Hearsay Social » Innovation

Highlights from Innovation Summit Toronto: Sales and Marketing in the Social Era

2013-05-20T22:57:51Z

Hearsay Social is in Canada!

In anticipation of the LIMRA LOMA Canada Annual Conference, we hosted the second event in our Innovation Summit thought leadership series in Toronto. The Innovation Summit yesterday brought together leaders and innovators from top Canadian financial services and insurance firms. Hearsay Social COO Michael Lock kicked off the event with a presentation about how firms must adapt to changing consumer behavior and build stronger relationships with customers by making the leap from social marketing to social sales.

The Honourable Kevin Lynch, Vice Chair of BMO Financial Group and former Clerk of the Privy Council, keynoted the event with a presentation entitled,”Disruptive Innovation and Us–From Banking to Baking, No Sector is Immune to Innovation.” Highlighting the importance of innovation, no matter the industry, Mr. Lynch focused specifically on financial services, where “innovation is the key to competitiveness.”

Part of the challenge he sees facing Canada is the limited focus on innovation and new ideas. Canada falls very low in rankings on productivity (72%) and innovation, ranking #20 in R&D. Banking is not at the forefront of technology, and Canadian companies may be even slower to move. There is opportunity, however. You just “can’t be a follower if you want to be a leader,” said the Honourable Mr. Lynch.

The changing financial services client

Following Mr. Lynch’s talk was a panel of industry leaders including Michelle Smyth, Director, Social Media, Sun Life Financial; Sulemaan Ahmed, Principal, Servo Annex; Jen Evans, CEO, Squeeze and Sequentia; and Silu Modi, VP, Associate Director, Digital Marketing, Macquarie; moderated by Brian Cook, Country Manager, Canada for Hearsay Social.

The panel conversation started with a discussion around how consumers have changed: 77% of consumers do research online and 45% do only online research according to one of the panelists. They discussed how some advisors have found success on social networks just watching who views their profiles; typically before they have a meeting, not only are advisors doing their research on clients, but clients are doing due diligence on their advisors.

Jen highlighted another opportunity, pointing out that 13% of leads and new relationships are coming from social media, according to a Hubspot study. She has seen evidence that, in a lengthy buy cycle, social media can help move people from weaker ties into stronger advocates.

Sulemaan made a comparison between social technologies emerging today and the way some companies approached email in prior decades. Speaking to a CEO about compliance trying to block a social media pilot, he told them, “You sat on the other side of this table and told me we didn’t need email. We did, and we’re moving forward with social.” Later, Sulemaan added, “People don’t connect with brands. They connect with people. Unleash them.”

Addressing the issue of compliance, Michelle opined that employees are going to participate in social media whether their employers want them to or not. Highlighting the importance of identifying business objectives of a social media initiative, she also noted that it’s “not about spending hours, but being smart.”

In the final session of the day, we heard from Brian Church, Country Manager, Canada Head of Sales Solutions, North America, LinkedIn, and Sabrina Geremia, Managing Director, Integrated Solutions, Google Canada. Sabrina described how they have seen the consumer path to purchase for the financial services industry change dramatically over the past decade. Customers are spending more and more time researching financial services online, and up to 25% of these queries are coming from mobile devices, according to various sources.

Brian backed up Sabrina’s point, citing a study from CEB indicating that 57% of B2B decisions are happening before any engagement with sales. This is a result, he explained, of how much information is available before a buyer even reaches the salesperson. Social media is having a massive effect on consumer decisions, and people are looking to their network to decide what’s important.

Unveiling the next generation of social sales

2013-05-20T22:58:02Z

Businesses have said time and again that social media only matters to them if it can drive sales. Recognizing this, and coinciding with LinkedIn’s ten-year anniversary this week, we at Hearsay Social are excited today to unveil the next generation of our innovative social sales platform.

With new capabilities launching today, our customers can move beyond yesterday’s sales tactics and successfully adapt to the era of social selling. More than ever before, Hearsay Social is dedicating itself to social selling success across regulated enterprises.

