‘CUSTOMER SERVICE MARKETING’ VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

With social media altering the way we do business and how we interact with clients/customers, the customer service aspect of business has become emphasized like never before.  Social media have brought customer relationship management and customer service to the forefront and have rendered customer service a form of marketing unto itself.  Here’s how:

Social media have enhanced the customer experience by giving the customer a profound voice.  And, for most businesses, this has translated into having a favorable impact on overall sales and growth.  Social media are interactive and customers can communicate directly with businesses; whether it be to ask questions about products or services, file complaints or offer praise with respect to products & services.  

 

Direct dialogue is now possible via most mainstream social media platforms.  Within a business’ “online community”, the brand benefits via engagement with customers.  This is true both in terms of insight and ideas that can be garnered from customers as well as how brand loyalty is being constructed and promoted via word-of-mouth.  Listening to what customers are saying and responding promptly & directly to them is key.  Customer service becomes an effective form of marketing!

To implement customer service as a form of marketing for your business, ensure that you:

A)     Focus on conversation/engagement as being the core of your business – concentrate on the exchange of information and ideas with your customers – interact, listen and respond.

B)      Strive to excel at a more refined range of things – you can’t be “great” at everything and solve all of the world’s problems, but you can focus on the things that are most meaningful to your customers (things that you will come to identify through real dialogue with them).

C)       Break down the barriers that have traditionally segregated business and customer – make use of social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Blogging to get conversations started and to maintain & manage ongoing, solid relationships with your customers.

Need some help navigating these social networking sites?  Then our Social Networking for Business workshop is for you.  Please check out our schedule at: http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA ARE AFFECTING THE TRADITIONAL WEBSITE

I have heard a lot of people saying, over the past year or so, that they are spending more time and energy on their social media campaigns and less time on their websites.  Case in point:  several of my colleagues are using Facebook Business Pages as opposed to websites these days.  So, the question is:  Are social media displacing the traditional website we’ve all come to know and love?    

 

In our Social Networking for Business workshop, we advocate the use of social media in conjunction with what is already working for your business.  If you have a dynamite website set up for your business and it’s serving you well, why scrap it?  Your website stands for constancy and familiarity with your existing clients and it’s a great testament to what it is that you do, for prospective clients.  Plus, you can never have enough of an online presence if you want to maximize your SEO (search engine optimization).  But, what we definitely recommend is that no business be without a social media presence in today’s market.  That would just be counter-productive, especially given the ease with which social media can be used.

A social media campaign is absolutely essential to the success of a business’ growth right now.  The fact is, people are on social media sites like Facebook on a daily basis.  Facebook has become a primary source of information for a lot of us.  And, with Facebook’s user numbers expecting to shoot upwards of a billion before this year is up, if your business isn’t on Facebook, you stand to be in a position where you will not be as easily found when people are seeking information about the very products and services that you provide. 

The same goes for other social media platforms.  Each has its own special features that make it unique and essential from a business perspective.   I’ve discussed them all in detail throughout some of my other posts:  Twitter is great for getting short bursts of information out there in real time – updates, event information, links, etc.  Blogs are a wonderful way to position yourself as an expert in your industry – to share valuable information and your knowledge with people.  LinkedIn is the place to connect with like-minded business individuals and to network within a comprehensive business arena.

So, what are some of the fundamental differences between social media platforms and a website in terms of your business?  First and foremost, social media are just that – social.  A social media site is not a platform for overt advertising and hard-sell tactics.  Social media sites exist to help you connect with people – to inform and enlighten – to engage in two-way dialogue with clients and prospects.  A website, on the other hand, is a place where you can more aggressively peddle your wares, so to speak.  A website is static – updated and changed, for the most part, on a not-so-regular basis.  Social media business sites can be easily updated and altered on a daily basis, whenever necessary, in real time.  That’s important for any business.  Social media sites also provide you with an opportunity to take part in ‘live’ conversations with people through messaging and groups features. 

Bottom line, a social media presence is a necessity for your business in the current market.  Websites are still important, too.  And, no, it’s not redundant to incorporate both a social media presence and a website into your business’ marketing strategy.  It’s important, in fact, that the two co-exist and even feed off of each other to allow for maximized SEO and a well-structured presence on the web.

