September 11, 2014

Presentation to IASA Regional Chapter Meeting NY, NJ, Mid-Atlantic

@dmreffitt

Darin M Reffitt, Director, EIS Group @dmreffitt on Twitter

Darin Reffitt is Director of Demand Generation

and Campaign Management with EIS Group (formerly Exigen Insurance Solutions.) Bringing over 17 years of experience in marketing and communications, his focus at EIS Group is on lead generation and lead management in marketing core system software to insurance companies of all sizes. He is also a volunteer with the IASA and chairs the Social Media Subcommittee, leading the efforts of the IASA to better engage with carriers, vendors, and individual members across social media platforms. He volunteers with the United Way of Delaware, is passionate about social media, and golfs, poorly.

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…and it’s now MONETIZED.

Twitter: Facebook:

Amazon, Sony, Microsoft, Whole Foods, Fab.com, J. Crew, Blue Nile, Forever 21

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66% of CEOs say a lack of necessary skills is their

biggest talent challenge1

83% say they are changing recruiting strategies to

address that1

Recruiting firms are searching not only LinkedIn,

Facebook, and Twitter, but aggregating from other

professional social sites

Example: a professional social site for accountants

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1 Source: PwC global CEO Study

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2013 CareerBuilder Study revealed that:

- 39% of employers screen candidates on social media, and rising

- 43% of those have found information on social media that factored into decisions to not hire a candidate

Provocative photos

Inappropriate photos

Discriminatory comments

- 19% of those have found information on social media that factored into decisions TO hire a candidate

Displaying good communication skills

Professional profiles

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“…involves creating an asset by defining an individual's body, clothing, physical appearance, digital and online presence and areas of knowledge in a way leading to a uniquely distinguishable, and ideally memorable, impression.”

“…the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual, group or organization.”

Term was first used in an article by business author Tom Peters in 1997.

Source: Wikipedia

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1. How you dress 2. How you speak

- Word choices - Speed - Inflections - Use of Sarcasm - Confidence

3. How you act

- Consistency - Expertise - Helpfulness - Passions - Habits - Behaviors - Trust

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- I.T. Department - Reliable - Knowledgeable - Fast - Helpful

- Marketing Department

- Never responds to emails

- Waits till the last minute to respond to deadlines

- Holds everything up

The Bottleneck Mr. Fix It

- Receptionist - Rude - Treats

customers like problems

- Knows everyone’s business

- Can’t be trusted

The Gossip

- Legal Department

- Paralegal - Finds solutions - Makes your job

easier - High level of

urgency

Legal Eagle

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1. How your profiles look

- Photo choices

- Related images – header photos, etc.

2. What you post

- Word choices

- Logic

- Humor

- Use of Sarcasm

- Personal attacks

3. Where you post

- Blogging

- Apps used

- Sites used

- Photos posted

4. What sites/products you use

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Photos & Art

Music

Social

Videos

Review Selling

Communication

Productivity Craft

Entertainment Dating/Meeting

Professional

Presentations

News

Food Sports

Shopping/Fashion

Medical

Travel Causes

Blogging Fitness

Automotive

Education

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Level 1 – Common knowledge • Name • Sex • Birthday • Relationship status • Family members • Education • Association memberships • Professional designations • Hobbies & interests • Favorite brands • Favorite movies • Favorite sports teams • Books you’ve read • When/where you’ve vacationed • Talents

Level 2 – Semi-private Info • Address • Phone Number • Current employer • Birthdate • Age • Religion • Political affiliation • Kids names • Sexual Orientation • Travel plans • Friends • Pets names • Previous employers • Business associates

Level 3 – Private info • Medical history • Security information • Work attitude • Job searching

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Understand your company’s social media policy

- What you may post

- Company time

- Disclaiming your posts

- Topics to avoid

- Profile requirements

Source: leadershipcloseup.com

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Social media has become—digitally—a combination of what chamber of commerce mixers, class reunions, and conferences used to be in person

Networking via social channels can lead to career and professional opportunities not only directly, but via referrals from clients, former classmates, distant relatives, and digital influencers

Include your social media links on business cards and email signatures as allowed to make it easier to find you via various channels

