So many insurance folks are asking, “If I get into Social Media, what do I say?  _____ insurance is so boring.  Plus people don’t really want to have it – it’s like going in for a physical or check-up….”  I don’t know about you, but to me that seems like a cop-out, an attempt to avoid having to learn something new, or just fear of the unknown.  But it’s worse than that, depending on how senior the person is in the organization, because it creates a drag on the SocialTech effectiveness of the organization.  But most of all, it’s untrue.  Here’s a terrific example from this week.

Yesterday, New York Life hit the Social Media nail on the head with a combo Facebook fan page update/blog post.  I’m tracking New York Life on my Facebook profile, not because I’m a customer, but because they got my attention somehow (I think through email), showed me a Facebook button, I clickedin on it, and hit the “Like” button.  I’m more interested in their social strategies than their insurance products right now, but you never know, right?  So now a few times a week I see what they are doing in my Facebook Newsfeed.

The Facebook feed said this, (in case you’re not on Facebook yet I’ll copy/paste)

As sad as I am to say it, summer is almost over and you know what that means… School is about to start and for some, college is vastly approaching, which brings us to the question: Are you ready to pay for it? Starting a college fund has been the solution for some families; however, what do you suggest? What have you done to save?

The link then said this,

Start a College Fund: 8 Strategies

www.newyorklife.com

Hmmm. Nice little segway from a reference to time-of-year to educational info without a sales pitch.  There were a few “Likes”, a few “Comments” – some action.  So I clicked through to see what the landing page looked like.  (By the way, New York Life has 2,700 Facebook Fans – not a whole lot for a company of it’s size, but enough to start a viral marketing process.  By this time next year, if they play their cards right, it could be 27,000… perhaps 270,000 in two years – FOR FREE and reaching fans who prefer Facebook for their news and information – AHA!.)

IMHO, the landing page is terrific.

What works well:

1. Good branding, but not overwhelming.  I clicked through from a branded Facebook link, so I expect to see a brand reinforcement image. The new tab also has the brand thumbnail.  And the URL is newyorklife.  So I’m comfortable in seconds.
2. It’s got a Facebook Like button right away, so I know I’m going to be able to Like it and Share it with my friends – useful.  By the way, I’m coming from Facebook, so if there WASN’T a Facebook Like, it would be counterintuitive.
3. The orange “Get a Quote” buttons are good but not overwhelming.  OK, I know the company is trying to sell insurance.  But they are clearly trying to offer useful and timely advice along the way.  So I don’t mind being given the opportunity to take action if the article underscores a gap I have in my financial situation.  In fact, that’s why I clicked-through, right?  Let me check out these 8 Tips and see how my situation stacks up…
4. They also have a phone icon on the left if you want to speak to someone right now.  Absolutely.  Channel of Choice.
5. Love the Mom kissing the baby on the right.  Links to another page dealing with parents and that particular life event.  Good.  (Boy, what a great chance for a viral video right there about new parents and babies and life insurance.)
6. Most of all, the content is good.  OK, it’s a little long, but that because of the compliance text.  And it’s 8 Tips, so that’s a lot of info.  But you need a lot of info on this particular subject, right?  Surely this content was scrubbed by NYLife compliance – but it’s still good, not too heavy with industry lingo, uses a lot of keywords, good stuff.

What do you like about it?  Thoughts on my Comments?  Please Comment below.

Issues: Mostly minor things.  The list is longer, but the issues don’t outweigh the good.

1. I think they forgot to turn off the italicized font, perhaps right after the ‘compliance’ text in item #1, so right after the “Keep in mind…” paragraph.
2. Not SmartPhone-friendly – same exact Web page…. should use a browser-sniffer and optimize the page for the tech environment.
3. Not Search Engine Optimized – could do a lot more with title tags, alt tags, tag cloud, and page source.
4. Links to resources do not open in a new Tab or Window – critically important and such a common mistake.  So if I click on a link, that doesn’t mean I’m done with the original page, I just want to follow that trail for a sec.  But if I’m done with that trail or get distracted, I might close that tab or window . Then I’ve lost the original page I was reading – and the brand has lost the sales op.  Make sense?
5. Not enough linking to external resources on keywords like Section 529 – great resource on wikipedia for that.
6. “Share this Article” on the right should just be a ShareThis button next to the Facebook Like at the top (similar to what I have below)
7. The Comment box should already be open at the bottom.  You want to encourage Comments.  Remember that someone who engages with your content is far more likely to Share and return to the page – and THAT’S the Holy Grail.
8. The “Consult an Agent” form is too heavy-handed on the page.  Perhaps they could have been satisfied with the repeat of the orange box from the top,  Btw, that’s a nice little widget (which should also open up in a new tab, right?) with a decent viral marketing and data collection Thank You page (could do a LOT more with that page).

