Eric Schwartzman

The benefits of brand monitoring tools for social media are not always apparent to the chief communications officers responsible for purchasing them. This is a conversation all about how to monitor your brand on social media.

What is Brand Monitoring?

If you have Google Analytics, why do you need premium social media monitoring tools, and what's the difference between social media analytics and social media monitoring? And if there are free tools for hashtag monitoring, why do you need a paid solution to track hashtags?

To users in the digital bubble, these are newbie questions. However, to senior-level communicators who are responsible for client relationships and budget allocation they may not be.

On this edition of PR Tech Wednesdays, I had a chance to speak with Talkwalker CEO of the Americas Todd Grossman – who also happens to be a ballroom dancing enthusiast and philanthropist – about his firm’s social media analytics and social media monitoring platform.

https://youtu.be/NqaILZ-XGtI

Talkwalker is a premium traditional news and social media monitoring service that provides several benefits over and above Google Analytics and other free hashtag tracking tools today. I covered it in the Media Monitoring Buyer's Guide, a vendor-neutral report with a side-by-side features comparison chart, user ratings, and reviews of 10 popular platforms.

Social Media Monitoring

2020 Media Monitoring Buyer's Guide

By giving marketing and public relations professionals a way to monitor and listen to conversations, Talkwalker helps its clients discover the relevant pockets of conversation where their messages are most likely to resonate and engage others.

In addition to providing a series of monitoring tools that can be customized to target specific conversation segments in traditional and social media channels, Talkwalker also provides many pre-configured reports that make it easy to get a sense of where essential conversations are happening without needing to be a data analyst.

Mapping Virality

Talkwalker’s virality map allows clients to map how conversations grow online over time. It’s among their most noble features because it will enable you to see who the influencers are that genuinely expand the reach of a story or conversation, and we spoke at length about it.

Todd also shared the common pain points he hears from clients considering social media monitoring solutions, and we speculated as to when LinkedIn will become available on social media monitoring platforms.

We also discussed the threat of artificial intelligence, the risk of replacement in marketing and public relations, and how Talkwalker integrates AI technology to process news and social media conversations.

If you want to market new technology products B2Bs you need to engage the CTO. Marketing to the CTO requires an understanding of who they are and what they do. 

“A CTO is a sort of ombudsman for all parts of an organization's technologies,” says Ty Roberts, who currently runs strategic partnerships at TIDAL, JAY Z’s global music and entertainment platform committed to creating a deeper connection between artists and fans. 

TIDAL is a pioneer in giving its subscribers exclusive access to high-profile music, videos, original content, livestreams, tickets, merchandise and live experiences fans cannot find anywhere else. The platform’s original content includes the “On Air” podcast network, original video series, artist documentaries and more.

Ty is the former CTO of Warner Brothers Music. I worked with him when he was CTO at Gracenote, where I was the public relations agency of record for around a decade.  When I was there, we created an internet music ranking chart with Billboard.

In this exclusive interview, you'll have a chance to get inside the head of a senior-level CTO and learn why they adopt new technologies and products and what it takes to motivate them to buy.

A CTO is quite different from a CIO. CIOs are typically more focused on data and technology in support of product development whereas the CIO tends to focus more on managing email servers and internal systems.

In order to sell new technology to the CTO, the CTO has to be able to sell it to the CEO. So the most successful CTOs are those who are able to win and maintain the trust of the CEO.  Ty goes into what it takes to earn the trust of the CEO and what types of resources from vendors are most helpful in securing that trust.

You can size up a CTOs ability to win the trust of the CEO by analyzing specific character traits which Ty outlines in this interview. If the CTO doesn't have those traits, it's going to be very difficult to sell the CEO through them. 

When you're demoing new technology products to CTOs there are specific things to feature and things to avoid. Ty shares about his experience in decades of demos and vendor pitches and reveals what works and what doesn't.

And once you've sold new technology through the CTO, you need to figure out how to drive and sustain utilization so that deployment stays successful for the long haul and they keep it up and running. Ty goes into the details of that process as well.

In this podcast episode featuring Max Altshuler, a renowned three-time author and two-time unicorn leader, we discuss the intricate world of identifying sales-qualified leads (SQLs) and optimizing sales engagement.

Max Altshuler showcases his expertise in identifying hot leads and optimizing sales engagement, focusing on the connection between content marketing, lead generation, and sales engagement, offering valuable insights for B2B content marketing agency leaders.

Effective content marketing aligns with conversion rate optimization by delivering tailored, valuable content that attracts and nurtures ideal customers, resulting in improved sales engagement and higher conversion rates.

And this is what got me interested in reading Max Altshuler's book and interviewing him for my podcast. As a B2B content marketing agency, I was particularly interested in the crucial connection between content marketing, lead generation, and sales engagement because it allows us to enhance the B2B content marketing strategies we develop for our clients.