Crosslink your social media accounts to each other

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Set up Google alerts for key names and topics to listen proactively for news:

- Your Name

- Company Name

- Competitor/Influencer Names

- Client Names

- Key Unique Terms

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Develop a daily routine

10/10/10 rule: Spend:

each day connecting with industry contacts

each day gathering intelligence about industry issues and events

each day establishing professional credibility

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LinkedIn is “the world’s best business networking database”

Your profile is your online resume

- Professional photo

- Complete background and experience

- All relevant skills and expertise

Ask for professional recommendations from collegues

Join relevant groups

- You may join up to 50 groups

- Groups give you a place to answer questions and demonstrate knowledge

- You can contact people in your groups even if they aren’t direct contacts

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Professional picture

Professional name

Attention-grabbing heading

Vanity URL for links

Contact info

Other social media

Summary demonstrating

expertise

Experience

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If new, start by following key companies and industry associations – Look at who is following them

Search and monitor key hashtags – follow the people posting about those topics

Use your profile space strategically – Use hashtags and key info in a very limited space

Use the same photo across all social sites for easy confirmation

“Stakehold” your handle on new sites to protect it

Search industry influencers geographically – use Twellow

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Same profile picture

Describe your value

Cross-linked sites

Distinctive header photo

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Consider separate accounts for personal and business purposes

Join public & private groups related to your field

Be cautious with privacies and photos

- Remember that your profile photo and your cover photos are public

If connecting with business colleagues in a personal account, use the List feature to organize and ensure you’re sharing appropriately.

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Google+ ties directly to SEO for your website and for social media

Enables a link into YouTube, for video blogging

An alternative to using two Facebook accounts

- Facebook for Personal, Google+ for Business

Allows organization by “circles”

- Circles are like Facebook Lists

- If not already on Google+, you can start fresh with ideal groupings

- Control who sees various posts and who you see in your feed

Google+ leader Vic Gundotra left Google in April, leading to speculation that Google+ was being phased out. So far, this doesn’t appear to be true…

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If allowed, blog about industry trends, challenges, etc.

Blogs can be written or video

Platforms:

- WordPress

- Blogger

- YouTube

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Upload presentations on general educational topics to SlideShare as a PowerPoint or PDF

Link them to your LinkedIn and publish them via Twitter/Facebook/Google+

Ensure you include an author biography within your presentation and link it to your other social media accounts

Be strategic with keywords to reach your target market

Searching “Insurance Accounting”: Searching “Insurance Systems”:

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Quora: a question and answer site that enables experts to share their expertise, and which is tied to your Twitter/Facebook/G+ account

Pinterest serves as a great way to network around key themes and ideas; and is moving in a B2B direction

Instagram and YouTube can serve as ideal content generators for other sites

- Video and photos tend to gain traction over other types of content

A study by Simply Measured showed that Instagram photos shared by brands to Facebook resulted in 274 engagement actions, and to Twitter resulted in 22 retweets per photo37

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Hootsuite: social media dashboard that enables organization of social media accounts, keywords, posts, hashtags, etc.

Within Hootsuite you can form followers into groups

Prospects

Customers

Competitors (private twitter list)

Influencers

Partners

Twellow: Twitter directory

Topsy.com: Twitter Search Engine

Twitonomy: Twitter Analytics

Followers

Retweets

Mentions

Twiangulate

Finds accounts using multiple variables

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RSS Readers:

- Feedly

- NetVibes

- Newsblur

Twitter Automation/Schedulers:

- HootSuite

- Sprout Social

- MarketMeSuite

- TweetDeck (now owned by Twitter)

Tools to Measure Social Influence:

- Klout

- Kred

- PeerIndex

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Start by listening and learning the rules of engagement

- Figure out what your audience is doing and what your opportunity is

Voice matters

- Building a personal brand requires a personal voice

- On social media, organizational voices are less trusted than the voices of real people, which carry more weight and seem more real

The 4-1-1 Rule

- Published in 2009 and popularized by content marketing guru Joe Pulizzi

- For every 6 posts:

should be original posts to interesting content

may be self-serving to your own content or campaign

should be a retweet/repost of someone you’re following

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Source: Arlo & Janis Online