BENCHMARKING SOCIAL MEDIA - VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER - CROWDSOURCING - WORD OF MOUTH IN BANKING, FINANCIAL SERVICES, INSURANCE (B2C - B2B - B2B2C - WORLDWIDE)
I invite you to watch my initial video comments on Ubank's Time Capsule:
UBank's USB Key Contest - May 2009 I invite you to read my post from 5th May when I broke the news about UBank's fresh and successful USB Key initiative which helped them to quickly increase their number of followers on twitter.
Slide - UBank and Twitter Please find below the slide I used in my video. I invite you to check the whole presentation I put together for my speech at the Future of Digital Marketing in London.
Visible Banking Quick Wins Most of the time, you can quickly identify several areas for improvement, easy to fix, which would make your social media initiatives more successful: * simplify and optimize your interface * identify passionate contributors among your employees * produce a stronger editorial line and more valuable content * identify your influencers (advocates and detractors) and start building relationships with them asap * promote your initatives on your own assets (public website, online banking...) * fully leverage all the key social media sites to cross-market your initiatives and your content
And above all, find the best way to REWARD people for visiting, contributing, sharing, and promoting your initiatives!
I would be delighted to have a chat with you about your social media strategy, so please do not hesitate to call me on +44 7736 446 357 or send me an email to christophe[dot]langlois[at]visible-banking[dot]com.
Visible Banking - Unique Insights on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Blogging I invite you to watch the video teaser I produced to introduce the event and promote my presentation.
Earlier this year, I started to track financial institutions on several popular social media sites. I hope you are already familiar with my Visible Banking Twitter Watch Series (#13 updates so far).
Today, I am tracking 1,293 blogs, twitter accounts, YouTube channels and Facebook pages/groups/apps from financial services firms (banks, central banks, credit unions, insurance companies, credit card issuers, tax and mortgage specialists) in 38 countries.
Register - 20% Discount I believe you can still register to attend the second day of the conference on 3rd November. Use [this link] to fill in the registration form. It will give you access to a 20% discount on the total price.
SOMESSO & Social Media You can interact with the SOMESSO team directly on their official twitter account, and follow the discussions on the event using the same hashtag used at the london event, #smo09.
Visible Banking Quick Wins Most of the time, you can identify a lot of areas for improvement, easy to fix, which would make your social media initiatives more successful: * simplify and optimize your interface * identify passionate contributors among your employees * produce a stronger editorial line and more valuable content * identify your influencers (advocates and detractors) and start building relationships with them asap * promote your initatives on your own assets (public website, online banking...) * fully leverage all the key social media sites to cross-market your initiatives and your content
And above all, find the best way to REWARD people for visiting, contributing, sharing, and promoting your initiatives!
I would be delighted to have a chat with you about your social media strategy, so please do not hesitate to call me on +44 7736 446 357 or send me an email to christophe[dot]langlois[at]visible-banking[dot]com.
Visible Banking Interviews 2.0 I invite you to check the list of my video interviews with some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs in online finance and the social media champions in the finance industry.
Working with Louise has been a great, enjoyable, experience right from the first time we spoke on the phone: she has done an excellent job liaising with me and the workshop participants.
An Interactive, Flexible, Insightful Workshop Not only I am honored to contribute to such a popular and prestigious event, but I am also excited that my workshop is apparently the most popular workshop in the history of the event so far.
I very much look forward to leading the workshop, sharing my knowledge and passion for social media, and facilitating conversations with the 30+ participants coming from 10 countries. How exciting!
By experience it is always tricky to satisfy such a large group with various level of understanding and hands-on experience with social media, but I am up to the task! I will make sure all the participants leave the workshop fully satisfied, inspired, and with some actionnable insights.
Please find below more info on the content, the format, and my approach for this highly interactive workshop.
It is your workshop, so please do not hesitate to contact me before the workshop to confirm your expectations and submit your questions in advance.
Follow Loyalty World on Twitter I won't be able to neither attend nor cover the 2-day conference as I have been invited to speak at another social media conference in Zurich on 3rd November.