Want Your Posts to go Viral? On Social Media, Timing Is Everything

Ah, the busy life of the finance professional – good for you if you’ve implemented a social media campaign strategy into your hectic schedule.  But, did you know that there are certain times of the day and specific days of the week that the content you post is more likely to go viral?  According to data put forth on Bitly.com, it’s true!    

The data indicate, for example, that on Twitter, “…posting in the afternoon earlier in the week is your best chance at achieving a high click count (1-3pm Monday through Thursday). Posting after 8pm should be avoided. Specifically, don’t bother posting after 3pm on a Friday since, as far as being a gateway to drive traffic to your content, it appears that Twitter doesn’t work on weekends.”

This does make a lot of sense if you think about it – how productive, after all, do you think most people are after 3:00 on Friday?  The research furthermore maintains that the peak of Twitter activity occurs prior to the optimal time to post.  Twitter’s busiest time tends to be between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, Monday through Thursday.  Should you post on Twitter during its peak hours, while there are more people clicking, it might raise the average number of clicks, however, your posts may not be receiving all the attention they deserve due to the fact that there will obviously be more competition for this attention. 

For Facebook, the data states that, “Links posted from 1pm to 4pm result in the highest average click throughs. The peak time of the week was on Wednesday at 3pm. Links posted after 8pm and before 8am will have more difficulty achieving high amounts of attention. As with Twitter, avoid posting on the weekends.”  It appears that Facebook traffic tends to peak around the middle of the week, from the hours of 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm and begins to fade more after 4:00 pm.  Moreover, the research contends that although traffic counts are comparable at 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, if you post at 7:00 pm, you will garner more clicks than you would posting at 8:00 pm.

With respect to Tumblr, our new favorite blogging site, there’s currently a vast difference from Twitter and Facebook.  The data from Bitly show that posting on Tumblr after 4:00 pm stands to garner optimal results, and that, “…postings after 7pm on average receive more clicks over 24 hours than content posted mid-day during the week. Friday evening, a no-man’s land on other platforms, is an optimal time to post on Tumblr. Bitly traffic from Tumblr peaks between 7pm and 10pm on Monday and Tuesday, with similar traffic on Sunday. ”

So, there you have it – valuable information on optimal times to post on three of the most prevalent social media sites out there.  As you’re undoubtedly pressed for time on most days of your life, knowing what times it’s most worth posting will help with your strategy!  

3 CRUCIAL TIPS TO STRATEGICALLY MARKET YOUR BUSINESS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

Over the past several years, social media marketing has become not only more sophisticated in itself, but integral to the success of the more sophisticated business. More and more businesses are becoming familiar with and are better understanding social media and how to best leverage online resources to create networks and recognize that interaction and engagement are key with respect to social media marketing.  But, in order to take it to the next steps, it’s crucial that you implement more advanced social media strategies for your business!

So, you’re already aware of how to create an online presence and you already have an online community in place.  Now what?  Here are a couple of progressive social media marketing strategies shared by technology strategist, Samir Balwani, that will be sure to further enhance your business’s bottom line:

1. Include plenty of Photos & Video in your Message – You’ve heard the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words”?  So true!  People are using the Internet prolifically to garner information on products and services, and that includes your customers and prospects.  They want to read all about what your business has to offer, but they also want to see photographs or videos depicting this information.  People are very visual creatures.  And, nothing completes your social networking profiles more than some visual aids.

2. Adjust Your Message to Fit the Platform – Within your social media campaign, you are no doubt making use of several of the different platforms at your disposal, namely: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging.  It’s important, however, to ensure that, rather than deliver an identical message over the multiple platforms, you try to tailor your communication to each individual site.  Certain information and how it’s presented on your blog might be considered “spammy” on Facebook.  It’s crucial to customize each message to each site to ensure that your messages spread optimally.  And, customizing your messages on each site also saves your network of customers and potential customers from receiving the same communication over and over again.  You can effectively maximize your business’ potential by sending out messages customized to each social media platform.

3. Implement Strategic Sales Tactics – Strategic sales tactics can include special offers, deals and discounts that you can offer through your social media platforms.  You can effectively drive business by generating some excitement within your online community and contests are a great way to do this.  If you conduct a contest, for example, that requires those in your network to share virally with their networks (i.e. whoever garners the most comments or “likes”, etc., wins a prize – be creative – it can be just about anything from concert tickets to a vacuum cleaner), your contest is sure to go viral and guess what that means for you and your brand  In doing this, you’re literally rewarding existing and future clients, not to mention reiterating to them that you are a brand to engage with as well as a brand to buy from or do business with.