That’s is for now – my hour’s up.  GTG.  Hope this was helpful.  Please Comment and Share.  Would be eternally grateful for the viral help.

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Awesome SocialTech Strategy by State Farm.  Also a form of Crowdsourcing – internal.  Brilliant.  I’m going to use the app.

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Picture from my recent family camping trip to the Adirondacks.  See all the pics here.  Olympic stuff, cliff jumping, YT cooking, scenic shots.  Epic trip.

Starbucks | Foursquare | Droid Incredible | Tweetdeck | Popularity growing 2.0 | Tips and Tricks | K.C. in October | B2B Case Studies Advisen

Gotta tell ya… Really stoked that Starbucks has free wifi. What do you think?  Traveler?  Web power user?  UGC Elite?  If so, you totally get the magnitude.  One’s thing Fo Sho – the joints are hoppin again.  And how much did it cost?  What’s the ROI?  Curious on your take… Btw, as I type up this post at the Starbucks at Union Square in NYC, as he hands out every creation, the barista whimsically says “___name___, thank you.  If it’s not perfect, let me know.  Have a great day…”

I started using Foursquare on this trip.  Hoping to get the hang of it in the next few months.  Any comments or suggestions?

Took delivery of a Droid Incredible last week.  I’m running so hard right now, it’s hard to get up to speed on how to leverage it.  But I’ll be taking time.  So far, I’ve gotten some glimpes of why it’s called a SmartPhone.  I’ve taken an intuitive guess on a couple things, and Bang! – that’s how it worked.  Example: I got a text message and wanted to call the sender – Yup.  I needed to call a contact but didn’t have his cell #.  Found him on Facebook.  Went to his Info.  Called his cell.  Got him.  Closed the loop on something.  Added him to Google Contacts.  Good to go.  Took a 8 megapixel photo in low light and uploaded it to Facebook.  I know this is going to rock.  And only $99.  Cool.  Oh yeah – and it’s light.

Tweetdeck is my favorite tool right now.  So easy to use.  On demand, like a helicopter, it drops me right into the middle of any conversation I desire.  Such a fantastic research and listening tool – to all my networks in one interface – not to mention easy updating the networks from spot.  If you’re frustrated with Twitter or not using it at all, really encourage you to reach out to me.  Happy to teach you how to get in the conversation, or at a bare minimum use it for research.  Twitter will tie you into a whole new world – one of transparency, innovation, and freshness.  Try this: for 3 months, dump 90% of your mainstream media consumption – retain the top 10%, cut the rest.  Take some of that time and “listen” to Twitter via Tweetdeck.  Pick up how it works, how people are communicating, what they’re sharing, hashtags, links, retweets, follow fridays, integration with blogs and linkedin.  Promise you – You’ll thank me for it.

Yep, the popularity is growing for Web 2.0 in insurance.  I’ll go further than that.  With the onset of Smartphones and iPads, I say it’s hit critical mass and is exploding.  And for VERY good reasons.  Man, if you’re a marketer or sales guy, help me understand why you are NOT focused on Web 2.0?  Know this – every day that goes by that you are not generating some kind of content or footprint in the space is a day lost that you will not get back.  “I know I should…” or “I shoulda…” are words that will haunt relative to Web 2.0 and SocialTech.  I’m happy to help.  It’s not time consuming or expensive – IF you do it right and have someone coaching you.

Tips and Tricks?  Everyone always wants one or two when they talk with me.  Here’s one: Use Mozilla for your browser.  Dump IE like the plague.  If you have Favorites to transfer, no problem.  Why?  Speed, efficiency, nimbility, user interface, passwords, remembering data for common forms like name and address fields.  SO much better.  Oh yeah – and virus security, pop-ups, flash block, etc.  What do you think?  One other thing – When your browser opens up, what pages automatically load?  Do you have several tabs load at once so you can quickly check in across your social networks?  You can set that up in your browser preferences – save you gobs of time.

