View the presentation that was given at Finance Connect Mumbai on Tuesday June 10th by Jennifer Grazel, LinkedIn's Global Head of Category Development - Financial Services.
Understand the Trends in the financial sector around social. Learn about the results from Mass Affluent study for India and global case studies on finance.
7. #inFC14
This report explores the way in which SMEs
in India make use of social media.
7
SMEs surveyed across India168
INFLUENCE
Primary decision maker or strong
level of influence in financial
decisions
SMALL/MEDIUM
1 to 1000 employees
INR 5 to 500 crore revenue
8. #inFC14
SMEs in India are currently experiencing widespread growth…
8
Have experienced an
increase in total revenue
over the past year
Have experienced an
increase in customer/client
numbers over the past year
Have experienced an
increase in overall
profitability over the
past year
79%
73%67%
Base: 168 small and medium businesses
9. #inFC14
67%
Of SMEs have been using
social media 1+ years
33%
Recently started or plan to
use in the future
India SMEs are experienced social media users
9
Base: 168 SMEs
10. #inFC14 10
The #1 challenge facing SMEs in today’s market is
attracting new customers
10
72%say attracting new customers
is a challenge their company
will face in the next 12
months
#inFC14
11. #inFC14
4 in 10 business experiencing growth directly attribute revenue to social
media spend.
% reporting each contributed to revenue growth
11
SOCIAL
MEDIA
39%
Base: 133 small and medium enterprises experiencing revenue growth
EMAIL
MARKETING
46%
EVENTS
38%
12. Social media is highly
influential when choosing a
financial services provider
13. #inFC14
The vast majority use social media
for financial purposes…
13
Top 5 uses of social media for
financial purposes
Keep up-to-date on
financial trends
01 60%
02
Gather preliminary
financial information
39%
03
Seek advice on a
financial decision
34%
04
Evaluate or re-think a
previous financial decision
23%
05
Recommend a financial
product to others
21%
Base: 168 small and medium businesses
have used social media for
finance-related reasons80%
14. #inFC14
…with more than six in 10 respondents suggesting they are open to
receiving financial information from LinkedIn
Openness to receiving financial content and information on social media sites
14
Base: 168 small and medium businesses
29% 12%33%33%62%
of growth businesses are receptive to
receiving financial content on LinkedIn
67%
15. #inFC14
This allows LinkedIn to drive action through the content
provided to businesses...
15
Base: 168 small and medium businesses
Learned of a new financial
company
Shared information about
financial trends, products or
companies
Asked a financial representative for
additional information
Discussed a financial product with a
friend or colleague
Learned of a new financial
product/policy
Conducted additional research
on a financial product
24% 31% 25%
22% 27% 29%
16. #inFC14
Of the 2/3 of SMEs who actioned a response, 1/3 were
driven to purchase.
Path to Purchase
Base: 143 LinkedIn users
DISCOVERY
Gather info / stay up-
to-date
CONSIDERATION
Seek advice/info to make
a purchase
DRIVEN TO PURCHASE ON
LINKEDIN
(Insurance policy and/or
investment product)
34%
18. #inFC14
Nearly two in five Mass Affluent use social for financial
education or research
18GLOBAL
of all Mass Affluent use social for
discovery or consideration of financial
companies, products or services
36%
DISCOVERY BOTH CONSIDERATION
10%7% 20%
19. #inFC14
Engagement with financial companies is considerably higher among
Mass Affluent in earlier life stages
19
BASE SIZE: Social media users / * Caution Small Base Size India
% Engaged with Financial Companies (by Life Stage)
Soon to retire/
Retired*74%Accumulating
Wealth94%
of Mass Affluent social media users are
engaging with financial institutions
90%
20. #inFC14
Approximately 80% of Mass Affluent social users read content, review
multimedia, and follow financial companies
83% 81% 77%
FOLLOW OR LIKE
financial companies on
social media
REVIEW MULTIMEDIA CONTENT
from financial companies
on social media
READ CONTENT
from financial companies
on social media
BASE SIZE: Social media users / India
21. #inFC14
Info learned on social about a financial company, product, or account
most likely comes from social connections or ads
What was the specific source of the financial information you learned via social media?