To learn more about strategic social media marketing, join one of our Social Networking for Business workshops where we’ll teach you everything you need to know to enhance your social networking experience.  For a schedule of workshops in your area, please visit: http://escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

See you there! 

The Progressive Company’s Outlook on Social Media: If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em

Like death and taxes, social media are a sure thing and are here to stay.  Corporations are beginning more and more to come to this realization.  It’s been policy for many companies to block social networking sites to prevent their employees from spending company time on Facebook, Twitter and the like, but it’s coming to light that blocking social media sites is nothing more than an exercise in futility.  With all the tech gadgets now at our disposal, one doesn’t need to be on their company’s computer to access their social networking sites while at work.  One need only own a smartphone or tablet in order to bypass their company’s computer security.   And, nowadays, who doesn’t own one of those??              

So, the progressive company is adopting the attitude that ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’.  Some corporations are in fact beginning to recognize the advantages to their employees being able to share and promote, via social media, company news and updates.  Just think of the reach potential of a large corporation of over 100,000 employees harnessing the power of social media to promote that corporation! 

It’s in fact coming to the point where some companies are considering implementing social media literacy and security training to ensure that employees (since they’re going to be on social media anyways) are using social media ethically and advantageously.  Not a bad idea, all things considered. And, why not take it a step further and offer employees training on how to correctly use social media sites to enhance business practices and upgrade contact / client management skills. 

There’s no doubt about the impact that social media now has on the business world – in fact, most would argue that it’s nearly impossible to stay competitive without having your business connected on social media.  So, why not jump on the bandwagon and use social media and, yes, even your employees and their sites, to your advantage!

For more information on social media and how it can be used to the benefit of any business, why not join one of our Social Media for Business workshops?  For a schedule and a listing of convenient course locations, please visit http://escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20.

Your Target Audience: How to Find It on Social Media

Establishing and expanding your target audience is one of the most complex challenges you will encounter in growing your business and developing your brand.  Social media, with its mind-boggling broad-reach potential, is one of the best ways to achieve your goals.  Your objective, however, is not explicitly to reach as many people as you can, but, more specifically, to reach as many people as you can that are going to be fully interested in engaging with your business.  And, this is where the challenge lies – in determining who, or more to the point, where these people are. 

Do Your Research – Thoroughly

Although social media can make your life a lot easier (especially in terms of reaching people via a social media marketing campaign versus reaching people via traditional advertising methods), you definitely need to do your homework.  Knowledge is power and the more you know about your brand’s position within the social media cosmos, the easier it will be for you to find your audience. 

Conduct Advanced Searches

There are numerous social media sites of which you can make use to find out exactly who is buzzing about your brand and what, precisely, the buzz is.  Twitter and Facebook both offer inclusive search functionalities.  Google Blog Search is another appropriate choice.  It’s important to remember when conducting your research, to not just look for your own company, but also search out your competition – both direct and indirect. 

Using Lots of Keywords is Key

Search out industry-specific keywords.  Twitter further provides an advanced search feature that allows you to source out users based on keywords & phrases.  Think words that will generate the best matches in terms of your products and services, as well as competitive keywords. 

Make Use of Groups & Lists

The fundamentals of social media rely on the fact that we, as humans, are just that:  social beings that love to connect and need to feel like we’re a part of something.  The “sense of community” aspect is a central characteristic of each social network. 

Twitter thrives on lists and there are currently thousands of Facebook groups out there, not to mention the LinkedIn groups.  You can easily use keyword searches to access Twitter lists and Facebook & LinkedIn groups to source out people who could potentially be interested in doing business with you. 

Remember, patience is a virtue.  A social media marketing campaign can be a very effective and viable way of turning your business into an exceedingly lucrative venture.  But, it won’t happen overnight.  You need to invest your precious time and some energy into putting it all together - and gaining access to your target audience puts you halfway there.  

5 Steps to a Fabulous Makeover ... for Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn, since its 2003 inception, has been growing by leaps and bounds to become the platform for business networking.   LinkedIn fact:  As of March 31, 2012, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with 161 million members in over 200 countries and territories.

Ignoring LinkedIn can be a marketing mistake, as LinkedIn has categorically become the number one connection-based referral source for business professionals.

