kasina’s latest study encourages firms to tie social media efforts to business results
New York, (March 28, 2011) – Despite the fact that 61% of firms acknowledge significant client demand for more social media participation, many asset management and insurance firms continue to drag their feet. kasina’s newest study, Harnessing Social Media to Drive Business Results finds that most asset managers and insurers are making progress on the social media front, but still lack management commitment, budget, and resources for these efforts. Eighty percent of firms claim that senior management is interested in social media, but only 68% have a social media strategy in place, 46% have firm management commitment to execute the strategy, and 34% have dedicated budget.
“Social media has fundamentally changed how buyers interact with brands,” says Lee Kowarski, a kasina Principal and the report’s sponsor. “Millions of users, including many financial intermediaries, spend hours each day recommending, following, sharing, and connecting on social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Firms that are not engaged in social media today are not connecting with their most loyal and potentially profitable customers where they are.”
Harnessing Social Media to Drive Business Results delivers insights and analysis drawn from surveys of 41 leading asset management and insurance firms. The report provides benchmarks and best practices for developing and implementing social technologies, including:
- Building a compelling business case for social media
- Gaining executive support for social media
- Choosing objectives for social media engagement
- Prioritizing key audiences
- Developing a successful social media strategy
- Participating and building a fan base
- Measuring ROI
- Reviewing best practices for staffing, budget and participation
- Partnering with Compliance
Firms should be mobilizing a cross-functional steering team to build the business case for social media, gain executive support, choose objectives for social media engagement, prioritize key audiences, and determine appropriate measures and key indicators. “Firms which had a social media strategy a year ago are winning in the space today – with followers, fans, and engaged, loyal audiences”, added Kowarski. “Firms who were tinkering a year ago now have strategies, and firms which eschewed social media a year ago are thinking about it now. However, most of these firms are playing catch-up, as the viral nature of the Web and social media allows the leaders to get further ahead. This makes getting in the game quickly that much more important.”
For more information on the full report, Harnessing Social Media to Drive Business Results, or to learn about kasina’s other studies, visit www.kasina.com/reports
kasina’s upcoming report, Top 5 Social Media Leaders in Asset Management, will be available in April and provides insight into best practices and recommendations for developing and enhancing effective social media practices.
About kasina
kasina’s commitment to innovating distribution in the financial services and insurance industries has made it one of the most influential strategy consulting firms in its sector. kasina works with a wide variety of clients from five continents, including firms representing 90% of the U.S.’s total assets under management. An overview of services offered by kasina is available at www.kasina.com.
