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IASA 86TH ANNUAL EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE & BUSINESS SHOW
Beyond LinkedIn: Leveraging Social Media to Build Your Professional Brand
Session Number 421
Today’s Speakers
Jennifer Overhulse, Principal Owner – St. Nick Media Services
Jennifer Overhulse is the principal owner and founder of St. Nick Media Services.
She is a writer, as well as a marketing and public relations expert, with more than
20 years of journalism background and expertise. As principal owner of St. Nick
Media Services, Jennifer works with companies to tailor marketing, PR,
advertising and sales messages/efforts for specific target audience groups. She
has recently published expert articles in leading trade publications. Additionally,
Jennifer is a member of the Insurance Marketing Communications Association
(IMCA), the Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA) and is editor of
IASA’s Interpreter.
Darin M Reffitt, VP, Marketing - BNY Mellon
@dmreffitt on Twitter
Darin Reffitt is Director of Demand Generation and Campaign Management with
Exigen Insurance Solutions. Bringing over 17 years of experience in marketing
and communications, his focus at Exigen is on 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.
“Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about
location, location, location. The closer you
are to the source, the higher your property
value.”
Today, more than 1/3 of all married couples in the U.S. meet online.
Canadians spend more time online than anybody else in the world – an average of 45 hours per month!
48% of social media users check Facebook or Twitter if they wake up in the middle of the night
23% of iPhone owners primarily get their morning news from Twitter and Facebook
49% of social media users under 25 don’t mind being interrupted for an electronic message during a meal
Source: Retrevo survey via Mashable
6% of social media users over the age
of 25 will even acknowledge
messages during sex…
Connectivity creates industry & career opportunities…
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: Proformative, a professional social site for
accountants
1 Source: PwC global CEO Study
…but it also comes with a price.
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
• 757 million active users as of December 2013• Over 1 BILLION monthly mobile active users as of March 2014• Average user: Professional woman in her mid 40s with at least a college degree
and more than 130 friends• In a single year, FB user listened to 62.6 million songs on the site, equating to
more than 210,000 YEARS of listening time• Lost more than 10% of audience between ages 16 and 34 in 2013
• 555 million active users as of December 2013• Only 241 million monthly “active” users• Approximately 500 million tweets are sent each day• Average user: Woman under 30 years old with no professional or college
degree
• 250 million active users as of March 2014• Average user: Upwardly mobile men and women over 40 with college and/or
graduate degrees who use social media for professional reasons• More than 277% more effective than FB or Twitter for lead gen
Primary Social Channels
• 50 million active users upload more than 5 million photos each day• These photos generate more than 575 “likes” and 81 “comments” every
SECOND• Over 6 months, average daily Instagram visitor numbers increased by 724%
• 375 million active monthly users• More than 925,000 NEW users on G+ each DAY• Average user: Single, college-age student, typically male, pursuing degrees
in engineering, computer science, or graphic design
• 70 million active users• Average user: Woman with some college between the ages of 25 and 44
who lives in the Midwest and loves cooking and crafting• But the average Pinterest user spends approximately 1 HOUR AND 17
MINUTES on the site PER VISIT
Primary Social Channels
• Nearly 4.5 million hours of video uploaded each month• Viewers are watching more than 6 BILLION hours of home videos,
educational tutorials, TV shows, comedy routines and CAT VIDEOS each month
• YouTube now reaches more 18-34 year olds than ANY cable network
• Launched in January of 2013, Vine now has more than 40 million active users
• 6 second loopable videos• Record set on 4/15/13 when more than 19,667 vines were uploaded
during the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy
• Launched in September of 2011 by Evan Spiegel• Spiegel turned down a $3 BILLION buyout offer from Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg in February of 2013 • Approximately 30 million active US users – 70% are woman and 32% are
teens (13-17) on mobile phones
Primary Social Channels
Insurance Social Media Sites• Old
• Sexy Insurance• New
• Agency Tsunami• Market Luminary
• Magazines• Insurance & Technology• Insurance Networking News• ITA Pro Magazine
Who are you online?
Photos & Art
Music
Social
Videos
Review Selling
Communication
ProductivityCraft
EntertainmentDating/Meeting
Professional
Presentations
News
FoodSports
Shopping/Fashion
Medical
TravelCauses
Blogging Fitness
Automotive
Education
• Name• Sex• Relationship Status• Family Members• Hobbies/Interests• Address• Phone Number• Zodiacal Sign• Favorite Movies• Books You’ve Read• Vacation Spots You Love• Kids• Favorite Sports Teams• Potential Medical Conditions• Past Injuries/Illnesses• Family Medical History
• Birthday • Buying Habits• Elementary School• Middle School• High School• College(s) You Attended• Degrees You Hold• Professional Designations• Association/Club Affiliations• Friends’ Names• Hair Color• Eye Color• Favorite Color• Age• Political Affiliation• Sexual Orientation
• Religion• Pets Names & Numbers• Medical Alerts• Things You Collect• Talents• Current Employer• Job History• Criminal Record• Restaurants You Like• Foods You Hate• Preferred Airline • People You Recommend• Pet Peeves• Superstitions• Allergies• Car You Drive
Social Data may include intimate details about a person’s life, including:
And, most of this information is shared willingly. What insurance applications do you see for this information?
The Social Impact: Insurance 2015
Source: Ivans Carrier Study
The Social Impact: Insurance 2015
Ignorance is NOT Bliss
“Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. Nobody knows how. When it’s finally done, there is surprise it’s not better.”
Avinash Kaushik
Analytics Evangelist
If you “legalize” it…you can regulate it!
Begin at the Beginning…
Understand your company’s social media policy
- What you may post
- Company time
- Disclaiming your posts
- Topics to avoid
- Profile requirements
Source: leadershipcloseup.com
General Strategies
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
General Strategies
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
General Strategies
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
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
LinkedIn Profile
Professional picture
Professional name
Attention-grabbing heading
Vanity URL for links
Contact info
Other social media
Summary demonstrating
expertise
Experience
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
Twitter Profile
Same profile picture
Describe your value
Cross-linked sites
Distinctive header photo
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.
Google+
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…
Blogging
If allowed, blog about industry trends, challenges, etc.
Blogs can be written or video
Platforms:
- WordPress
- Blogger
- YouTube
SlideShare
Upload presentations on general educational topics to SlideShare as a PowerPoint or
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”:
Searching “Insurance Technology”:
Other Sites to Consider
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
Lessons Learned
Tools
Hootsuite: social media dashboard that enables organization of social media
accounts, keywords, posts, hashtags, etc.
Within Hootsuite you can form followers into groups4
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
Tools
RSS Readers37:
- Feedly
- NetVibes
- Newsblur
Twitter Automation/Schedulers37:
- HootSuite
- Sprout Social
- MarketMeSuite
- TweetDeck (now owned by Twitter)
Tools to Measure Social Influence37:
- Klout
- Kred
- PeerIndex
Final Thoughts
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
IASA 86TH ANNUAL EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE & BUSINESS SHOW
Please Complete the Session Evaluation Form on the Conference App and Include Your Conference Registration ID# to be Included in a Drawing for a Free Conference Registration for the 2014 Annual Conference!NOTE: Your Conference Registration ID# is Located at the
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