 

So, why not give your LinkedIn profile a much-deserved makeover to maximize its truly awesome potential!  Here’s what you can do:

     1. Ensure your profile includes an up-to-date photo of you in professional attire and fully coiffed, so that the image makes a stunning, professional first impression.  It’s actually worthwhile to invest in a professional portrait. This is definitely the time and place to put your best face forward.       

      2.  A vanity URL is always a good idea for your LinkedIn account – it sets you apart, is unique to you and if catchy enough, will be remembered readily by those who check your profile. It’s simple to change your URL.  Just click on the Edit Public Profile settings at right, or simply edit next to the Public Profile in the blue profile box.


     3. It’s imperative that your profile’s searchability be at its maximum potential.  Your profile should be searchable on all search engines as well as on LinkedIn.  A LinkedIn profile commonly ranks among the top five when a search is conducted on someone’s name.  To ensure that your profile is public and to have it indexed, simply click on Settings, Public Profile and then select Full View Recommended.  You can choose which items are viewable by others from the menu list.

      4. Be sure to keep current with respect to your profile and status updates and make certain that any new posts or changes are sent to all of your connections. 


     5. Your summary is one of the most key elements of your LinkedIn profile.  It’s important that it be well put together, succinct and that in its brevity, it does you justice.  Ensure that it captures the essence of the ‘business you’ and that it specifically lets connections know exactly what it is that you can do for them.  The idea here is to make people want to engage with you. Think personal branding – but remember, keep it brief!

With over 100 million people connected on LinkedIn worldwide, it really is worth it to maximize your own profile to its full potential.   Learn how to take complete advantage of everything LinkedIn and its unique features have to offer.  Join our full-day, hands-on Social Media for Business workshops. 

Simply click here   http://escomputertraining.com/socialmedia   for a schedule of workshops in your area and we’ll be happy to help you get “LinkedIn”!

HOW SOCIAL PROOF DRIVES SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social Proof is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of any social media marketing campaign.  What is social proof, you ask?  A term coined by social psychologist, Robert Cialdini (in his work, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion), social proof stems from the psychology of compliance.  Essentially, people tend to do what they see other people doing.  It’s basically the concept that, ‘If everyone else is doing it, then I should be doing it, too.’  It’s all about conformity.  If you’re walking down the street and come upon a crowd of people looking up at the sky, your automatic reaction will be to look up at the sky as well.  

Cialdini delves into what “psychological principles influence the tendency to comply with a request”.  He terms these principles “weapons of influence”.  Social proof is a weapon of influence.  And, this is where “compliance professionals” come into play.  Compliance professionals are “those whose business it is to persuade us”.                                      

                                                                                     Can it not be said, therefore, that you, as a business professional, using social media as a means of marketing your brand, are, in effect, a compliance professional?  Your main objective is to influence people to use your services – you want to promote your brand – get it out there so as many people as possible are aware of what you can do for them.  You use social media as a means of doing so, and social media relies upon social proof as its very foundation.

How important, then, do you think it is to be as interactive with others as possible on each of your social networking platforms?  If the key is to drive as much attention as you can to your Facebook page, your Twitter account, your LinkedIn profile and your Blog, then it’s essential that you focus on the ways that each of these sites allows you to amp up the social proof factor.

Case in point: Facebook.  If you don’t already have one, it’s high time that you create a Facebook Fan page for your real estate business.  Facebook makes it very easy for you to use your Fan page as social proof through the use of widgets.  Facebook provides you with numerous social widgets that you can install right on your website, and these widgets can be very useful in terms of letting you know, for example, how many people “Like” your site, or how many people have shared your content on Facebook recently.  And, it gets better!  Facebook ingeniously tailors the widgets specifically to the people who are visiting your web page.  Bottom line:  the social proof that the widgets provide makes it much more likely that people will stay on the site longer or perhaps even subscribe to and/or “Like” it.

Twitter can also be used in terms of social proof.  It has the capability to display follower counts & activity feeds, as well as the number of times content is retweeted.

       

With respect to your blog posts, ensure that you include a comments section so that anyone who wants to, can post.  The more comments your blog posts garner, the more influential you become – you become an expert in your industry and before you know it, everyone is looking to your blogs for advice – they develop a sense of trust in you.  Setting up a comments section on Blogger is easy – simply click on the “Comments” tab, then select “Show” and click “Save Settings”.  When the comments are enabled, more settings will appear:  Who can comment – “Only Registered Users”; “Anyone” or “Only Members of this Blog” – the choice is yours, however, bear in mind that you want as much traffic as possible here.  Choose all of your settings accordingly.