Looking forward to speaking at the KAIA Meeting in K.C. in October.  They are giving me 2 hours to download SocialTech to an audience of about 200 KS, MO, and NE agents.  I guess they liked me last year.  So much has happened in the meantime.  I hope the folks come ready for an avalanche of information.  In fact, I think I’ll start with that move clip from Vertical Limit where the guys turns to the camera and yells “AVALANCHE!!!!!”

B2B Case Studies re SocialTech, Sales and Marketing, and ROI.  But here’s the real question: This stuff is practically free.  And if you know what you are doing, extremely efficient.  I’m here to help you.  And there’s plenty of people like me more than happy to help.  Curious on your rationale for NOT doing Social and sales.  Socially Facilitated Selling – it’s where it’s at.  Move.

Some of my favorite case studies….
http://www.fastcompany.com/1665075/the-definitive-case-for-b2b-social-media-marketing
http://www.hubspot.com/marketingsherpa-top-7-B2B-Case-Studies-for-2010/
http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/case-study-email-crm-social/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/it-pays-to-listen-avayas-250k-twitter-sale/
http://sonofgeektalk.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/social-media-in-pharma/
http://adamchristensen.com/2009/01/23/the-impact-of-corporate-culture-on-social-media-ibms-case-study/
http://businessesgrow.com/2010/06/20/a-fascinating-hardcore-b2b-social-media-success/
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/01/16/new-case-study-shows-social-media-is-the-major-contributor-to-lead-generation/

Useful related articles:
http://mashable.com/2010/06/24/b2b-sales-productivity/
http://mashable.com/2010/04/08/b2b-marketing-tools/
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4815/How-to-Turn-a-Blog-into-a-B2B-Lead-Generation-Machine.aspx

Comments?  Lurking is Lame.  If nothing else, add a comment and drop a link back to your site….

Pictures from Starbucks at Union Square due shortly….

Post time: Two hour, 12 minutes (including pictures) – Worth the time?

As I cruised through the crowd at the PIMA 2010 MidYear Meeting looking for new faces to introduce myself to, I ran across a new guy who had just stepped into the conference.  Looking at his name tag, Craig had the “Prospective Member” white ribbon.  Cool.  A ‘younger’ guy, Craig had a nice way about him – smart, professional, confident, clean cut, articulate.  Great.  After finding out a little about how he came to know about PIMA, where he was from, and what line of business he was in, he asked me, “What to you do, Mike?  What is WebWisedom?”  “I’m helping PIMA members understand the Social Web and how to leverage it for marketing results.” Then he said a very significant thing, “Great!  Just the person I want to ask: What’s the hash-tag for the conference?”  WOW! WOW! WOW!  So mark the date: 07/15/10 6pm, opening session of the 2010 MidYear Meeting – the first time someone actually asked ME about Twitter!!!  And yes, he was a Gen-X’er.

Relative to the new two-meeting format, netnet, PIMA is doing its best to be a good steward of precious resources.  I’d be interested in Comments (below after the pictures), but the new “MidYear Meeting” we just experienced had a record attendance for a summer meeting.  So whether you are an Agency, a Company, or a Business Partner, there seemed to have been plenty of people to talk to and network with.  My observation – there seemed to be a good mix of decision-makers and influencers as well.  From the Business Partner perspective, I felt there was good buzz in the Exhibit Hall on both Friday and Saturday.  I loved the indoor/outdoor places to have private conversations as well.  Any other thoughts?  Please Comment below, start a thread on the PIMA Linkedin Group page, or drop an email.  Feedback is always welcome.

Lastly, I recorded some sound bites from the speakers at the conference (with their permission).  When I get a few spare minutes, I will relay the recording via podcasts… some compelling content to consider.

As normal, I took a few pictures at the event.  Wanted to share two here.  One is of the “Best of PIMA” winner – significant because it went to a Broker (Aon) for a Social Media Marketing campaign.  The other is of the Panel gathered to discuss the impacts of PPACA.  This was a phenomenal trio of industry wizards who spoke extremely clearly about the potential adverse consequences of PPACA, about how similar legislation has failed in MA, and about the very real possibilities for the ultimate destiny of the bill.  I’ve got some sound bites from that as well.

Cheers!  Comments welcome.  What did you think of the conference?

“Socially Directed Buying”

- The B2C Holy Grail!?!?!

