My first conference blog! I had some computer barriers for awhile so if you have anything to add PLEASE do as I know I’ve miss some things!

Presenters:

Jeff Gahnz - Nicolet National Bank, @nicoletbank

Dana VanDen Heuvel, MarketingSavant, His blog, @danavan

Jeff Gahnz, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations of Nicolet National Bank, and Dana VanDen Heuvel, President of MarketingSavant, are co-presenting today’s Selling Social Media to your CEO breakout workshop.

Nicolet National is dedicated to fostering the continued growth of Green Bay and the surrounding communities through a diverse array of products and services. Nicolet National’s staff of experienced commercial and retail bankers is committed to understanding the financial needs of their client’s business. By offering competitive solutions in commercial lending, private banking and retail banking, Nicolet National is devoted to helping businesses and individuals achieve their financial goals.

Dana VanDen Heuvel is an award-winning marketing blogger, author of the American Marketing Association’s Marketech ‘08 Guide to Marketing Technology and Guide to Social Network marketing trends and best practices and speaks at over 50 events each year on these and other marketing topics at industry and private client events.

Dana kicks off the meeting introducing each other and asks us on how to make this session a success. What are your challenges on getting over the hump on social media in your organization? What are your roadblocks?

Jeff at Nicolet National Bank started the CEO conversation with his personal experience.

  • Started out in traditional advertising
  • Through that medium they were talking AT people and spending too much money doing that
  • Relationship is one of their first words in their mission statement and cannot build relationships without conversation
  • Turned talking at people around to talking to people–a lot more cost effective than continuing to talk at them

It was then asked, what are objections you will face in your organization about forming relationships through social media.

  • They will say something bad about us. Dana said “what do you think they are saying right now anyway?” Jeff’s response was, would you rather have them tell you, or tell thousands of others without you knowing?
  • You can’t erase or delete those comments. People will find out and the need for transparency is key in credibility
  • You start to tune in and understand on what’s being said so you can effectively respond
  • People start to trust that they can come to you with issues and that you’ll positively resolve them
  • Some brands are being so bold to ask what is wrong with their brand so they can make it better and better help their customers

Age is not a limitation in social media. It’s a huge misnomer that the older population is not out there. You may not get the interaction that you might with a younger audience, but if you have information that you want them to know, it’s still very beneficial to get it out there.

You’re missing the relationship aspect in social media when your organization has the old school/traditional thinking of Marketing.

ROI: Relationship is apparent and significant: Socially engaged companies are more financially successful. We’re talking deep engagement, not merely having a presence. You can get just as close to your target via social media. Because the dollars are low, and even though it is not easy to measure through one channel, why wouldn’t you do it when you can engage much more effectively. I think that because you may not be able to measure hard results right away, the long term affects in building engagement is much more powerful, and WILL result in much greater brand loyalty and profits.

You have to be honest and say that you can’t necessarily fully measure one post/social media piece to one single result many times. You don’t brand to connect that one element to one result. You have to look at the overall goals and define what exactly you want to measure from a high level.

How do you find your audience? Jeff from Nicolet answered this.

  • We initially assumed we knew where they were. We found only3-5% were on the social media channels and learned that our assumptions were possibly not right
  • We gathered feedback from customers on where they are and how they learned about promotions/information
  • Feel your way around these channels
  • Build network by putting something of value out there — I think this can be done by putting yourself out there to through finding relevant connections, RSS feeds, leaders in industry, growing your awareness through contributing relevant, good content, LISTENING, setting geographic boundaries, setting searches through Twitter, Google, etc. to find those speaking to keywords
  • Exchange of information

If your company is hard set on financials/numbers, how do you sell social media when you don’t have the ability to show results?

  • Start with STRATEGY!
  • Show examples on those who have had success

How do you find your social media outlets for your industry?

  • Ask customer’s on how they want to connect
  • Determine which outlets are most relevant to your industry–where your target is
  • Bring something relevant to your customers on what you’ve  learned in a meaningful way. Relate to it and show how you can add value to that topic.
  • [My thoughts would be to determine what level of commitment you want to make, learn what channels your audience is in and develop a plan to integrate the  appropriate channels together]
  • Blog is the most public and easiest to find. A great way to display content and be useful
  • Biggest thing is to COMMIT to it! Do not start something if you won’t follow through

On social media policy:

  • What are people’s responsibilities
  • Accommodating and accounting for different roles. ie: listenting, customer service issue response–make sure you have a plan in place to cover it
  • Make sure people understand what to say and how to deliver company reputation/brand
  • External rules of engagement: define boundaries for external conversation
  • Key is education
  • If nay-sayers see a process, they made be open to idea
  • Process for watch, address, monitor