On your LinkedIn profile, you can easily add a Polls application so that you simply ask a question and LinkedIn will distribute it to your connections and virtually millions of other professionals who are on LinkedIn.  And, you can even share your Poll via the Facebook and Twitter integrations, or even embed the voting module on your website or blog.

Remember, social proof is imperative to any social media marketing campaign.  As Copyblogger’s Brian Clark puts it:   “… given the way social proof drives social media, the way you frame your initial message is critical. You want the momentum of social proof aligned with where you want to go, not with where things are.” 

SOCIAL MEDIA AND TAXES: The Two Constants in Life

We are upon the season that we all love (Yes, spring is coming, but that’s not what this blog is about-sorry.)  It’s tax season!  Pardon me; I couldn’t help the sarcastic tone. 

If you’re a financial advisor trying to help clients out with their taxes, social media is a very effective means of getting your messages / tips to people.  Through the wonders of social media, you can:   

- provide tips on tax planning

- provide tips on how to save for taxes

-provide tips on filling out tax forms

- make suggestions on how to receive the highest return possible

- inform clients of changes to tax laws and policies

- And so much more!!

Social media technology allows you to reach a wide audience to easily spread your messages.  Use Facebook and Twitter to post useful information and have conversations with people. Post links to websites or articles that you think might be useful.  Use your blog to impart more in-depth information – as a how-to forum or an explanation of something that requires more space than Twitter or Facebook allow.  And, don’t forget to link your blog / Facebook page / Twitter account.

According to an ExactTarget blog post by Kyle Sollenberger, “…tax preparation service TurboTax® …used CoTweet to streamline their approach to Twitter presence and enhance customer service with a response time of just four minutes. With CoTweet, TurboTax was able to generate measurable business results, including:

·         48% effectiveness in helping complete tax returns

·         46% follower rate of Twitter users specifically seeking tax help

·         71% likelihood of customers to recommend TurboTax

(CoTweet is an application used to help business teams manage one or more Twitter accounts.)

Social media are powerful and necessary in today’s market.  In a customer-facing business such as finance or insurance, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make strides towards company strength and development without the use of these tools.  To learn more, we’d love to see you at one of our Social Networking for Business workshops, where we’ll show you how to make the most of social media to drive your business!  Just click on the following link for a schedule of workshops in your area: 

http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IS SHIFTING THE BUSINESS LANDSCAPE

Social media is an instrumental element in creating a new epoch in business with respect to transparency and engagement.  It has allowed for fresh opportunities and even challenges.

In a past life, businesses depended on artful advertising campaigns and press releases as means of communicating with consumers.  Companies were constantly trying to influence people into believing that their products and services were the best, with in-your-face, interruptive and one-directional advertisements and messages.

With the social media era now upon us, the landscape of business and marketing strategy has radically shifted, as consumers now insist upon a more transparent and direct relationship with the companies with which they choose to do business.

Companies (that are not already making the most of social media to grow their businesses) must now decide if they will remain in the dark ages, becoming increasingly obscure, or take a leap onto the social media bandwagon in order to become ‘humanized’ and to forge new, interactive relationships with consumers. 

It’s now imperative that businesses make the shift, transitioning smoothly into the new era.

Here are some of the ways in which the shift is taking place:

1. From “Trying to Make Sales” to “Trying to Make Connections”- Interrupting people’s lives and talking “at” them via traditional advertising means has shifted to engaging and connecting with people more interactively and on a more human level.  Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and LinkedIn, facilitate engagement and social interaction and as a result, consumers have more trust and feel more comfortable engaging in a business relationship with these companies.  The more successful brands in social media are posting not so much about their products and services, but more about ‘personal’ topics of interest that connects them with consumers.

2. From “Image Management” to “Just Being Personable” – It doesn’t do a company justice to maintain a constantly controlled image.  A friendly, trustworthy face that people feel they can depend on and relate to is key.  Drop the stiff corporate image once in a while and just be personable.