Developed specifically with sales representatives in mind, new features launching today include alerts for important events, activity feeds, improved calendaring, and a robust mobile experience. Using Hearsay Social, sales reps won’t miss a thing on the social networks. Further, these new capabilities will empower each sales rep to attract prospects, retain customers, and grow their business.

In addition to upgrading our sales solution, today we also launched the Hearsay Social Brand Solution, extending the valuable Hearsay Social capabilities that marketers are familiar with, to now support complex marketing team workflows and high-volume social media interaction. Brand marketing teams can even more effectively plan, publish, and measure messages across all social channels using the same enterprise platform already deployed across their field and compliance teams.

Everything you love about Hearsay Social is staying the same: we’re focused on sales, we’re enterprise ready, and we’re committed to our customers’ success on social media.

To learn more about today’s exciting news, see the press release or our coverage on Bloomberg.
Also, be sure to register for today’s webinar with Forrester on social selling.
How do social sellers make it to the top? Insights from LinkedIn Sales Connect.

BMO, Scotiabank, Sun Life Financial LinkedIn, and Hearsay Social to kick off LIMRA LOMA Canada Conference with Innovation Summit

2013-05-03T13:39:24Z

Today we are thrilled to announce that on Tuesday, May 7, ahead of the LIMRA LOMA Canada Annual Conference in Toronto, Hearsay Social will be hosting an Innovation Summit for financial industry leaders to discuss the future of financial services and relationship management in the social era.

This will be the second Hearsay Social Innovation Summit, you can see a recap of the inaugural event here:

With a keynote from Kevin G. Lynch, Vice-Chair of BMO Financial Group, former Clerk of the Privy Council, executives from top insurance and financial services organizations (including BMO Financial Group, Scotiabank, and Sun Life Financial) will join Hearsay Social and LinkedIn at the Fairmont Royal York to to talk social sales and marketing.

The disruptive forces of social media are changing the way financial services and insurance companies do business. With the growing availability of social sales productivity tools, these organizations cannot afford to be behind the curve; by participating in this event, participants are committing to exploring the cutting edge of technology.

Speakers include:

Kevin G. Lynch, Vice-Chair of BMO Financial Group, former Clerk of the Privy Council
Paul Regan, Head of Digital, Scotiabank
Michelle Smyth, Director, Social Media, Sun Life Financial (@michelle_smyth)
Michael Lock, COO, Hearsay Social (@michaelhlock)

Following the Innovation Summit, Hearsay Social and its partners will be attending the LIMRA and LOMA Canada 2013 Annual Conference at the same location, connecting with corporate leaders across the industry.

We look forward to exchanging ideas with innovators from around the globe, helping some of the worlds largest organizations identify opportunities to leverage new technologies and build relationships in the social era

We’re bringing the social selling revolution to Europe

2013-05-20T22:59:36Z

We’re very excited to announce that Hearsay Social has launched in Europe!

European companies have started to recognize the tremendous business benefits arising from the use of social media. In the U.S. and abroad, tens of thousands of reps from the world’s largest sales forces already rely on Hearsay Social to move beyond outdated cold-outreach sales tactics to achieve quality conversations driven by social media insights and trusted referrals

As part of today’s announcement, the Hearsay Social platform has been updated to support German, French, and Spanish in addition to English, enabling salespeople from some of Europe’s largest economies to use the tools in their local language. Additionally, we have opened a new European headquarters in the heart of London.

We are delighted to answer increased demand by investing in expansion in the U.K. and across continental Europe.

Read the press release.

Hearsay Social Brings Its Social Media Tools To Europe With New London Office tcrn.ch/17WM3qw by @anthonyha

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) April 24, 2013

Financial services leaders from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo to join Hearsay Social at LinkedIn FinanceConnect

2013-05-01T17:18:06Z

Content and conversations fuel the customer journey in the age of social media. Strategic content marketing drives deeper connections with your customers, which ultimately drives more business.

Next Thursday, May 2, at LinkedIn FinanceConnect, executives from the financial services industry, including Claire Huang (CMO, JPMorgan Chase), Lisa Shalett (Head of Brand Marketing and Digital Strategy, Goldman Sachs), and Rachel Perkel, (SVP, Head of Wealth Management Marketing, Wells Fargo Bank), will join Silicon Valley leaders LinkedIn and Hearsay Social to discuss how to use content to best leverage social sales and marketing.

