executive leadership isn’t interested in social ROI.

If senior leadership doesn’t show an interest in social ROI, it could be because the numbers aren’t presented in a form that’s relevant to the C-suite.

All organizations have metrics and objectives that are set by company leadership.

If you don't know the primary metrics your company and group use to measure success, you should start there.

If you’re still having trouble getting attention, share these stats to show how getting serious about digital and social can make a positive impact on revenue. According to CapGemini, companies that are more mature from a digital perspective see:

• 9% more revenues on average
• 26% more profit than their competitors
• 12% higher market valuation

Busting More Myths

John Lennon once said, “I believe in everything until it’s disproved.”  Learn about 3 more myths and how to disprove them in a new whitepaper about social ROI, which can be downloaded right here.

Photo: stock.xchng

So you’ve got a lot of Facebook Pages to manage but you still haven’t employed a social relationship management platform to handle them, as well as your other social media channels.  If that’s your situation, the recent revelation Facebook is developing something called the Facebook Business Manager might have struck your interest.

It will only hold your interest, however, if you are a relatively small brand, and are social marketing only on Facebook.

What Facebook is doing with Business Manager is the best it can do, try to help brands and agencies cope with multiple Pages and ad accounts. From Facebook’s own description: management can happen in one place, ad accounts are easier to set up and manage, account permissions are easier and clearer, and you don’t have to friend someone or have their Facebook login email to give them access to accounts (which should help cut down on the building of fake profiles for business Page management).

What does this mean for brand social marketers and agencies? Well it means Facebook sees what third party developers have been doing, and they like it. They think it makes total sense. And while Business Manager is meant to help big brands and agencies, the question arises, what big brand or agency only markets on Facebook?

If anything, this underscores how indispensable a social relationship management platform that offers deeper functionalities and aggregation across multiple social channels is.

• Aggregated analytics across all your properties.
• Tools like Oracle Social’s “Engage” that let you triage, assign, and process all incoming engagement across social networks.
• Publishing and scheduling via a powerful workflow system across multiple social networks.
• Additional security features
• Industry-leading listening capability across the Internet at large

This is modern, enterprise level social marketing. And to their credit, Facebook is not insinuating this is the end of Preferred Marketing Developers, saying, "We're also working on API availability so PMDs can build it into their tools and interfaces, as well as build their own proprietary tools and interfaces on top of it - just like they do with our ads API." They know big players need advanced features and an integrated social marketing picture that doesn’t end with Facebook.

Obviously, we’ll learn more as Facebook Business Manager rolls out to more users and continues its development. But the reality of our social multi-channel world will hopefully inspire you to look more closely into the comprehensive platforms that truly set you up for not just modern marketing, but the socially enabled enterprise.

@mikestiles
Photo: Zlyoga, stock.xchng

If ever there was an industry nervous about using social, it’s financial services.  There are plenty of ways to get into trouble, as opposed to using social to sell cookies. Today’s blog comes to us from Tom Chernaik, CEO of CMP.LY, a social startup whose CommandPost addresses third-party entanglement and adoption issues, disclosure and other legal and measurement challenges. In addition to the blog, give a listen to the recent webcast with Tom and Oracle Social’s Angela Wells, “Making it all Make Sense – The FFIEC’s Consumer Compliance Risk Management Guidance.”  Just register as you would for the live webinar and you'll see the listen on-demand option.

On December 11, 2013, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) published final guidance to address how federal consumer protection and compliance laws, regulations and policies relate to social media activities conducted by retail banks, saving associations and credit unions.

Social media use is subject to virtually the same legal requirements as other forms of business-related media use; the only exception is social media occurs solely on the Internet. Because of this, financial institutions open themselves up to heightened risk by communicating on social, even if they don’t violate specific regulations. To safeguard against these risks, the FFIEC recommends institutions perform appropriate risk assessments (that take into account the institution’s size, activities and risk profile) and build a risk management program; the higher the risk profile, the more detailed the program.

The guidance offers simple steps for creating a risk management program:

• Understand the reason why your institution is (or is not) using social media.
• Discuss institutional objectives for social media use.
• Align corporate objectives with the strategic vision.
• Enforce a governance structure that emphasizes a strong “tone from the top.”

Financial institutions also need to create clear and concise policies that address social media presence and comply with relevant consumer privacy laws and regulations, along with the laws and regulations applicable to advertising and the proper use of consumer disclosures. (For example, Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Programs should be incorporated into a financial institution’s policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the Patriot Act’s recordkeeping and reporting requirements.)

Furthermore, policies should address how to manage consumer information and address consumer complaints. While a financial institution doesn’t need to monitor and respond to all Internet communications on social, it should perform an appropriate review based upon previous risk assessments when evaluating how to monitor and respond to such communications.