3. From “Unattainable” to “Readily Available” – Engaging with customers today is vastly different than it was in the days of simply including your email address and telephone number on your website.  People now want to engage businesses via their preferred means of communication and that usually means Facebook, Twitter or discussion forums.  People want to feel comfortable doing business with companies and need to know that these companies are accessible across the social media board.

Businesses that opt to not acclimatize to the new landscape that social media has formed, will be at a distinct disadvantage, as their customers begin to forge personal relationships with their competitors.  As we are now in an age of engagement, open communication and transparency, business success has less to do with the size of advertising budgets and everything to do with the quality of interaction with customers.

To learn more about how you can develop a social media strategy for your business, join one of our Social Networking for Business workshops and we’ll teach you everything you need to know to get started today!  Just click on the link below for a listing of workshops in your area.

http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

RRSP NEWS – GET IT OUT THERE WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

It’s RRSP season, and with the contribution deadline just around the corner, it’s important for all of you financial advisors and planners to get vital information out to your clients and prospects.  So many people don’t understand the in’s and out’s of RRSPs.  What better way to communicate with people than via social media? 

RRSP season is a great opportunity for you to get blogging.  There are a plethora of topics to blog about when it comes to RRSPs.  If you’re so busy that you don’t have the time to come up with any ideas, here are a few you can use:  

-          RRSP vs. Mortgage – Where should your extra dollars be going?

-          TFSAs – The New Alternative to Traditional RRSPs

-          How to Calculate What you Really Need to Retire Comfortably

-          How the Home Buyer’s Plan Program Works

-          What Do Index Numbers Mean and How to Read Them

These are only a few examples – for more ideas, just consider some of the most often-asked questions you hear and blog about them.  Blogs are a very effective way of imparting crucial information to very appreciative clients!

And, don’t forget to use Twitter and Facebook, too.  Tweet short bursts of relevant information and include a link to your blog & website, or to any interesting, helpful articles you think your community might benefit from.  Do the same on Facebook – remind people of the upcoming February 29 deadline and post your contact information so they can get in touch with you!  Post a reminder, for example, that the maximum contribution one can make to his/her TFSA in any given year is $5000.00 – let people know that they can be penalized for going over that limit and give them tips on how to ensure that they don’t accidentally do so.  Make sure your posts are useful to people – as I mentioned earlier, the average person does not know as much about RRSPs and retirement as we should know, and by sharing your expertise via the social media platforms that people are using, you are establishing yourself as the go-to person that people will want to deal with.

If you need help communicating via social media, why not consider joining one of our Social Media for Business workshops, where we’ll teach you everything you need to know to be effective on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and how to make the most of your blog!  Click on the following link to view a schedule of workshops in your area:  http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

How to Get in the Game With Social Media

More and more independent brokers, agents, planners and advisors are adopting Social Media as a means of growing their businesses.  Are you?  Do you know what they know?  If you answered ‘no’ to either of these questions, it’s high time you get in the game and find out just what social media can do for your business! I know you’re pressed for time – time is and will always be the most scarce and precious resource of any business – but, trust me, if you are willing to make an investment of some of your precious time, the pay off will be well worth it! And, guess what else?  Time is virtually the only thing you will have to invest – social media are, for the most part, free of monetary charge.  Now, how’s that for incentive?    

Joe- Average-Consumer -Based -Business -Owner is neither unintelligent, nor unaware of the need to constantly improve customer communication channels and methods.  Most CRM Social Media Experts preach and skim the surface of the problem with no real solution offered.  The message is the same: “you need to communicate”, “you need to improve access”, “you need to review”, “you need to mine” and “you need to post”….  Lots of 'you need to's; very few plans as to exactly how!

At ES Computer Training we work with you and assist you in developing the right plan for you and your business.  And, recognizing that you don’t have time to do everything, we can help you:

1.  Become aware of what’s out there.  We do a great job of addressing this first step in our one-day workshops.  We will help you to truly understand the fundamentals of social networking and the most effective ways to use it.

2.  Identify where your customers are in terms of social media and how they’re using them. 

3.  Discover what you have to offer your customers.  How will they benefit?  If you can     speak to your customers and give them something of value, you have it made.

4.  Provide daily, accessible and very real channels online for your customers to find and speak directly with you. Nothing is more powerful than direct communication.