PIMA Attendees: Are you looking for Revenue??? How much revenue did you get from Social Media Marketing last month?  In 2010?  How much time, talent, and funds did you allocate to Social Media Marketing?  Did you know that marketers of all shapes and sizes, across all industries, B2C, B2B, etc., are seeing some really good results from Social - in the midst of the economic climate?  I’ll show you a few in the limited time I have.  Put on your thinking cap and connect the dots for how this applies “to my business”.  Plenty of opportunity and potential IF you do it right – as always.

PIMA 2010 Midyear Meeting
Unofficial Educational Session

RSVP on Linkedin – Click here

Saturday 7/17
2-3pm
Conant Room, Landsdowne Resort

I. First things first – Monitoring, Control, and Compliance

II. 4 Marketing Strategies using Social Technologies

1. Viral Marketing
2. Viral Video
3. e-Word-of-Mouth
4. Revenue on Demand

III. Measuring Results

Promoted via Social Tech and Word of Mouth only

Teasers: What are these brands doing, Why, and the Results.

Rayovac

JetBlue, IBM, Nokia

American Family

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Btw, I shot my first official wedding last weekend.  See the pics HERE.

Favorite picture:

Oh Man – this stuff is where it’s at for B2B Sales.  I finally have the whole thing wired…

Thoughts and Comments?  Please Share below..

(Excerpted from the Crowdsourced book due out soon called Enterprise Social Technologies. Chapter 7: Social Sales, written by YT!)

What’s happening out there???

Selling has changed, whether you’re selling commodities or complex products.  In fact a whole new layer has been added to the sales process, a layer with fantastic power.  This new layer of Social Technologies has forever altered the art and process of selling.  Take a hard look at your most recent sales – or losses.  Whether business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C), did the buyers “check you out online,” either before or after they contacted you? In this due-diligence process, what did they find out about you?  What is ‘out there’ relative to YOU, your product reputation, and/or your brand reputation?  Have you searched yourself, your product, your brand, your market, and your competition?  Have you thought about how much influence these data-points have had on your recent sales results, or your lead volume?  Perhaps if you really look at the trends, you’d have to admit that selling has changed A LOT in the last few years.  Perhaps it’s time for you to change your processes as well.

In the mid-2000‘s, things started turning a bit chaotic.  The Internet and E-Commerce began to mature.  User-generated content started to proliferate with YouTube and Blogs.  Search engines like Google began to disinter-mediate salespeople.  Some brands like Progressive Insurance even went so far as to pronounce the end of the era of the sales agent.  In spite of many claims of ROI and productivity gains, few understood how to use these mediums for business, let alone how to generate sales.   Meanwhile buyers started getting savvy to all these tools, too – and started using them in their buying process!  In a sense, the tables were turned.

Today, circa 2010, this chaos has stabilized, matured, synthesized, intersected, and emerged into the next major evolution in sales known as Socially Facilitated Selling (B2B) or Socially Directed Buying (B2C).  Social Technology now augments communication and provides new ways to build trust.  As such, Social Tech is reorganizing how buyers buy – and thereby forcing sellers to adapt.  Social Tech is also helping sales people be at the right place at the right time on a scale never before attainable, and at a cost never imagined – essentially FOR FREE!  A powerfully constructed Blog, integrated with Twitter and Linkedin, is replacing a premium Country Club membership and the closely guarded ‘rolodex’.

Why Socially Facilitated Selling?

Whenever I talk to sales people about using Social in their sales process, they always want to know the “How”, but often skip the necessary “Why”?  The ‘How’ is the easy part.  But to really be effective at Social, we need to deeply understand the answers to questions like, Why is it helpful for the sales person to join online professional networks, update their Status daily, and get Recommendations from clients?  Why is updating a professional Blog once a week one of the most important activities a sales person can do each week?  Further, why is getting a customer to Comment on a Blog post a huge event in the life of a customer relationship?  What role do Facebook and Twitter play in the sales process?  Why are ‘listening’ devices such as Tweetdeck, Google Alerts, SocialMention, and Addictomatic helpful in the sales process?  What is the best way to proactively target prospects using Linkedin?  Once in your crosshairs, why is it important to use Social Tech for warm introductions, to gain credibility, build rapport, and/or understand concerns and priorities of a prospect – all BEFORE the first contact, certainly before the first sales event or discovery session?  Once we clearly understand the answers to these and other related questions, with real-life facts and figures, then we are ready to tackle the tactical execution.

The book is due out in a few months.  Can’t wait!

Comments?  Do you resonate with any of this?  Helpful info?

Need help “Getting there”?  I’ve got a process.  Contact me at WebWisedomLLC at GMail dot com.