About Loyalty World Now in its 7th year, Loyalty World 2009 is a unique conference designed to assist you to understand all the complex elements that go into designing a successful loyalty strategy.
Visible Banking Quick Wins Most of the time, you can identify a lot of areas for improvement, easy to fix, which would make your social media initiatives more successful: * simplify and optimize your interface * identify passionate contributors among your employees * produce a stronger editorial line and more valuable content * identify your influencers (advocates and detractors) and start building relationships with them asap * promote your initatives on your own assets (public website, online banking...) * fully leverage all the key social media sites to cross-market your initiatives and your content
And above all, find the best way to REWARD people for visiting, contributing, sharing, and promoting your initiatives!
I would be delighted to have a chat with you about your social media strategy, so please do not hesitate to call me on +44 7736 446 357 or send me an email to christophe[dot]langlois[at]visible-banking[dot]com.
Visible Banking Interviews 2.0 I invite you to check the list of my video interviews with some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs in online finance and the social media champions in the finance industry.
It is a fact that twitter is no the most secure social media channel out there. That is why tweeple must make sure to never disclose any sensitive personal info.
It is not surprising to see most twitter accounts dedicated to customer support reminding their followers to be cautious not only on their twitter bakground but also in frequent dedicated updates. If you are looking for best practices, I invite you to check Ask_WellsFargo and BofA_Help.
You surely do have a process in place whereby one person log on at least once a day to to check your DMs and your updates, don't you?
Yes, there is a risk your twitter account will be spammed sooner or later. Is it such a big deal? No, as long as you deal with it and you demonstrate you care about (and respect) your followers!
And don't worry too much, there are ways to minimize the risk of being spammed and the impact of spamming: 1. check your own updates at least once a day before leaving the office 2. check your sent DMs 3. refrain from using twitter apps which ask for your password 4. change your password on regular basis In case your account has been hacked: 5. send an update to confirm your account has been hacked... and you are on it! 6. delete the unwanted updates 7. share you experience on your blog or facebook page and help your readers deal with spam too
Twitter is a Great Addition to Your Customer Care Strategy I still believe that engaging on twitter with your customers is not only possible but highly valuable. Contrary to an efficient secure web chat service on your site, connecting on twitter gives you the reach and it helps you drive customer advocacy, increase customer retention, and increase propensity to do business with your company.
And financial institutions must remind themselves what twitter is, its challenges and its limits. Your updates are limited to 140 characters so it is obviously not made for sending comprehensive answers and engaging in lenghty discussions with your clients.
But it is the perfect tool to point people to the right direction and help them save time: you acknowledge people's questions and concerns, and you connect with them with the most appropriate call to action such as a url to some existing content on your website or the direct phone number of the relevant telephone banking team.
Visible Banking Twitter Watch & Social Media Directory I invite you to check my most recent Visible Banking Twitter Watch where I track over 740 accounts from financial institutions in 39 countries.
You will find unique insights from the finance industry, key news, and you will be able to follow the progress of the most successful financial institution on the most popular micro-blogging site.
Flashback - ING's Pickuradvisor.com: Spam, Lack of Moderation & Active Listening This spamming issues reminded me of Pick Your Advisor, the innovative social media initiative in the life insurance space launched in India and Hong-Kong by ING back in 2007.
It was an experiment between blogging and appointement booking. Not only they didn't have a moderation process in place, but they didn't use to clean their public feed.
I shared my comments on my blog and I was impressed with their response. Not only they left a comment just a couple of hours later, but two days later the Marketing Director himself responded and confirmed they had taken my comments into account and implemented a robust moderation process.
That was a brilliant example of active listening. Congrats to David Garceran Nieuwenburg who was then Head of e-Business at ING Asia Pacific! David was the mastermind behind loads of ING's social media initiatives in 2007.
It took us two years to meet face-to-face but it was such a pleasure to spend a couple of days with David in Malaysia at the E-Channel Management event I chaired earlier this year!
And what a day! Kudos to Jim Bruene, Eric Mattson , and the rest of their team for putting together such a smooth event with hardly no technical glitches.
