Get Serious About Social

PERSPECTIVES

powerful women entrepreneurs,” among GET SERIOUS other prestigious recognitions. After stints at Google, Microsoft and Salesforce.com, ABOUT SOCIAL she co-founded Hearsay in 2009—at just 27—to help banks and insurance companies Executives cannot afford to delegate social media modernize the way they engage via social, strategy, says Clara Shih, CEO of Hearsay. mobile, web and email. By Sarah Fister Gale “Everyone gets that they need to ‘do social,’ but … they aren’t exactly sure what EOs who do not make time for that means and why they aren’t seeing any social media are handicapping dramatic results or ROI,” Ms. Shih says. their companies. This, in so What most executives do understand at many words, is Clara Shih’s this point is that the explosion of social urgent message for executives. media and mobile means companies no Do not wait to dive into social longer defne the terms of engagement. media, do not delegate—act Instead, the customer is always around— now to bypass dated focus group and always judging. Mobile provides the numbers and get an unfltered connectivity, and social media and other C real-time look at how customers digital channels provide the outlet. experience the world and interact with your Customers “expect your business to be company. The cost of inaction is rising. fndable and ready to engage exactly when, Ms. Shih, CEO of Hearsay, a digital where and how they prefer,” Ms. Shih marketing management software company writes in her latest book, The Social Business serving the fnancial services industry, says Imperative: Adapting Your Business Model to many organizations still do not grasp how the Always-Connected Customer. “Even for deeply social media have ruptured the what are ultimately ofine transactions and traditional relationship between customers consumption experiences such as vacation and businesses. Although most companies travel or dinner, the buyer’s decision use social media in some capacity, most journey most of the time now begins on have barely scratched the surface of the social media.” business value they can bring in this era of Serving these perpetually connected intense customer engagement, argues Ms. customers requires a fundamental overhaul Shih, who has been recognized as a “young of business processes, structures and culture. global leader” by the World Economic And who must drive all this change? The Forum and named to Fortune’s list of “most C-suite. “True business transformation needs

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Sample posts on Starbucks’ Facebook and Instagram feeds

positively about the brand on social media ON BOARD WITH must think beyond the reactive, defense-only STARBUCKS model of doing business. “They have to play Since being elected to ofense, take risks, experiment with new the Starbucks board of customer engagement models and, above all, directors more than five embrace technology,” she says. years ago (replacing Ms. Shih has warned that executives Facebook COO Sheryl who do not lead the digital charge will Sandberg), Clara Shih has had a front-row view sufer the same fate that befell many into the coffee giant’s retailers in the 1990s. They relegated their social media strategy. online strategies to junior teams or web And she gives it rave departments and were then blindsided by reviews: “Starbucks does the paradigm shift that came with Amazon [social engagement] and other e-commerce giants. incredibly well, as evi- For those executives still skeptical of the denced by the success of need for a strong digital strategy, Ms. Shih its social media efforts, has plenty of ammunition to make her case, mobile app and digital drawn from her time working for some of loyalty program.” the world’s most powerful tech companies. The company has emerged as a role model She sees three advantages to becoming for how nontech brands an always-connected business: trust, can drive business as the Internet of Things (IoT), can drive convenience and big data. results through social disruptive new business models. They should Customers tend to trust companies with engagement. It regularly also be looking at how new distribution which they interact frequently digitally, and audits its user base, and marketing channels will enable their they generally fnd it more convenient to including demographics organizations to quickly reach a broader transact with businesses they already buy of users and the time of audience and build global brand ambassadors. from frequently online. Meanwhile, with day they use different Such bold changes are more likely to be these interactions, companies can harvest platforms, and then successful if the whole organization—from more insightful big data to gain an advantage adapts its strategy and the board of directors and C-suite down to over their competitors. tactics accordingly. the marketing team, IT, compliance, legal From posting daily and every customer-facing employee—is coffee selfies and caf- LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN feine-focused quotes on aligned behind a common vision for social Driving a customer-centered culture and Instagram to responding and digital strategies. transforming into an always-connected to specific Twitter users Driving the culture change needed to business starts with a mix of frsthand who have “spoken” to create an agile, digitally focused environment experience and education. Executives Starbucks in their own requires big changes, especially for traditional themselves must engage with the diferent timeline, the company organizations where every decision must be platforms their customers use. Yet, according has honed its social vetted and approved. To make it happen, to the 2015 Social CEO Report from CEO.com, media persona to appeal executives and board members need to 61 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs have no to its devoted fan base. communicate regularly about the change, social media presence at all. The numbers speak model the desired behavior themselves and volumes: more than Ms. Shih encourages board members and celebrate accomplishments that enhance 36 million followers on business leaders to educate themselves about Facebook, 11.6 million on their social engagement goals. how social engagement in concert with other Twitter and 7.7 million Once fuent in today’s social media trends, here-and-now digital technologies, such on Instagram. executives must then look to educating

70 INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY | Winter 2017 INSIGNIAM QUARTERLY COPYRIGHT © INSIGNIAM HOLDING LLC. WINTER 2017 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY. MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM, BY ELECTRONIC OR PRINT OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF INSIGNIAM. VISIT WWW.INSIGNIAM.COM FOR CONTACTS. themselves about the future. Ms. Shih created an entirely new engagement model,” predicts that more and more companies Ms. Shih says. By doing so, it has “evolved “Technology will begin to integrate predictive analytics its business model around today’s always- has pervaded and data gathered from social and IoT- connected customer.” every step of connected devices to further hone the way It is especially impressive, she says, given they communicate with, interact with and the fnancial services sector’s obstacles in the customer serve customers. Hearsay, for example, is adapting to today’s customer-frst digital life cycle, which using machine learning and natural language world. “In many ways, the industry has it the means every processing to equip fnancial advisers and hardest when it comes to embracing change insurance agents with the ability to predict due to the highly regulated environment and board member and share the right personalized information risk-averse culture in most frms.” and every with the right person, at the right time, on Strict controls over how they communicate person on the the right digital channel. with customers limit their engagement To illustrate the power of gathering data strategies. “They aren’t allowed to text, management from customers, Ms. Shih points to Hearsay even when clients text them,” Ms. Shih says. team needs to client John Hancock, the U.S. division of Not only does this damage the customer grasp these Canada’s global insurance company Manulife. experience, but it creates openings for more Last year it began ofering its customers agile frms to poach clients—particularly changes and discounts for sharing personal activity data millennials who expect access to multichannel create a mindset from a wearable device and attaining certain touch points from companies they deal with. where taking ftness milestones. “By using real-time data to The bottom line for any company is continually update and reprice risk—because clear, according to Ms. Shih: Organizations the right bets is healthier customers live longer and delay ill-prepared to serve the always-connected rewarded.” death-beneft payouts, hence increasing customer risk losing market share and —Clara Shih company proftability—John Hancock has relevance. IQ

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