Social Media's New Wall Street
As social media communication becomes more of a main stay of our digital culture, there’s more proof that highly regulated industries are changing the way they work to accommodate it. While providing relevant content isn’t the only means in which an advisor can leverage social media, relevant timely content delivered through the right form of media is king!
Recently Raymond James Financial, who has 5,400 financial advisors serving 2 million accounts in 2,400 locations throughout the United States, Canada and overseas, began experimenting with new ways of sharing and posting information to social media networks. It used to be that in order to submit something for posting, it had to be run, one at a time, through the compliance department of the St. Petersburg, Fla., firm. As a result, posting to a Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn page could take days.
Now, thanks to the social media software firm Actiance, things are running a lot smoother, and all content posted and approved still meets FINRA compliance. Through an automated process, posts get submitted, approved and posted more efficiently.
While companies like Actiance, Socialware, and Hearsay Social are helping firms like Raymond James, Morgan Stanley and State Farm make the social Media posting and approval process more automated and efficient, they’re also helping to change the way companies think about what drives successful social media.
Good Content Can Be Compliant
Any social media strategist will tell you, like any marketing campaign, good social media marketing is about relevant content. Without it, no one will listen to what you’re saying. But good content isn’t always the primary focus of regulated industries. In fact, by the time that legal counsel has seen it, good content often becomes steeped in legalese. While it’s important to be compliant, good content is also about being relevant.
Raymond James, in an effort to help advisors stay on top of trends and breaking news, have created an editorial calendar so that posts can be submitted well in advance so that they can be approved with enough time to keep up with the real-time news cycle that their friends, followers and friends appreciate.
Relying on an automated process alleviates a lot of manual processes that may have slowed down content review. Software like Actiance’s scans submitted messages for words that could indicate a regulatory or risk problem, like prices, product names or a word such as “guarantee.” Setting up these types of controls not only force companies to be proactive, but helps them to think about their content from different perspectives.
From ‘Need to Know’ to ‘Need to Share’
Additionally, creating a content strategy that aims to connect information with people requires a certain level of knowledge sharing. Working in silos is no longer conducive in a world where sharing information boosts clout and accountability. As such, companies are slowly shifting from a “need to know” mentality to a “need to share” environment. Transparency has always been a major part of social media success. Without it, brand loyalty and trust can diminish considerably. Learning to share information is not always easy, but there are initiatives companies can implement to get more comfortable, like an editorial calendar, which asks individuals to share what’s on their agenda.
Social media isn’t going away, and choosing to ignore it is no longer a viable option. The sooner companies learn to adapt their workflows to meet internal requirements and customer expectations, the better they can leverage social media.
About Marisa Peacock