5.   Acquire the resources to conduct experiments and determine which channels to adopt and how effective they will be.

6.  Discover how your competitors are using this channel and how this will affect your business.

7.  Come up with a viable and effective business strategy.

Going through these steps, we can give you the benefit of our experience with other clients and help you determine the manpower commitment and resources required for any campaign.  We have worked with agents, brokers, advisors and planners, who have invested the time and created their entire businesses through the use of social media.

The PLAN, the resources and of course, the associated time commitment will be laid out for you.  This will allow you to assign much of the effort to support staff, while giving personal attention to the most important parts of your Social Networking Campaign.

For a schedule of workshops in your area, please visit: 

http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

Six New Ways Insurance Pros can Use Social Media

The insurance industry has been increasingly taking advantage of social media as a brilliant marketing tool and social media are becoming indispensible for businesses in so many innovative ways!   I wanted to share with you some ideas I came across while reading an article by social media strategist, Jo Stratmann (based on a report put forth by Ernst and Young) with respect to how social media can be further utilized in the insurance customer value chain.

Here goes:           

1. To Research Products – Your customers are researching insurance products on dedicated price comparison websites.  They’re seeking answers to their insurance related questions through their social media networks and looking for advice on how to get the best deals possible in terms of their insurance requirements.  As an insurance professional, you should be making use of social media and monitoring them to gauge and listen to your customers’ conversations.   It’s a great way of garnering valuable information about what’s being said about your products and services.  This will assist you in assessing the positive as well as the negative perceptions that are floating around out there in terms of what you’re offering and furthermore, how this influences the research stage of the customer value chain.  If, for example, there’s no buzz out there at all pertinent to your products and services, this is a clear indication that your marketing initiatives must be reassessed.  One suggestion is to establish Facebook and Twitter accounts (if you’ve not already done so) for your brand so that you can be quick to respond to customer requests and comments and maintain an ongoing, interactive dialogue with them. 

2. To Request Quotations – More and more people out there today are using social media as a means of generating and requesting quotes for their insurance needs.  Again, it’s essential that you are connected on the various social media platforms that your customers and prospects are using, so that you can be the one they look to when sourcing out quotations.  Offer your assistance and advice and get them the quotes they’re shopping around for.  For a competitive edge, research via social media what (deals, etc.) your competitors are offering.

3. To Buy Policies – Industry research conducted by Ernst and Young has found that the vast majority of customers (90%) agree that peer recommendations are the most credible form of advertising.  It’s social proof!!  If a lot of people are doing something, more and more will want to follow suit, because it must be the right thing to do if so many people are doing it.  Product reviews and recommendations from others play an integral role in a customer’s decision making process.  Social media sites allow for plenty of customer review and feedback - and if this is all positive with respect to your products and services, just think about the implications in terms of advertising for your brand!  You could literally spend thousands of dollars through the traditional channels and it wouldn’t be worth nearly what social proof is worth!

4. To Service Policies – As social media allow customers to communicate interactively with their insurers, this helps you, the insurance professional, to garner crucial information regarding customer needs & wants and assists you in maintaining top-notch service for your customers.  You are provided the opportunity to educate them concerning their policies – the benefits, your suggestions for altering their policies, etc. 

5. To Lodge a Claim – Social media are very useful in terms of disseminating valuable information that could possibly help to reduce claims.  Blogging, for example, is a powerful way of offering advice and guidance – your blog allows you a platform within which to impart crucial information about insurance related issues – i.e. the trials & tribulations of winter driving and how to best stay safe on the roads (snow tires, speed alteration, etc.).

It’s also a great idea and becoming more and more commonplace for claim handlers to mine social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to assess the validity of claims given the data, comments and social networking conversations of the claimants.

6. To Renew & Terminate Policies – Customers generally fulfill their renewal and termination requirements via websites, therefore the same potential exists for insurance professionals to use social media to advance renewal numbers.  A fundamental benefit to social media is that it allows you to gather insightful CRM (customer relationship management) data, for example, policy types, renewal dates, etc.  Given this information, your social media engagement could encompass not only acquiring new customers, but targeting existing customers prior to the renewal dates of their policies in order to entice them into renewing or changing rather than terminating their policies.

For so much more on using Social Media for your business, why not join one of our Social Networking for Business workshops.  For a schedule of workshops in your area, please visit:

http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

MORTGAGE NEWS YOUR CLIENTS NEED TO KNOW

It looks like mortgage rates are on the rise!  Is a fixed rate now more economical than a variable rate?  As a mortgage specialist, this is the type of crucial information that your clients and prospects need to know!  Are you using social media as tools for communicating with your clients and prospects?  If not, you should be!  You can bet that your clients are on social media and what better way to connect with them?                 