21
India
FINANCIAL COMPANY
OR INSTITUTION
FINANCIAL PRODUCT,
POLICY OR ACCOUNT
40%
60%
62%
66%
34%
57%
75%
68%A member of my social network
An advertisement
Company sponsored content/updates
An industry expert/executive
22. #inFC14
At least one in five considers increased transparency a valuable result
from a company’s social presence
What was the specific source of the financial information you learned via social media?
22
BASE SIZE: Social media users / India
ACTIVITIES BANK LIFE INSURANCE CO. CREDIT CARD CO.
Improved customer service 17% 26% 35%
Greater transparency of information 20% 23% 20%
Timely updates 18% 15% 9%
More personalized experience 15% 12% 12%
VALUE - +
23. #inFC14
With a social presence come expectations for information and account
communications from financial companies
Information wanted via financial companies on social media:
23
BASE SIZE: Social media users / India
ACTIVITIES BANK LIFE INSURANCE CO. CREDIT CARD CO.
New product or services information 73% 67% 71%
Updates on account or policy changes 67% 68% 62%
General company information 58% 55% 46%
Posts from an industry expert/executive 50% 52% 45%
Market and economic commentary 52% 45% 48%
VALUE - +
24. #inFC14
But, many Mass Affluent aren’t getting the information they want from
financial companies on social media
Information wanted vs. received via financial companies on social media:
24
BASE SIZE: Social media users / India
ACTIVITIES GAP BANK LIFE INSURANCE CO. CREDIT CARD CO.
New product or services information
Updates on account or policy changes
General company information
Posts from an industry expert/executive
Market and economic commentary
-30
-27
-23
-20
-15
-21
-27
0
-21
-17
-18
-18
-9
-9
-11
-30
-27
-23
-20
-15
-21
-27
0
-21
-17
-18
-18
-9
-9
-11
27. #inFC14
American Express integrated approach in LI ecosystem
fuels customer journey
27
BUILDING BRAND
ADVOCACY
POWERING USER
EXPERIENCE
DRIVING NEW
MEMBERS
AND CARD
ACQUISITIONS
29. 29
200+ years of heritage…
Individuals Businesses Institutions & Governments
ENABLING & CATALYST OF
PROGRESS
30. 30
Progress
Content Schema Mapped to Global Events
Environment
Financial Literacy
Community
Urbanization
Emerging Markets
WOMEN
1. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FROM CITI EXPERTS
2. CITI CONTENT
3. 3RD PARTY CONTENT
CORE CONTENT
SOURCES
32. 32
Citi’s Ecosystem on LinkedIn
From networking, to news, communities, thought leaders & brands
Over 1.5M Touch Points
Homepage
Company Page
568K
Sponsored
Updates
Group
310K
Pulse
568K Influencer
42K
35. #inFC14 35
Key Tenets to building a relationship with Content Marketing
Don’t Just Sell, Add Value
Ask Them What They Want to Hear
Be Human
Tap Into the Power of Story
Empower Employees to Contribute Content
Compel Your Customers to Spread the Word
Good evening, thrilled to be here this afternoon with you. As xx mentioned I lead the Financial Services category for LI globally and joined 3 ½ years ago. Having sat in your shoes for most of my career, came to LI to help evangelize and drive social transformation in FI
In helping clients drive change and support within their organization, we launched FinanceConnect , 3 years ago – a forum for leading financial markets to come together to discuss trends, best practices and challenges in evolving their social ecosystems
Would like to share a clip from FC14 which was held during a blizzard this February in NY
Rise of the Customer was theme that anchored the days conversation with Trust filtering into every conversation.
Without underlying trust, words ring hollow. But with a trusted brand, marketing can be truly inspiring.
Paul Butcher, Head of Digital Communications at Citi, eloquenthly captured this : Trust comes not just from a single interaction but from the entire relationship with the customer. “Brand trust is what you build between a past and future interaction,” he said. “It’s a matter of time and a matter of integrity.