Once social media policies have been finalized, financial institutions are responsible for policy implementation and oversight. Institutions should:

• Identify who can use social on behalf of the company, along with what can’t be shared (e.g. private customer information or profanity).
• Explain how employees can use social and the processes and technologies available for employee social media use for business purposes.
• Define the frequency of content publication and processes governing workflow for approval, monitoring and enforcement.
• Distinguish clear roles and responsibilities for supervision.

All in all, the FFIEC’s guidance was primarily intended to help financial institutions understand the risks involved with social media use, clarify existing compliance requirements and responsibilities and encourage the implementation of oversight, processes and controls. However, while practical and intended to be relatively easy to implement, the guidance should be tailored to meet a specific institution’s circumstances and needs.

Photo: stock.xchng

On March 10 in Austin, concurrent with SXSW Interactive, Oracle Social and Chevrolet teamed up to harvest ideas both from those in attendance at the Oracle Discovery Lounge and those in the Twitterverse on possible innovations around 4G connected cars, in-dash applications and overall automotive technology.

As event hosts Rahim Fazal of Oracle and Richard Choi of Chevrolet quickly discovered, followers of @oraclesocial and @Chevrolet are quite the brainstormers. Search #IdeaRally and you’ll get just a small idea of how the car experience is going to be significantly changing in the very near future.

What are your favorite possible applications? Parental controls that let you know if your kid is speeding? Reminders you need something from a store you’re driving near? Directions read by celebrity voices? Immediate alerts car maintenance is needed? Feel free to continue contributing your own ideas to the hashtag. Meanwhile, here’s a speedy infographic powered by Oracle Social’s Listen functionality with stats from the rally.

@mikestiles

Tired of seeing your brand’s reach going down on Facebook?  Considering nothing else brands desire on social, like engagement & conversions, can happen unless content reaches users, paid social is starting to play big in social marketing conversations.

Recently, Oracle Social announced the integration of three inaugural paid partners with its social relationship management platform, a step toward giving customers choice and flexibility while reaping the advantages of connected systems. While at SXSW Interactive, we had our LEGO friend ask them what they’re seeing on the road ahead in terms of putting your money where your post is.

What are some of the more recent innovations that have spoken to making paid social marketing more accountable, more accurate, and more strategic than ever before?

NANIGANS: In today’s world of social media marketing Predictive Lifetime Value™ (PLTV) drives everything. At the core of PLTV within the e-commerce industry for example, is the concept that customers are worth more than their “action” today. Rather than minimizing how much they spend to acquire a customer (cost per action or CPA), in-house performance marketers and agencies have advanced their understanding of their unique ROI across their social advertising spend, looking beyond single purchase conversions to ensure their campaigns are profitable over time. The marketers who will win in the long run will be those who optimize costs and engagement against the predictive lifetime value per customer, better than the competition.

What kind of advantages does being integrated with enterprise components like social marketing, content marketing, CRM, etc. bring to a paid social media platform?

KENSHOO: Integrating paid and owned media platforms along with CRM, content marketing and other systems brings a number of advantages to paid social media platforms like Kenshoo Social, as well as our global advertiser and agency clients. Oracle and Kenshoo customers can now use both platforms together to build truly integrated social marketing campaigns, breaking down the silos between paid and owned media within their organizations and across their marketing programs. The integration allows paid and owned media teams to collaborate in real-time, share insights on advertising and content performance and better optimize their campaigns. By leveraging Kenshoo’s leading search marketing platform as well, Oracle and Kenshoo customers can now create, manage and optimize budgets across their search and social marketing programs alike.

Tell us why it’s getting to be an increasingly ill-advised strategy for a brand to try to execute their social marketing with no paid component attached to it.

SHIFT: Communicating with customers through social marketing is not a “one size fits all” initiative. Since every brand has multiple customer segments that have differing characteristics, they should be reached with messaging that resonates uniquely with each. Paid social marketing gives brands the ability to tailor their messaging and target those specific customer segments. This results in a stronger customer relationship with each segment since brands can connect on an individualized basis as opposed to a single, static message. Paid media gives advertisers a channel to maximize their brand marketing ROI.

@mikestiles

A huge thanks to everyone who made our time in Austin a smashing success, with plenty of parties; the announcement of our inaugural paid media partners Kenshoo, Nanigans and SHIFT; panels with top brands like LEGO, Pernod Ricard, and GM; Oracle's sponsorship of the SXSW Accelerator program; and our incredible #IdeaRally with Chevrolet.

@mikestiles 

The wall-to-wall socializing, networking and learning continues at SXSW Interactive.  And at the Oracle Discovery Lounge, attendees were treated to a presentation by Responsys Sr. Manager of Customer Success Jonathan Petrino on how marketing channels shouldn’t be isolated, but be orchestrated so each empowers the other. The main points for you to consider:

Marketing orchestration is email + mobile + social + display + preferences.

