Coffee? Let’s meet in Sydney… #TravelTuesday

To say I have a deep relationship with Australia would be an understatement. I lived there in the 80s where I started my career in radio, TV and film. It’s where I met my wife, she was in charge of handing out the paychecks at a radio station where we both worked, (a very important person for a free-lancer to know), and our son was born in Royal North Shore hospital. It was all happening in Sydney in the 80s. What wasn’t happening in Sydney in the 80s was coffee.

In those days the typical cup of coffee involved boiling water and mixing it with a teaspoon of crystallized gunk from a jar. Instant bad karma and a complete affront to a caffeine-addled Yank accustom to finely brewed Columbia bean. If you went to a restaurant you could get an espresso. Try drinking espresso like Americans swill brewed coffee and you will test the limits of your nervous system like never before.

So you can imagine my delight when I returned down under in 2008 to discover coffee shops everywhere. Australia had become a café society! You couldn’t walk across the street without tripping over sidewalk-seated patrons happily sipping long blacks, short whites, lattes or cappuccinos. I wasn’t the only one who was delighted in this discovery. Both Starbucks and Gloria Jean were dead-set on cracking the coffee swilling Aussie market.

One failed, one flourished. The reason one failed and the other succeed is similar to why some companies fail to successfully leverage social media for their employees. They fail to be relevant and authenticate. Here’s where I’m going with this.

In 2008 Starbucks closed 600 coffee shops in Australia, while Gloria Jean continued to open more. The reason Starbucks failed is that they were irrelevant to the Aussie coffee culture. The Aussie coffee drinker doesn’t like brewed coffee, likes his sausage rolls and Lamingtons, and isn’t in interested in spiced pumpkin lattes in the fall and peppermint chai teas in December. To the Aussie, visiting a Starbucks wasn’t an authentic experience, it wasn’t true blue. On the other hand, Gloria Jean ‘aussie-fied’ by serving espresso based coffee drinks, Aussie tucker and provided an authentic, ‘fair dinkum’ experience.

When you’re crafting a social media plan for your company, you have to think in similar terms when creating content guidelines for your users. Start with these questions:

• What does my audience what to hear?
• How can I let my users have an authentic voice?
• What is taboo in regards to compliance?

Each industry will have different cultural and business nuances that will need to be understood. Your plan will change and evolve with your market, but if you commit to staying relevant by listening to your audience and successfully communicate your compliance issues to your users, you’re on the path to success.

And if you’re wondering what a Lamington is…. they’re worth the 15 hour plane ride.

On Social? Be Authentic!

Today’s post comes from Victor Gaxiola, Social Media Subject Matter Expert at Actiance.

Now that three of my colleagues have weighed in on the question of Facebook pervasiveness and use for business, as well as the blurred lines between personal and professional use, I thought I’d weigh in with my own thoughts on the matter.

I started using Facebook in April 2007 after it had become available to non-university students.  At the time there were 20 Million people on Facebook (compared to over a Billion today), and MySpace was the leading social network (a record they held till April 2008).  Using Facebook it was easy to connect with friends and family that were already on the network, and I was quickly able to re-connect with people who had been part of my life in the past.  Status updates allowed me to participate in the lives of so many that had either gone by the way side or forgotten through time and miles.  The social network made sharing a daily affair and I enjoyed connecting on common values, likes and ideas.

When I went into financial services, the use of Facebook for personal connections with clients and prospects was not allowed.  As a result my attentions shifted to LinkedIn for professional connections and network development keeping Facebook as a personal network with friends and family.  This continued until I left the business and was no longer a registered representative.   Despite the new found freedom, I still maintained my Facebook as a more personal network and when I started working at Actiance I too approached the invitation from work colleagues to connect on Facebook on a personal level with trepidation. Facebook was MY personal network, and I was initially a little nervous to share that part of my life.  Mind you, it wasn’t that I had anything to hide, I just wasn’t sure if I wanted people at work to know me THAT well. However, I did and continue to do so today, and  like Joanna I enjoy the discovery of common interests we share, and learning more about their likes, dislikes and passions. It has enriched the experience of working at Actiance and allowed me to know the people I collaborate with on a more personal level. On Monday mornings water cooler talk doesn’t require us to ask each other what happened over the weekend-  because we know. Instead, we can ask about the experience. How did it feel? How much fun was it? Instead of what did you do?

I think we’d all prefer to present our true self…. our authentic self.  “Be Yourself” was a rally cry of our youth and the reality is there is not point in denying who you are, quirks and all (people will find out eventually anyway).