3 key takeaways from the conference are
Authenticity, relevancy and dialogue are essential components in building a sustainable relationship with customers. No better medium than Social to do this
2. Importance of Listening – importance of taking time and understanding unique needs of audience (Context is Queen) – we will get into this a bit later
3. Harnessing Data – internal & external - informs us and helps us make better decisions
Brands that are succeeding are evolving their systems and tapping into social to harness big data to a provide a more contextualized experience (Amex discussed with us amex open relaunch with LI powering login and profile identity of Open forum members (augmenting knowledge of their member set)
They discussed understanding moments of Truth – harness 16 mths of social data (honed in on 47k from 40 millions convesations ) to understand adjacencies to the purchase path.
Moving from Information to Insight is critical in driving higher relevance
We recently rolled out TrendIn and Content marketing score to help you identify sweetspots
And relevant content can be a bridge to meaningful relationships
In helping our clients better understand how key target segments are tapping into social and how that informs their financial decision, we conducted two global studies – one aroung SMEs and the second around Mass affluent.
SME are critical to driving nation’s gdp and our a key source of employment throughout the world – in US – we saw that $5.5Trillion revenue were impacted by social media – let’s see how
As part of a larger global study, we surveyed 168 SMEs on LI – Small and medium enterprises fall between INR 5 to 500 crore
Recruit was filtered by
Individuals who own or who are currently employed in a senior role in a businesses with a total annual revenue of INR 5 to 500 crore
The business had to currently make use of social media or plan to use it in the future
Had to be the primary decision maker or have a strong level of influence over financial decisions in their business
Had to make financial decisions that influenced the entire business or their division/business unit
Survey targeting:
Company Size 1-1000 or SMB Inferred
50+ connections
CXOs, Small Business Owners and Partners seniority (INTERNAL ONLY: In soft launch 70%+ of lower seniority respondents had no financial decision making influence – for Members First reasons, we could not continue to sample and terminate them)
Similar to the US, small and medium enterprises are experiencing growth in India. In fact
79% experience increase in total revenue, 67% increase in profitability.
QUESTION TEXT: For each of the following statements, please indicate whether your business has increased, decreased or stayed the same this year compared to last year?
Not surprising, 2 in 3 SMEs are experienced in social media – with remaining looking to leverage this medium
Businesses not currently using or not planning to use social media were excluded from the survey.
Just getting started 6%
Less than 12 months 16%
1-3 years 32%
More than 3 years 35%
Do not currently, but plan to use social media in the future 11%
Do not currently, and not planning to use social media in the future 0%
Not surprising, finding new customers was the number 1 business challenge globally.
QUESTION TEXT: We would like to better understand the range of challenges you face as a financial decision maker or influencer. Which of the following challenges will your company face in the next 12 months?
Attracting new customers 72%
Finding and hiring good employees 71%
Reducing costs 57%
Increasing profit margins 54%
Training, motivating, and retaining employees 54%
Retaining current customers 46%
Keeping up with technology 46%
Understanding how social media can impact my business 45%
Efficiently managing business operations and back office work 44%
Marketing and advertising effectively 44% Managing cash flow 42%
Finding and implementing time-saving solutions or processes 41%
Learning how my company is doing relative to competitors 40%
Finding answers to my questions about how I can improve my company’s business 35%
Getting credit/financing/access to funding for my company 33%
Understanding how to work within government regulations 21%
None of these 1%
Over 1/3 of businesses are correlating revenues growth to social media investment.
QUESTION TEXT: Which of the following forms of advertising would you say has contributed to the growth that your business has experienced over the past year?
Email marketing 46%
Social media and social ads (e.g. Promoted tweets, Sponsored updates, Display/text ads on social media) 39%
Events 38%
Direct post 25%
Offline ads (e.g. TV, Print, Radio, Outdoors) 24%
Online ads not on social media (e.g. Display, Video, Ad words, Search, etc.) 22%
Redirecting websites (e.g. Yellow pages) 17%
Other (please specify) 12%
None of these 12%
It is not surprising that SMBs are most receptive to learning about financial products on LinkedIn
Why is this:
In today’s economic environment, transparency and authenticity in business are held at a premium.