Whether you’re seeking to understand how to balance social media rewards or risks, concerned about traversing the social media regulatory landscape, or just interested in the LinkedIn Influencers program, the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions team has prepared a stellar event.

If you’re attending, be sure to catch Hearsay Social on the following panels:

Compliance track: 2013 Regulatory Landscape (3:15 – 4:00 PM)

Yasmin Zarabi, Senior Director of Legal, Hearsay Social
Joe Price, Senior Vice President, Corporate Financing/Advertising Regulation, FINRA
Iain Duke-Richardet, Director – Head of Technology & Licensing Compliance, RBC
Sean Shore, Manager, Business Conduct, National Bank Financial Wealth Management
Lisa Shalett, Head of Brand Marketing and Digital Strategy, Goldman Sachs

Navigating the social media regulatory landscape can be daunting, especially for global firms. In this session, we will discuss the current state of social media compliance and how innovative compliance organizations can evolve to stay ahead of future regulatory and technology changes.

LinkedIn Influencers Roundtable (4:00 – 4:45 PM)

Dan Roth, Executive Editor, LinkedIn
Sallie Krawcheck, Past President, Merrill Lynch, US Trust, Smith Barney
Herb Greenberg, Senior Stocks Commentator, CNBC
Clara Shih, CEO, Hearsay Social

Only four months old, the LinkedIn Influencer program delivers fresh and frequent content to our insight-hungry member base. Three of our most prolific influencers join us to discuss the impact that the combination of content, social, and the professional audience has had on their lives and businesses.

Compliance track: Path from Compliance to ROI (4:00 – 4:45 PM)

Michael Lock, COO, Hearsay Social
Knut Olson, Senior Vice President, Financial Network, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
Paul Johnston, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Many firms get started in social media in order to manage risk, but with the appropriate policies and processes in place, LinkedIn is a valuable asset to the field organization. How do successful firms make the transition from social media compliance to ROI?

Forrester Wave: Hearsay Social cited for its sophisticated content sharing and seeding features and innovative product road map

2013-04-29T23:22:43Z

Forrester Research, a leading independent technology and market research company, today published The Forrester Wave™: Social Relationship Platforms, Q2 2013, a side-by-side comparison of the eight social relationship platforms “that matter most,” ranking Hearsay Social as a Strong Performer.

We’re proud to say that Forrester has named Hearsay Social a Strong Performer, based on its scores in strategy, current offering, and market presence. Thanks to the continued success of customers who share our vision, our relentless dedication to product quality, and the strategic perspective of our leadership team, we’ve received the highest evaluation bestowed on any of the platforms in these categories.

In the report, Forrester especially highlights that Hearsay Social drives social sales:

“Hearsay Social can help marketers manage corporate social profiles, but it comes into its own as a tool for empowering salespeople on social sites. It offers sophisticated content sharing and seeding features, and its permissioning and oversight tools are among the best we evaluated. Its strong management team has a clear vision for the value its clients are seeking and has developed an innovative product road map.”

Additionally, as evidenced by a graphic from the report, Forrester recognizes that Hearsay Social has the largest deployment at a single customer base, as measured by number of active users, more than doubling the next largest rollout.

Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about social sales and Hearsay Social.

JFAM Forum: How to reach financial services clients in 2013

2013-04-12T20:46:58Z

From left to right: Gina Ballenger, VP, Enterprise Social Media Marketing, Wells Fargo; Chad Smith, Global Social Content Dist. Manager, iShares/Blackrock; Matthew Dunn, Director Social Strategies, Franklin Templeton Investments; Clara Shih, Founder and CEO, Hearsay Social

Yet another successful JFAM Forum took place in San Francisco yesterday focused on one crucial question: What do financial marketers want from their marketing in 2013? Sponsored by Financial Times, Hearsay Social, The Street, and others, the forum brought together speakers and attendees to talk brand reputation and content marketing in financial services, and how new technology like social media affects these hot topics.

As a result of the financial crisis and other factors, firms have lost the trust of their customers. In the morning keynote, Hearsay Social CEO Clara Shih carefully explained that customers increasingly recognize and ignore mailers and impersonal campaigns created by “faceless organizations.”