16 Video Interviews I have been incredibly busy while staying in NYC. Indeed, I managed to shoot 16 video interviews between Monday 28th and Wednesday 30th September. I will be posting all of them on my blog soon. Stay tuned!
Interview #8 - SimpliFi: Bryan Link, CEO SimpliFi.net is an easy way to get independent, comprehensive financial advice on the Internet. You can ask all your questions to Sophie, their Virtual Financial Advisor.
Even though the SimpliFi team hasn't been very active on social media site yet, you can find them, and Sophie, on facebook, twitter @SimpliFiSophie.
And what a day! Kudos to Jim Bruene, Eric Mattson , and the rest of their team for putting together such a smooth event with hardly no technical glitches.
16 Video Interviews I have been incredibly busy while staying in NYC. Indeed, I managed to shoot 16 video interviews between Monday 28th and Wednesday 30th September. I will be posting all of them on my blog soon. Stay tuned!
Interview #7 - Advanta: Ami Kassar, Chief Innovation Officer Advanta manages one of the largest portfolios of credit card receivables in the small business market in the US.
Since 2007, they have been one of the most innovative financial institution in social media. They do a great job engaging with US entrepreneurs on facebook, myspace, twitter and their own websites / online communities: ideablob, bloblive, bizequity and kivab4b.
It is interesting to notice that Advanta haven't focused on building their own brand presence on the most popular social media sites, they did it mainly through their award winningideablob service.
Ami Kassar, Chief Innovation Officer I have been in touch with Ami for over two years now. At the end of 2007 I tried to record an interview about Ideablob via skype but the bad quality of our connection made it impossible.
I always talk about Advanta's social media strategy in my presentations. From my opinion it is one of the best examples of how a financial services firm should engage with their target market online, not only their clients. Think outside the box, don't focus on your products, help your target market in providing them with a meaningful and valuable service. That is exactly what Advanta accomplished with ideablob and bloblive.
I compare them to Dell which established themselves as social media experts and now share their experience with Small Business Owners on their brilliant Facebook page "Social Media for Small Business – Powered by Dell".
And
what a day! Kudos to Jim Bruene, Eric Mattson , and the rest of their team for putting
together such a smooth event with hardly no technical glitches.
16 Video Interviews I
have been incredibly busy while staying in NYC. Indeed, I managed to
shoot 16 video interviews between Monday 28th and Wednesday 30th
September. I will be posting all of them on my blog soon. Stay tuned!
Interview #6 - Prosper: Tiffany Fox, Communications Director Prosper is America's largest P-2-P lending marketplace with over 870,000 members and over $180 million of loans founded. They were one of the pioneers of social lending with Zopa and Kiva back in 2006.
Prosper was named one of the Best of Show winners at FinovateStartup09 in San Francisco.
Tiffany is the Communications Director at Prosper. She's worked with Chris for over 10 years, previously as Communications Director at E-LOAN.
Prosper wasn't demoing this time, and Chris didn't make the trip. Tiffany traveled to NYC to attend the event. I was delighted to catch up with her and meet up in some funky offices not far from Canal Street.
In the interview, Tiffany talked about the following topics: * Prosper's recent quiet period (how happy they are to be back out) and the challenge of reactivating registered members * the importance to carry on building consumer awareness * how the leaders in P-2-P lending somehow support each other * the 3 main types of lenders on Prosper: early adopters, social investors, mainstream investor * the shift in borrowers from the lowest credit scores to very credit worthy * Prosper's secondary market, purely auction-based, launched earlier this year * Chris's LT vision and Japan, Brasil... and France
Earlier this year, I started to track financial institutions on several popular social media sites. I hope you are already familiar with my Visible Banking Twitter Watch Series (#13 updates so far).
I decided to launch three additional Visible Banking Social Media Watch Series: YouTube, Facebook and Blogs. They are coming soon, stay tuned!
Today, I am tracking 1,293 blogs, twitter accounts, YouTube channels and Facebook pages/groups/apps from financial services firms (banks, central banks, credit unions, insurance companies, credit card issuers, tax and mortgage specialists) in 38 countries.
