October 28, 2008
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Darwinism in Social Media
Tim Collins
Ed Terpening
Wells Fargo Social Media
http://blog.wellsfargo.com
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The emerging definition of brand….
A brand is…
what people say about you… when you’re out of the room
Jeff Bezos- Amazon
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Why Social Media?
Be where our customers are.
Marketing is increasingly becoming an opt-in activity
Media is fragmenting
We had many internal blogs prior to our first public
and learned from those
Bottom line: You want to be your customers are
– They can call, visit or click. Why not have a dialog online?
– A new channel to listen and learn.
– Hosting a channel where customers learn from each other
benefits everyone involved.
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How we got started
Understand the culture
Communications Culture Evolves
– Email: use of signatures, distribution lists, BCC
– SMS: short-code acronyms, emoticons, real-time
– Websites: linking, page layout, 24x7, service delivery
Experience the culture
– Immerse yourself in blogs of interest, where your
passions are
– Read the best. There are lots of niche bloggers that
cover industry best practices (eg, BankWatch,
OpenSourceCU, NetBanker)
– Start commenting on blogs, participate!
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Wells Fargo’s blogs
Joining the blogosphere with authenticity, relevance.
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Challenges
Yours may vary by industry, but there are
commonalities
Regulation
– COPPA, Privacy, Security, …
Getting buy-in through education, address risk
– Understand & address rational fears, like comments.
Have a thick skin.
Resources, training bloggers
– Finding bloggers, writing style, not being intimidated,
learning the culture, balancing “day job”
Standards & guidelines development
– Community guidelines (comments, email)
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How we Fared
What to expect and what we learned.
Blogeratti Buzz
– Steve Rubel, Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, et al
Not blogging about your primary business
– Played it safe out the gate, but clearly unique,
relevant content. Build confidence.
When you launch
– Pay attention, participate in the buzz
– Be “in the room”
Measurement
– Throw out traditional web measures, measure
engagement. We’ve reached millions of visitors, and
have hosted thousands of conversations.
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Corporate blog tone
Key ingredients
Tone Recipe…Individualism + Brand + Audience Culture
Know your audience…read + participate = dialog
Write great headlines…remember, RSS is your filter
Authenticity…bring personal experience, admit faults,
listen. Include a biography.
Listen…Think conversation, not conversion.
Find your relevance…a niche passion. Love what you do
Post with regularity.
Be linky…you’re part of a broader ecosystem. Don’t build
walls, be open.
Use visuals, photographs, info-graphics
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Joining the conversation changes tone
Rants can become civil conversations
Rant by blogger ‘Brent’
about Guided by History:
“You’d have to be a
creeped-out paranoid
consumer to have an
ongoing interest in that.”
Courteous response by
Wells Fargo blogger Staci
Schiller: “Your suggestions
are valuable and much
appreciated.”
Civil reply by ‘Brent’: “As a
move of pure positioning,
GBH works.”
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Successful Engagement
Don’t be afraid to go off topic. Be approachable.
This post about an
employee’s
wedding planning
generated 4 pages
of comments (21)
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Successful Engagement
Be open to conversations with other bloggers.
Engage
other
Answer
bloggers.
common
Be open.
questions with a
“Network
Effect” benefit
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Successful Engagement
Have a thick skin: be prepared for public
conversation.
A customer initiated a
great conversation on
how to improve
statements.
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Successful Engagement
Make it easy.
Integrated
comment box
Integrated
Give readers a Video
channel
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Video Blogging
Engaging, personal, connecting
26 day RV trip vlog retracing the 150
year anniversary of the Butterfield
Overland Mail Route
Stops at schools and museums
along the way, bridging online &
customer experience
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Social Media is beyond blogging
Participate beyond your “home turf”
Blogging
alone is an
incomplete
social media
strategy.
Get out of
your
sandbox.
Find your
customers
wherever
they are,
listen and
participate
when it
makes
sense.
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Wrap-up
Social Media is yet another way for us to have a
dialog with our customers.
Listen, learn, respond. Know the culture.
Transform a cold medium (online) and
humanize it.
Measure engagement, and be prepared. Have
a thick skin.
Small “test & learn” initiatives can be a great
start.
Are you where your customers are?
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Thank you!
http://blog.wellsfargo.com
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