Financial institutions must turn to channels that SMBs consider relevant and trustworthy.
80% of SMEs are leveraging social for financial purposes. What do we mean by this
60% are staying update on financial trends
39% are turning to social in discovery phase – searching for key information
34% are seeking advice (consideration)
¼ are evaluating or rethinking a decisons
Hopefully, the next takeaway – is that social essential part of consumer decision journey.
QUESTION TEXT: For which of the following purposes have you turned to social media?
No significant differences between medium/large businesses
Medium businesses: 82% use social media for financial purposes
Large businesses: 76% use social media for financial purposes
Of course, we wanted to know were there any differences in receptivity – six in ten actually expressed openess to receiving financial content from brands – this is 2x greater than other social platforms
QUESTION TEXT: How open are you to receiving financial content and information from companies you do business with on the following media sites/services?
LinkedIn was also the most popular network amongst those experiencing revenue growth (full stats below, Base: n=108 SMEs experiencing revenue growth)
LinkedIn - NET open 67%
Facebook - NET open 35%
Google - NET open 35%
Twitter - NET open 32%
Pinterest - NET open 13%
In peeling the onion back further, we wanted to understand the actions undertaken around content on LI
¼ shared information around key trends, product or companies
¼ asked a financial rep for additional information
¼ followed up offline discussing key insight with family members or colleagues
QUESTION TEXT: On which social media sites have any of the following actions ever occurred as a result of your hearing or reading something on social media?
FULL BREAKDOWN OF ACTIONS ON LINKEDIN
Learned about a financial company/institution I/my company was not previously aware of 31%
Conducted additional research on a financial product/policy or account type 29%
Learned of a financial product/policy or account type I/my company was not previously aware of 27%
Asked a financial professional for additional information about a financial product/policy or account type 25%
Shared information about financial trends, products/policies/solutions, or financial institutions/ companies 24%
Discussed a financial product/policy or account type with a family member, friend, or colleague 22%
Contacted a financial representative 16%
Purchased an investment product 15%
Purchased an insurance policy 13%
Opened a new financial account 7%
Closed a financial account my company previously owned 5%
Other (please specify) 1%
None of the above 35%
Of 2/3 of Smes who actioned a response, 1/3 were driven to purchsae
QUESTION TEXT: On which social media sites have any of the following actions ever occurred as a result of your hearing or reading something on social media?
Q33 (q27) vs. Use of social media for financial purposes (2)
Discovery (75% use social media for financial ‘Discovery’ purposes)
Use social media to gather preliminary information or/and
Stay up-to-date on financial trends/ products/ companies
Consideration (56% use social media for financial ‘Consideration’ purposes)
Use social to seek advice or gather info to make a financial decision or/and
evaluate or re-think a financial decision
Mass Affluent defined as INR 25 lakh to less than INR 2 crore (~$50k - $375k USD) in investable assets– over 100 respondents.
Nearly 2 in 5 use social media for financial education – on par with other regions – this will only increase with entry of emerging mass affluent
Q 40. For which of the following purposes have you turned to social media? Select ALL that apply
Q 43. Which of the following actions, if any, have ever occurred as a result of your hearing or reading something on social media? Select ALL that apply
Discovery:
Turn to social to keep up-to-date on financial trends or gather preliminary information about products/policies/solutions, or institutions/companies
Have learned of a financial company/institution or product/policy solution via social media
Consideration:
Turn to social to seek advice or gather information to help make a specific financial decision, or rethink a financial decision I have already made
Have conducted additional research or asked a financial professional, family member, friend or colleague about a financial product/policy/account type after learning about it on social media
Purchase:
Opened a new financial account or purchased an investment product or insurance policy
Closed a financial account I previously owned
Advocate:
Use social to recommend a financial product/policy/service to others
Share information about financial trends, products/policies/solutions, or financial institutions/companies learned via social media
Close to 90% are engaging with Financial Institution via social (comparable to brazil). Accumulating wealth (younger) higher incidence
Q 93. Which of the following best describes your current life stage?