I invite you to subscribe to Visible-Banking.com to check my regular updates which includes not only the most up-to-date stats but also some exclusive insights and my comments.
You can find more regular updates on twitter: I usually use #VBTW for Twitter, #VBBW for blogs, #VBFW for Facebook, #VBYW for YouTube.
You work for a financial institution? You would like to leverage twitter or one of those popular social media channels more successfully, learn how your peers and competitors are using twitter or facebook, and find out more about the best practices and the most successful initiatives in the finance industry? I invite you to send me an email or call me on +44 7736 446 357.
Visible Banking Interviews 2.0 I invite you to check the list of my video interviews with some of the most inspiring entrepreneurs in online finance and the social media champions in the finance industry.
And what a day! Kudos to Jim Bruene, Eric Mattson , and the rest of their team for putting together such a smooth event with hardly no technical glitches.
16 Video Interviews I have been incredibly busy while staying in NYC. Indeed, I managed to shoot 16 video interviews between Monday 28th and Wednesday 30th September. I will be posting all of them on my blog soon. Stay tuned!
Interview #5 - Gartner: Stessa Cohen, Research Director Do I really have to introduce Gartner? Gartner is the leading global provider of independent and objective technology related research and advice (from their twitter bio)
Stessa Cohen, Research Director Stessa is a research director in Gartner, where she is part of the Banking Industry Advisory Service. Her areas of expertise are in front-office banking technologies and trends and topics such as financial social networks, multichannel integration, mobile banking and mobile financial services.
Referring to my wrap up of Finovate 2009, Matthias told me he wanted to prove bankers wrong and demonstrate Financial Services companies could be fun and have real fans such as Apple or Amazon. Bring it on Matthias, the industry needs new and fresh approaches to banking such as Ficoba, Mint, UBank or SmartyPig!
I look forward to catching up with him next month in Zurich at SOMESSO, "Corporate Social Media in the Finance Sector", where we are both speaking.
I recommended Matthias who I believe will be a perfect fit with his vision and his presentation skills.
Interview with Matthias (March 2009)
About iBrokr.com Last week Matthias contacted me to make me aware of their new service, iBrokr.com. Please find below more info Matthias sent me over earlier today:
"As mentioned in my email from last week, this is a platform, that: - combines the behavioural patterns of stock trading with "thrill" and "fun" - enables users to participate at the stock exchanges with a minimum investment of 1 euro… (that is real micro banking) - allows you to "just do it with toy money" on www.brokr.de - minimum transaction fees - no admin hurdle, easy registration - internationaly scalelable - no back office admin (therefor, this is not to replace a traditional broker) - high educational standard (e. g. limited investments for untrained users etc.) - sometimes high risk, but also high return - no investment-banking-black box in the products and applications, therefor very transparent.
A combination of FUN and BROKERAGE."
Small Private Beta Test They started their Private Beta and invited just 30 people to contribute. I just had a quick call with Matthias who told me that I was the only blogger to be invited to share his feedback at that stage. Das ist Wunderbar!
I can't tell you much more info at that stage, but the service is currently divided into three main sections: 1x2 Financials, Best Performer, and Easytrader.
Please find below some of the first screenshots (please note that the interface may still changed following the comments gathered during the Private Beta Test) Stay tuned on Visible Banking for an update later this year!
Please note that later today Matthias will give a presentation at the exclusive Techcrunch Munich event. The title: “With traditional banking dying, and community banking up, what does this mean for the startup economy”. Congrats Matthias!
“Christophe's book is really the must-have synopsis of the current state-of-play in social media in banking. Christophe has taken a deep passion for the topic, and turned it into an account of the landscape valuable to anyone who has social media responsibilities in financial services” James Gardner, General Manager at Spigit
“Christophe is extremely well informed about the banking and financial services industries. He's at all the right conferences, and digs deep with his interviews of all the influencers and innovators. He's also a tremendously nice guy :-)” Aaron Patzer, Founder & CEO at Mint Software
“Christophe seems to have his finger on the pulse of the financial services industry. Visible Banking has become "the" source of information for innovations in the financial services industry.” Tim Collins, SVP-Experiential Marketing at Wells Fargo
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