Back in 2011 I wrote about this when I encouraged financial advisors entering the world of social media to avoid losing their voice and replacing it with corporate canned messages. I still believe this today and caution financial institutions to avoid forcing their language and messages through their networked employees and allow them an opportunity to provide their own voice.  People want to work with people who work at brands, not the other way around. Here is the message I shared, and continue to share today.

BE AUTHENTIC! A message to new social media users in Financial Services:

Welcome to the world of social media networking! As an early adopter and advocate of social networking in financial services, I look forward to the new voices and thought leaders that will emerge In the months and years to come.

Before you get started, let me share some simple advice: BE AUTHENTIC!

I know this may be a new world for you, and that learning how to use social media may seem like learning a foreign language. It’s not. If necessary, get help to learn HOW to use the tools, but resist the urge to have others speak on your behalf.

Don’t rely or use the “canned” messages created for you by your public relations, corporate communications, or compliance departments. Instead exercise the voice that has led you all along and has built the business you own today. Let your unique voice communicate who you are and what you represent in social networking circles. You know why people work with you-tell us!

Trust that the amplified nature of social media networking will reveal the thought leader that you are, and value you add each day.

Your audience is out there listening- it’s time to engage!

For more, check out these two blog posts on authenticity:
“Why Authenticity Matters” by Brian Solis
“Five Ways to Maintain Authenticity with Social Media” by Patricio Robles

What do you think?  How important is it to have an authentic voice when it comes to social media?

NOTE: If you are worried about exposing too much of yourself on Facebook, you can always use groups to create your own private circles of trust within Facebook.   I did this by setting up a Gaxiola Family Group that is secret (until now) and cannot be found on search.  In this group we share personal stories, photos and videos and all comments, shares, likes, etc. are  limited to the members of the group.

Belbey Blogs: “What are other firms doing?”

Today’s post comes from Joanna Belbey, Social Media and Compliance Specialist at Actiance.

Last month, I was asked by a new client:

“How are companies with technology solutions in place to monitor/moderate/archive posts treating Registered Reps’ and captive agents’ ability to share updates and links on social media sites? Are they allowing them to do this?  Are they pre-reviewing activity in advance or sampling post-review?”

The answer?  It depends.

There is no one approach. And every firm takes a different approach.  However, in general, we are seeing three general approaches:

Posting Corporate Messages: At the most conservative end of the spectrum, some firms create centralized libraries of pre-approved content, including a series of introductory statements (updates, tweets, etc) and even craft responses to updates. Because social media never “goes away”, these firms interpret all social media communications to be “static” advertising and hence they pre-approve everything. Although not strictly required by FINRA, as Joe Price of FINRA recently told the audience at the FINRA Advertising Regulation Conference, “Each firm bases its social media use policies its risk tolerance. And that’s fine”.

Personalization: The majority of firms also create centralized, preapproved content libraries with a series of introductory statements. However, they interpret the interactive portion of social media to be akin to a public appearance and hence allow their registered persons to interact on social media in real time without pre-approving each post. However, they put controls in place to block certain “trigger” words (such as stock symbols, “guarantee” “buy”, “sell”) and post review a pre-defined percentage interactive communications to demonstrate supervision.

Authentic Voice:  A smaller group of firms take the personalization approach a step further. These firms create centralized, preapproved content libraries, with introductory statements, and block certain “trigger” words (as above) to allow for interactive communications. However, these firms also encourage their registered persons to craft their own introductory statements to preapproved content as well as to post their own content with controls in place to block inappropriate “trigger” words. And like above, firms post review a pre-defined percentage interactive communications to demonstrate supervision.

Do firms use a phased approach?

We have found that firms tend to pilot social media with tight controls in place and typically don’t allow registered persons much latitude. However, once they begin to trust technology to safeguard their firms’ reputation and stay compliant, firms often begin to allow their reps to personalize content to varying degrees.

Different Use Policies- It’s also effective to create and enforce different use policies for different categories of users. For example, financial advisors with clean compliance track records and who have demonstrated appropriate use of social media, may be allowed a bit more freedom than those who are new to social media or have problematic compliance histories.

What works best?

We have found that reps achieve the most engagement when their firms facilitate allowing the reps’ “Authentic Voice” to shine through. After all, don’t we prefer to do business with people who share our common interest and passions? However, although this approach requires training in best practices, and perhaps a bit of hand holding, it yields better long term results.

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