Q48-53: Below are a number of ways you may interact with financial companies or institutions via social media. Please tell us on which, if any, social media platforms you do each of the following:
Follow or like companies
Engage in conversation/share your opinion with companies
Participate in group discussions hosted by companies
Receive service/support from companies
Read posts/content from companies
Review multimedia content from companies (e.g., watch video or website, listen to podcast)
In particular, over 80% are following and reading content, with slightly less engaging with multimedia content. Enormous opportunity for you to engage with this audience.
Q48-53: Below are a number of ways you may interact with financial companies or institutions via social media. Please tell us on which, if any, social media platforms you do each of the following:
Follow or like companies
Engage in conversation/share your opinion with companies
Participate in group discussions hosted by companies
Receive service/support from companies
Read posts/content from companies
Review multimedia content from companies (e.g., watch video or website, listen to podcast)
Both advertising and insights from social graph are key information sources in discovery
Q44. Thinking about the financial product/policy or account type you learned about via social media, what was the specific source(s) from which you learned this information?
Q45. Thinking about the financial company/institution you learned about via social media, what was the specific source(s) from which you learned this information?
With engagement with branded content, also come a desire for greater transparency and better customer service
Q 60. If a [INSERT FINANCIAL_SECTOR] were to have a presence on social media, what would you consider the most valuable result of this presence? Please rank up to 3, where 1 is most important, 2 is second most important, and 3 is third most important.
Similarly, new product information and policy updates are key source of information they are looking forward
Q 58. If a [INSERT FINANCIAL_SECTOR] were to have a presence on a social media platform (sponsor a group, establish a company page, etc.), what types of information would you want to receive from it? Select all that apply
Tremendous opportunity – considerable gap between information they desire and currently from FI
Q 59. Which, if any, of the following do you recall receiving from a [INSERT FINANCIAL_SECTOR] via social media? Select all that apply
Q 58. If a [INSERT FINANCIAL_SECTOR] were to have a presence on a social media platform (sponsor a group, establish a company page, etc.), what types of information would you want to receive from it? Select all that apply
Key message: Compelling content is what pulls people through their purchase journey.
Key Message: Amex’s OPEN Forum is the very essence of content and community management.
OPEN Forum is a site dedicated to small business owners hosted by American Express and is the very essence of content and community marketing. The success of the site is not in doubt with millions of visitors, hundreds of contributors and over 20,000 followers.
The mission of the site is to “connect small business owners to information, education, and each other.” OPEN Forum is essentially a community that gives business owners: Information and educational content. The content is very practical for example lots of ‘how to..’ articles, Insights from industry experts and business owners. There are over 200 contributors, Tools to connect and collaborate. User generated content. The community is built around this and works because it meets their collective need
This is a great start but this space is still wide open. And it’s powered by LinkedIn.
Amex success on LinkedIn is largely driven by their integrated approach and investment in our ecosystem
They are building brand advocacy thru compelling content
Enhancing their site experience thru LI data
Drive new member and card holders thru social ad and new card accts via inmail – in fact social ads are 5x more effective than normal display and inmails are extremely effective –backend conversion
They also started to see how LinkedIn was helping them grow.As this recent article shows, LinkedIn “shares” top 13,000, outperforming Twitter, Facebook and Google+. In fact, looked at the last 30 days of most shared articles, LinkedIn outperformed all other social networks COMBINED.
Acknowledging how well LinkedIn performed for Member Growth, Open Forum incorporated a LogIn with LinkedIn button/API to their homepage. In fact, LinkedIn is their top performing site driving membership – with registration 10X higher than other sites, and the people visiting open forum, not current customers, started to convert at 5X the rate than we had seen on the broader web.
Citi also has also adopted an integrated ecosystem approach across LI. They have focused on restoring consumer confidence and re-building trust after financial crisis
Their brand aspiration centered around “enabling and being a catalyst of progress”. They have been celebrating long heritage of progress they supported across the world from having the vision for financing Panama Canal to funding the transatlantic cable. They are committed to supporting innovation across individuals, business and institution and governments.