An article on the December 6, 2011 edition of thestar.com spelled out how there has been, over the past few months, an increase among variable-rate mortgages and that experts are currently predicting that this will remain the case.  The article cites information from Kerri-Lynn McAllister, community manager at RateHub.ca. 

Ms. McAllister is quoted as saying that, “A few months ago, there was basically a one per cent spread between fixed and variable.   Now it’s .2 or .3.” 

Ms. McAllister maintains that the reason for the rise is at least partially due to the fact that , since mortgage rates have been so low, banks have had difficulty making any money. 

And, although fixed rates could also be slated for an eventual increase, the question seems to be:  Is it now better to go for a fixed rate than the traditionally more economical variable rate?  According to Ms. McAllister, fixed rates now seem to be the way to go.

Joseph Haimowitz, principal economist at the economic think tank, Conference Board of Canada, expects, however, that fixed mortgage rates could rise by as much as .25 per cent by the middle of 2012.  But, according to Robert McLister, editor of Mortgage Rate Trends, it appears that, for at least the foreseeable future, discount variable rate mortgages, which tend to offer rates half a per cent or more below prime, are no longer.

Something to think about!  And, to definitely inform your clients about.  Get connected today on social media.  Let us show you how.  Why not join one of our Social Media for Business workshops and we’ll teach you how to best leverage social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging for your business’ marketing strategy.  Just click on the following link for a schedule of workshops in your area:

http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20

SAFE WINTER DRIVING – ARE YOUR CLIENTS READY?

Winter is almost here again.  Now’s the time for you to let your clients know how to get ready for a safe, accident-free season! 

The most common types of serious accidents that occur on our winter roads include:

·         Rollover   accidents                                                       

·         Rear-end collisions

·         Pedestrian-automobile accidents

·         Collisions with man-made objects (i.e. telephone poles, highway medians, etc.)

There are three key things, according to Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation, that people can do to ensure that they are driving as safely as possible:  Stay alert, slow down and stay in control.  It’s essential to drive according to the weather / road conditions – slow down on snow and ice.  And, always maintain a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front of you in case you have to brake suddenly on a slippery road.  If your car unfortunately does start to spin out of control, it is recommended that you put it into neutral and look & steer where you want to go – this gives the car a chance to stop spinning and to regain traction on the road.  It is not recommended that you panic and slam on your brakes (as so many of us tend to do). 

Most of it sounds obvious, doesn’t it?  But, there are so many people out there that just don’t adhere to safety guidelines.

Accidents are accidents and sometimes occur without human error.  There are, however, ways that you can limit your chances of being a winter driving accident victim – simple things to get your car winter-ready:

1.       Invest in Winter Tires – so much safer for our potentially harsh Canadian winter road conditions.

2.       Replace your Wiper Blades – wear and tear can render them ineffective and when you can’t see out your windshield due to the slush and salt mixture being projected there, you’re in real trouble.

3.       Ensure that your Windshield Fluid is Always Topped Up – for the same reason as in point #2.

4.       Have your Brakes Inspected – this is so important in any weather!

5.       Ensure that your battery is up to snuff – car batteries have a four to six year life expectancy and they tend to produce less power in cold weather.  It’s recommended that batteries be replaced approximately every four years to reduce that chances that you’ll wind up stranded somewhere because your car won’t start in the cold.

6.       Get your Vehicle in for a Maintenance Check-Up – let a professional give your car a once over just to make sure that it’s ready for the tough winter ahead.  When things are worn, severe weather conditions will tip them over the edge and that causes breakdowns.  Prevent this - don’t get stuck!

As an insurance professional, it’s more important than ever at this time of year to get the word out to your clients about the hazards of winter driving and how they can stay safe.  Social media is the fastest and most effective way of doing that. Get your messages out to your clients on Facebook, Twitter and via your Blog!  Please let me know what you think in our comments section below, about the content suggestion I’ve shared with you!

And, why not join us at one of our Social Networking for Business workshops - we’ll show you how to effectively communicate need-to-know information to your potential and existing clients so everyone stays safe this winter!

For more information, please visit:  http://www.escomputertraining.com/courses/details/industry/2/course/20