What’s In Your Network? Let’s FACEbook It, If You’re not Tweeting, You’re Not LinkedIn
Mar 9, 2010
Social media, the buzz of 2009, is the opportunity for 2010. Unless you have been dialed into one of the social networks you’re probably asking yourself what it’s all about. You know your friends are on it, your kids are on it, and most likely your significant other. Still you ask, “What can it do for me?”
The answer is, more than you can imagine. Just take a look at what it did for President Obama. Seeking a way to reach out to younger voters (because they are the least likely to vote), Obama employed an aggressive and ground-breaking social media campaign which carried his single-minded message of “hope and change.” Many observers attribute Obama’s victory to just such social media efforts.
Technology is fueling change and the primary change required to do the unusual begins with how we think. One thing is certain, business as usual is out. Business unusual is in.
Social media ranks at the top of new tools to reach current and potential customers. Nielsen reports that unique monthly visitors to Twitter grew nearly 1,400% (February 2008 to February 2009), Facebook is signing up one million new members per day and archetypal online communities like LinkedIn have shown strong growth since their launches.
Social media has become so prevalent that when a company chooses not to utilize it, it’s cast in a negative light. When reports first surfaced about Toyota’s problems with unintended acceleration, the automaker had an ideal opportunity to make the most of social platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to manage their branding crisis. However, Toyota remained silent. In doing so, it gave up the chance to communicate to its 70,000 fans on Facebook. The Japanese car manufacturer also under-utilized its Twitter account to get the news to its 14,000 followers. Toyota posted a mere six tweets regarding the recall — a shockingly low number for a brand in crisis management mode.
The emergence of social media gives just about any user, particularly a broker, a powerful communication platform offering almost unmatched immediacy and reach, whereby you can build targeted audiences for your messages organically, virally, and geometrically.
The first step to creating social media value is to understand what it means to be “present in the marketplace.”
The marketplace continues to shift online. While you may have an offline presence the marketplace will not hear or find you unless you are also online. I know this is a difficult proposition for many, but just look at the younger generations who are born with an iPod in their hand. They do not know or care to understand how people got along in the world without a cell phone. In order to compete, we must accept and adapt to this new business culture.
Make yourself available to the market where the market is. Then listen and learn how the market behaves and what influences the behavior. You have to understand before you can be understood. Lastly, think about the market’s intent and how you can exceed expectations by creating sustainable value.
Here are some rules to live by:
- Start slow.
- Keep your message on point.
- Be creative.
- Listen.
- Pull the media in instead of pushing the message.
- Be yourself.
- Use it to actually interact, not sell.
As social media is integrated into the marketing mix, you will understand that it’s about people. Talk less about your products and more about the desires of customers. In nine cases out of 10, they will do the selling for you. Again, it’s about them, not about you. Managing your message is a delicate balance.
So how can you capitalize and grow your business by implementing social media tactics? Where do you begin? Let’s look at a few of the most popular social media sites, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and how you can use them to communicate to current customers and new prospects.
Are you LinkedIn?
Most likely, you are. And maybe you’ve never thought of LinkedIn as a social media site. But it is, in a big way. For most folks, LinkedIn begins with contacting people they know—their friends, colleagues, and AHU-type associates. Then they sit back and glow over all the contacts they have established and wait for hordes of new prospects, all begging to use their services. Let me break the bad news, that’s never going to happen. Never. In order to make LinkedIn work for you, you need to work LinkedIn. Stop and think about it. Why would your associates buy from you when you all sell insurance for a living?
You want to reach out to folks you don’t know and build a relationship. The way to do that is by becoming an active participant. Here are a few suggestions:
- Start a discussion post.
- Post news articles.
- Join groups.
- Ask and answer questions.
- Be diligent about posting status updates.
- Make sure your profile lets people know what you do and more importantly, how you can help them. Don’t just post your resume.
Remember, all of this should be done with the purpose of generating connections to people you don’t know so that you can increase the likelihood of receiving “unexpected opportunities.”
When it comes to posting something, make sure it’s something of value. For example, when it comes to health insurance, many people don’t understand health savings accounts. You might start a discussion post asking “How can an HSA save you money?” Follow that with a list of the benefits and add a link to an interesting article about HSAs. Finally, end it by asking, “What do you think about HSA’s?”
The purpose, of course, is to create new opportunities, but first you need to engage people. Then add credibility to yourself by linking what you’ve posted to either an informative article you’ve written, one you’ve found on the web or to your blog.
Facebook. The story of you.
When Facebook opened to the whole world, its reach extended beyond the collegiate set. Facebook is anything but child’s play. Many Facebook users are Senior Managers, Directors, VPs, and CEOs. In fact, it’s reported that 91% of decision-makers consume social media including blogs, video, and customer reviews. That’s great news for insurance agents.
You can enjoy great success utilizing Facebook provided you follow a few simple rules – post frequently, post consistently, and post engagingly. The format is open-ended and can take the form of a general opinion piece, a perspective on a new study/survey/news item, even a new product announcement. An article, if written well and conversationally, can be far more engaging than say, a formal e-Newsletter. Keep in mind, your messages need to be short, succinct and delivered with “your personality.” Don’t post some white paper – remember, we live in a soundbite society.
Deploying a Facebook account also sends a message that you are a forward-thinking, progressive broker that knows how to leverage media and technology.
One of the things that sets Facebook apart from other social media sites is that it offers users the ability to post video and live streaming video.
I tweet, therefore I am.
Twitter’s stated reason for being is to give you the ability to let people know what you are doing at that very moment. Communicating with family, friends, associates, and the greater viral world in pithy 140 character “tweets” has obvious use and value.
There is no one right or wrong way to use Twitter, only the way that works best for you. That said, avoid selling, pushing a message over and over and focusing only on yourself. Most people who are successful in the world of any social medium will tell you that engagement is key. You have to give before you ever get (just as in “real life”) and, typically, you reap what you sow. Translation: The more you give, the more you get.
Now you’re ready to supercharge your message.
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are all important and increasingly effective tools, but exponentially so when combined with traditional media. Social media functions like an extended echo chamber where messages are conveyed, sustained, and amplified; to borrow a phrasemarketing messages are, for the most part “platform-agnostic.” They may first appear between the pages of a magazine or on a mainstream website, and then get propagated through social media channels or they may flow in the reverse direction.
When social media is used strategically and integrated with your over-arching sales and marketing communications, your message is amplified and your reach extended. That’s why it’s imperative you give your social media initiatives the same thought, consistency, and creativity that you do your traditional sales and marketing communications.
Keep three things in mind when you are using social networking sites:
- It takes time.
- It requires trust.
- It must exemplify knowledge.
Being sociable is easy but being social is hard work. As anyone who has ever attended a business function will attest, the trick is making it look easy. Like all things, the more you practice the better you become. Make a commitment to dedicate an hour every other day to engage in this exciting new medium and folks will begin anticipating and looking for your next message. Translation: Sales opportunity.
This is part one of a two part article. Part two will focus on developing a successful social media strategy. You can also learn more about social media at the Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters’ University Day. The event will be held on April 21, 2010 at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, CA. For more information visit www.laahu.org and click on the University Day logo.
Ken Doyle has over 25 years of experience in the health insurance industry and serves as Director of Marketing for Warner Pacific, a top producing General Agency for many of the nation’s largest insurance carriers. He is the Immediate Past President of the Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters, a frequent presenter at industry forums and is prolific in keeping the agent front and center in the healthcare reform debate. You can connect with him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter (kendoyle62) or send him an email at kend@warnerpacific.com.