The big dilemma for today’s marketer ismarketing is dealing with massive growth of touch points and addressable media. Therefore, a new post-campaign era model is required.

The post-campaign era is about delivering the right portfolio of interactions across channels and time for relevant, personalized customer experiences.

The model needs to be flipped. Don't start with a campaign, which is then scheduled and sent to the masses. Start with the customers, build profiles, design experiences, and interact individually.

Low orchestration, like broadcast campaigns, are low ROI. High orchestration, like cross channel campaigns, are high ROI.

Marketing orchestration lets you scale, but with the customer at the center. It takes the personalized service you’d get from a rep, and executes it to millions.

Content is delivered cross channel, depending on actions the recipient does or doesn’t take. That has proven to show significantly higher Digital Net Promoter scores.

Asking questions on first contact starts building profiles that help brands deliver highly relevant messaging.

This kind of relevant, persona messaging leads to 2.5x the average open rate and 16x the average click-through rate.

One brand has a social game where you get virtual items for giving desired info or doing things like signing up for the email list.

You can prevent "atomic opt-out" (unsubscribing from all communication) by providing clear communication preference interactions.

Display is the largest digital channel in media spend. But it's usually wasted by anonymous targeting.

Unique journeys for unique customers has led to 20-40% conversion rates.

Now mobile is being added into orchestrated marketing, not just SMS but push, passbook, location, and mobile ads.

Service brands can even use an email, SMS combo to deliver info on what kind of specific work will be done and what time service will begin.

@mikestiles

It was quite the full and successful day at the Oracle Discovery Lounge at SXSW Interactive, as the social leaders of major brands shared their experiences and lessons learned around social ROI, social marketing, social customer service, and social management.

For those who couldn’t make it to Austin or the Waller Creek Boathouse, here are some of the top takeaways.

The Right POEM Equation in Today’s Shifting Social Landscape

Oracle Group VP Meg Bear, Kenshoo Social GM Sivan Metzger, Nanigans Biz Dev SVP Ben Tregoe, and SHIFT CEO James Borow

• In the paid space, you must know what content is performing well and will bring good results for you if it gets some paid support.
• You can't go forward realistically without including all stakeholders in the paid, owned, earned ecosystem.
• Attribution is a challenge. If you make $100, how much of that went to each marketing component?
• The ad is really the last step in a long process, and each step deserves some credit for the win.
• Bigger companies are trying to get into more of a startup mindset so the newest tools can be tried out.
• CMO's seeking to show how each paid social expense speaks directly to business KPI’s is the very near future.

Setting the Record Straight; Say Goodbye to Social ROI Myths

Oracle VP Erika Brookes, LEGO Director Lars Silberbauer, Pernod Ricard’s Jeremie Moritz.

• Having social data is like having your head come up out of the water.
• Lego empowers their front line people to do not just community management, but paid media for immediate action.
• 500 people have been trained in social at Lego. They have a "social driver's license." The process was selective, not everybody was invited to get trained in and participate in social.
• Getting staff to participate on internal social networks helps get everyone used to being more social overall.
• Switch focus to smaller communities consisting of the fans who matter and who are engaging.
• Pernod Ricard doesn't try to understand everything. Data is there to help, not do the whole job for them.

Slamming Social Into High Gear; a GM Case Study on Social

DigiDay’s John McDermott, GM Director Social Media Communications Mary Henige, GM Social Center of Expertise Lead Rebecca Harris

• GM uses social a great deal for customer care, where owners can ask all sorts of service and product questions.
• Their team knows the topics important to their targets and run strategy against it. It's not hit and miss.
• GM uses photos fans send in as their Facebook cover photos, and they're among the most shared.
• Social listening lets them know if there's something their customers aren't understanding or need help with.
• Social and events like SXSW help get them in front of younger demos that may not be eager to walk into a showroom.
• Social listening in a crisis helps you find your biggest advocates & defenders.

Related content you might want to check out:

• FREE whitepaper on measuring social ROI in the enterprise.
• See fun Instagram images coming out of SXSW mixed in with tweets from @oraclesocial with our SXSW Experience Tab.
• Video: Oracle's Meg Bear talks with new paid social partner SHIFT's CEO James Borow.
• Video: Oracle Social's Erika Brookes talks social ROI myths with Pernod Ricard's Jeremie Moritz.
• Video: Oracle Social's Mike Stiles talks with GM's Mary Henige about how you manage such a massive customer base. 
• There's a LOT going on at Oracle Social. Get access to all of it with our brand new one-stop Infowall.
  
  @mikestiles