So what are customers responding to? Personal notes from actual people.

The marketer’s job in 2013 and for years to come is to meet the customer where they actually are–on mobile and social–and engage with them in an authentic, personal manner. Marketers and reps that are good at what they do are rightfully focusing on quality of messages as opposed to quantity.

In the social media age, content is king. Financial firms are quickly learning that by sharing and engaging on social networks, and by leveraging the authenticity and humanness of their field, they can earn back their customers’ trust and business.

“The Death of Marketing” at SXSW 2013

2013-04-04T18:03:57Z

Couldn’t make it to SXSW this year? Not to worry.

Set aside some time to listen to the above recording of a session led by Hearsay Social CEO Clara Shih (@ClaraShih) and Renee Brown (@ReneeDBrown), SVP/Director Social Media, Wells Fargo, on “The Death of Marketing.”

In the first portion, Clara talks about the shift of power from traditional brands and institutions to individuals, and what that means for marketing. Then Renee, who heads up social media for Wells Fargo, talks about the changing rules of marketing based on her extensive experience running social media for the major global bank. Finally, the session concludes with an informal conversation between Clara, Renee, session attendees, and virtual attendees on Twitter.

See our other SXSW 2013 coverage:

Bloomberg TV: SEC OK’s Facebook, Twitter for company disclosures

2013-05-20T23:00:02Z

U.S. companies, according to the SEC, will now be able to post their earnings on Twitter or update their status on Facebook as long as investors have been told in advance where to look. Watch the below clip for more perspective on the announcement from Hearsay Social Founder Steve Garrity, Graham Fisher’s Josh Rosner, and Bloomberg’s Cory Johnson on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart.”

4 social media trends every real estate agent must know

2013-04-29T23:23:59Z

Are you a real estate agent new to social media? Or maybe you’ve been on social media for a while and want to keep up with the industry trends. Here are a few real estate trends that will help you be social media savvy.

Mobile photos

As an agent, you’re always on the go—showing houses, meeting with clients, and searching for the hottest new listings. That’s why mobile is so important for real estate agents today. Mobile helps you share content, listings, articles, and tips over social networks while you’re on the move.

Here’s one great practice: As you arrive at your new home listing, snap a picture using Instagram and post it to your Facebook page so that your connections can see the latest houses on the market. You can also capture stories, share neighborhood information, and other tips while you’re driving through your local area. For the most mileage, post these ideas and pictures when they are relevant and recent instead of waiting until you get back to the office. In addition, Instragram allows you to turn these photos into a postcard that you can send to your clients or use in your marketing materials.

Don’t forget you can also share content and upload pictures to Hearsay Social from your mobile phone by logging in to Hearsay Social from your iPad, iPhone, Android, or other Web-connected device.

Communities

There are many types of communities online that you can join through LinkedIn Groups, Google+ Communities, and Yahoo! Groups. These services allow people to connect to communities who share common interests.

Try joining a community about real estate, creating a community about your local neighborhood, or joining a community that is involved in city event planning. All of these types of communities will help you connect with potential customers and convey you as a credible resource in the industry. Remember: don’t advertise through these communities. Simply answer questions and contribute to the conversation so that your new connections come to you for advice about real estate. Brand yourself as the go-to person.

Networking via Social Media

When you look at your News Feed on Facebook or your homepage on LinkedIn, do you ever look for new life events?

For example, when someone has a baby, gets married, or experiences other significant life moments, many people share that information over social media. The great thing for real estate agents is that it gives you a glimpse into the important things happening in your network so that you can reach out. Chances are high that a new baby, a new spouse, or an upcoming job move could mean the person has to look for a home. Track the feeds on your favorite social networks to find out what major life events are happening and congratulate your contacts so that they remember you’re there to help when they need to move.

Google+ Local

Do you have a physical real estate agency office? If so, the new Google+ Local feature would be great for you. It allows agents like yourself to list your physical office details and collect customer reviews. Since this is all housed within Google+, it allows clients and prospects to be able to find your physical location and listing on the Web through various services, like Google Maps and Google search. Try it out!