2. Why? I mean, isn’t it for kids? Social media is the networking trend of the future. Kids don’t email anymore! It’s basically free It increases brand awareness & penetration quickly It shows the people behind the brand It’s viral
3. The Good …and the Bad Social media allows a company to be transparent. People buy from people they like, know and trust. Social media in the business world needs to be monitored and have procedures behind it. If done correctly, you win. If not managed you lose.
5. Blogging My work blog: www.foundersgrp.wordpress.com Blog=Web Log. Combine work & personal. Pictures!!! Links to other sites Subscribe to others and post comments!
6. Tweet On! Micro Blogging @,#,RT, DM, Twit, Tweet, Twitterverse – what do they all mean! Very viral Great way to get people to your website, Facebook, blog et al Follow people that you want to do business with and/or will help your business My work Twitter www.twitter.com/foundersgroup
7. Friend me…Fan me! Personal & Business do they mix? Sure! Why I have both Creating a Fan page How to get people to be your friend or fan Have fun! Post often, tell stories Founders Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/foundersinsurancegroup
8. Business networking sight Great for job hunting! Update often Ask for recommendations Recommend others Have twitter/blog feed Link to those that will help your grow My LinkedIn Account http://www.linkedin.com/in/cindydonaldson
9. Show them who you are! Event pics Sponsorship pics Awards It’s all about transparency Founders flickr Page http://www.flickr.com/photos/foundersgroup/
10. Founders on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkyaE71GMCU Post videos of your staff Commercials Check out your competition Again – being transparent!
11. Just do it! The key to success is implementation and consistency Blog what you tweet, and tweet what you blog Connect all the dots, connect all your friends, fans and followers = Viral Marketing Have a process, have a point person Get your team on board
12. Shameless plugs The ROI of Social Media Monday June 14, 2010 By Heather Baldwin If you still think Twitter, Facebook, and other social media are just nice-if-you-have-the-time tools, take a look at how Founders Insurance Group used them to grow sales a whopping 20 percent in one year. When Cindy Donaldson, director of marketing and personal lines sales, joined Founders about a year ago, she launched a multipronged, social-media campaign to raise the profile of this Torrington, Connecticut-based insurance organization. She started a blog post, launched an e-newsletter, created a Facebook page, and gave the company an active presence on Twitter. And while it's often difficult to trace the exact results of specific marketing efforts, you simply can't argue with what has followed. "Since we started our social-media push, our branding has increased tenfold," says Donaldson. "People find us on Facebook. Someone sees us on Twitter, and when we call [the prospect], he or she says, 'Oh, I just read about you guys.' People in the community know us now, whereas they didn't before." Most importantly, sales have grown 20 percent in the year since she started that social-media thrust. There's no magic here; it's simply a constant and active presence online that has generated these results. For instance, Donaldson started a blog at WordPress, a free and easy-to-use blogging platform. Every time she posts something new, she puts a teaser line and link to the blog post on Twitter. Of the 10,000 collective hits Founders has gotten on its blogs, a good 30 percent have arrived via Twitter. And that's not counting the hits the company gets on its Facebook page each month. The cost of acquiring all those eyeballs: nothing. Facebook is free; Twitter is free; WordPress is free. The only new media tool for which Donaldson pays is her e-newsletter, in which she offers insurance tips, staff profiles, and community tidbits to a circulation of about 4,500 readers. But at just $450 a year, the e-newsletter is barely a blip on the expense sheet. Compare those numbers to advertising via the old, traditional methods - radio, TV, and newspaper - on which Founders once relied. Donaldson says she "easily would have had to spend $250,000 or more" to get the same kind of growth via the old media that she's getting nearly for free on social media. With results like these for costs like these, you'd think lots of insurance companies would be doing the same thing, right? Wrong. "When I started the blog, it was unique in the insurance world," says Donaldson. And competitors are still slow to catch on. "I know some insurance companies that are still advertising in the yellow pages!" she says with incredulity. "Who uses those any more?" The bottom line: If you're not already leveraging social media to connect with your clients and prospects, you need to move it to the top of your priority list. "Companies that aren't using social media aren't going to be able to keep up with those who are," concludes Donaldson. "It's the new way of connecting and selling to people."
17. Laura Mazzuca Toops, American Agent & Broker Cindy Donaldson is a Member of ACT – Agents Council for Technology for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Social Web Work Group
18. Excerpt from Independent Agent (IA) Magazine March 2010 March Cover Story Social SellingMarketing is taking on a whole new meaning as social media sites change the way agencies get the word out. Build Brand EquityFounders Insurance Group in Torrington, Conn. began using social media about one year ago to strengthen its brand. The agency is a merger of several older agencies, and the goal was to market the new firm in connection with its well-known principals and its staff. To do this, the agency hired former consultant Cindy Donaldson as its director of marketing. “We now have the “Founders Forum blog, and we Twitter and Facebook a lot,” says Donaldson. “All of these things have been a big help in our brand development.”The concept, Donaldson says, is to make the agency more visible in the online community so that users will get to know the firm’s people, values and products. “We don’t sell on price, we sell on value,” she stresses. “We believe having people understand this will eventually help our bottom line.”Donaldson’s latest goal is to convince more clients and prospects to follow her and the agency on social media sites. “This will make us more personal, and not all of it is about insurance,” she admits. “We really just want people to know who we are and to like us – and that’s a subliminal sell.”
19. Our Offices: Lakeville 12 Millerton Road 860-435-2507 Torrington 1300 Winsted Road 860-482-3506 Our Services Personal Insurance: Home and Auto, Recreational Vehicles, Boats, Second Homes, Umbrella Coverage Business Insurance: Liability, Property, Workers Compensation, Employment Practices Group Health & Life: Group health coverage, dental, HSA’s Platinum Accounts: Historic and High Value Homes, Manhattan Properties, Classic Autos, Jewelry and Fine Art Collections Cindy Donaldson Director of Marketing & Personal Lines Sales Founders Insurance Group, Inc. 1300 Winsted Road Torrington, CT 06790 cdonaldson@foundersgrp.com