In fact, here in Mumbai they provided an epayment gateway for the government to distribute tax payments.
Progress is the overarching theme communicated across all content. 6 key content pillars that roll up into Progress. Content schema centered around the Environment, Financial Literacy, Community, Urbanization, Emerging Markets, Women.
All content has to pass test of would I care, would I share. Content is tailored to specific social platforms and sourced thru key experts, 3rd party pubs and xx.
Citi is interweaving Progress throughout our platform –
starting with Company page they are tailoring and sharing organic posts with their followers, and amplifying engaging posts further thru sponsored updates
In addition they are humanizing their brand thru influencer program
In fact they built a robust ecosystem with over 1.5M touch points
Integrating progress
They are measuring success thru quarterly tracking of key brand attributes and NPS score, media performance and earned media.
In fact with their current scale, the received for each paid impression – an earned impression.
Key Message: You can no longer throw ads in your customers’ faces and hope they’ll bite.
Siloed marketing campaigns asking for the sale are sure to fall flat. Today’s audiences want to be informed and respected as a participant in a dialogue.
You have to show them respect by backing off on the sales pitches, and choosing instead to educate them and entertain them.
Achieving success through a content marketing effort can vary, but here are a few suggestions for best practices to help advertisers kick-start their programs:
Don’t Just Sell, Add Value
Offer useful content that will earn you credibility with your desired audience. Give them information that will make them smarter, more productive, more successful or the first in the know. Helping them shine will work in your favor in the long run.
Ask Them What They Want to Hear
There are a myriad of ways to gain greater understanding of your audience, but there’s no better barometer than the conversations you hear on the platforms where you have a constant stream of information. This isn’t to say you should put all your eggs in the content marketing basket, but it’s not something you can afford to ignore. It’s an opportunity to engage through authentic conversations at scale, and capture metrics that can be used to develop content that will work.
Be Human
Find ways to incentivize without blatant self-promotion and don’t shy away from humor. Its appeal is universal and a bit of lighthearted banter can go a long way. Doing so shows that your brand is invested in more than the sale, making you a trusted source when purchase decisions are made. In time you’ll find real value in your investment through the engagement you see, the relationships you built, the amplification of your messages and ultimately, the impact on your revenue.
Tap Into the Power of Story
Embrace the impact of storytelling. Schedule sessions with sales teams, customer service reps and anyone else who touches your customers. Ask them to bring one success story and one challenge so that each person is prepared to share a story that infuses go-forward content.
Empower Employees to Contribute Content
Your employees were hired for their expertise in a function that relates to your business. It might not be obvious to them that everything they know about a particular function or industry or business practice might be valuable insight to your customers and prospects. But with a little encouragement and communication of the “what’s in it for them” (e.g. good for their career/professional development, management recognition, etc.), you can help allay their fears and take what’s in their head and on to your social presence.
Update your content plan to draw from the expertise of employees through contributed content, interviews and surveys. Make sure you have a feedback loop in place to encourage the desired behavior.
The best, most human stories come from your employees—from the guy in the mailroom to the woman in the corner office. Design a plan for obtaining their stories so you can share them in a creative way on your blog, and then with your social networks. You have to be creative and work with them to make it a success. Design ways for them to get the information to you, and then ways for you to organize the information so you can communicate it most effectively.
Compelling Your Customers to Spread the Word
Satisfied customers are one of a brand’s most valuable assets. However, marketers risk wasting that asset if they fail to activate potential advocates through social media. Based on research from Social@Ogilvy, satisfaction does not translate into advocacy unless companies actively generate it.
Dig into your channels and identify any existing brand advocates. Who is consistently sharing, commenting or helping answer other people’s questions. Know who your advocates are and then create a plan to reward and engage them further.!
It means if you aren’t active on social networks, you’re missing the boat. There are people out there that like you, and it’s your job to engage them and encourage them to tell other people they like you. It’s a simple concept to understand, but a not-so-simple one to act on unless you know how to run and manage your social channels. If you can’t do it yourself, find someone who can.