Max Altshuler's journey takes us through the art and science of this complex realm, from ideal customer profiles (ICPs) to the integration of sales and marketing efforts.

Max Altshuler's Expertise: Finding Sales-Qualified Leads

Max Altshuler's extensive career showcases his knack for honing the art and science of identifying customers poised for conversion. Known as sales-qualified leads (SQLs), Max Altshuler's expertise extends to the heart of account sourcing. He skillfully balances data-driven insights with gut instinct, carving a path to ideal customers.

Content Marketing and Conversion Optimization

Max Altshuler's journey unfolds with a deep dive into the synergy between content marketing and conversion rate optimization (CRO). Max Altshuler achieves improved sales engagement and elevated conversion rates by delivering tailored, valuable content that magnetizes and nurtures ideal customers. His insights are invaluable to B2B content marketing leaders seeking rapid market share growth.

Max Altshuler's Impactful Career

Max Altshuler's contributions to unicorn companies like Udemy and Outreach provide a backdrop to his journey. As the founder of Sales Hacker, a thriving platform for sales professionals, Max Altshuler later facilitated its acquisition by Outreach. Today, he serves as Outreach's VP of Marketing, specializing in sales engagement and tailored sales sequences.

Building Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs)

Max Altshuler's journey introduces us to the fundamental concept of constructing ideal customer profiles (ICPs). This pivotal foundation ensures precise customer targeting, a key to reaching the right customers at the right time and place. Max Altshuler's humorous example illustrates this point, highlighting the difference between selling Girl Scout cookies in front of a marijuana dispensary and a gluten-free restaurant.

Persona Development and Outbound Sequences

Max Altshuler's expertise extends further into persona development, elucidating how distinct organizational roles have unique pain points and responses to messages. Addressing these pain points is paramount in successful selling. Max Altshuler's expertise also extends to optimizing outbound selling sequences, where he shares insights into the frequency of interactions required to convert prospects into customers.

The Power of Technology and Sales Tech Stack

Max Altshuler's journey unfolds with a glimpse into his state-of-the-art sales tech stack, a pivotal element in streamlining sales processes and enhancing conversion rates. His mastery of technology integration is evident as he explores various tools and technologies used in modern sales and PR, such as conversation intelligence, chat platforms, intent data, video embedding in emails, and direct mail.

Sales and Marketing Synergy

Max Altshuler's journey takes a turn towards the alignment of sales and marketing efforts. He emphasizes the importance of integration, not just alignment, between these teams. This union ensures shared goals and success metrics, avoiding misalignment that can lead to finger-pointing. Max Altshuler's insights redefine traditional Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) to focus on Sales-Accepted Leads (SALs), ensuring marketing's efforts align with sales objectives.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Reliable Attribution Models

Max Altshuler's journey further explores common KPIs for sales and marketing alignment, including Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs) and SALs. He acknowledges the challenge of building reliable attribution models, emphasizing the importance of accepting uncertainty. Max Altshuler discusses tools like Bizible for attribution while recognizing the elusive nature of perfection in attribution modeling.

Strategies for Account Sourcing and Persona Development

Max Altshuler's journey details strategies for account sourcing, emphasizing the importance of identifying ICPs and targeting companies that fit these profiles. Researching complementary and competing products or services, analyzing industries, and leveraging tools are essential in this endeavor. The importance of crafting detailed personas for various stakeholders within target organizations is also highlighted.

Pitching at Different Levels and Technology Adoption

Max Altshuler's journey brings attention to the necessity of tailoring pitches for individuals at different organizational levels. Effective communication entails speaking different languages to sales managers, end-users, and executives, understanding their unique pain points and goals. Additionally, Max Altshuler acknowledges the uneven adoption of technology within organizations, emphasizing the need for change management to achieve high adoption rates.

Embracing Technological Advancements

Max Altshuler's journey underscores the significance of staying updated with technological advancements in sales and marketing. He draws parallels with the evolution of sales tools, emphasizing the critical role of embracing new technology for maintaining competitiveness in today's tech-driven environment.

Customer-Centric Content Creation

Max Altshuler's journey transitions to the realm of customer-centric content creation. Understanding customer needs and measuring content effectiveness is paramount. Max Altshuler highlights using data such as views, CTAs in emails, response rates, and customer feedback to gauge content relevance.

Max Altshuler's Early Days at Sales Hacker

Max Altshuler's journey delves into the early days of Sales Hacker, where practitioner-led content played a pivotal role in its success. He later discusses the transition to a more data-driven approach based on SEO and user search behavior.

Conclusion: Max Altshuler's Expertise Unveiled

Max Altshuler's journey concludes with valuable advice on prospect engagement. He suggests around six to seven touchpoints in a short period, emphasizing the goal of securing a second conversation in the first interaction. Max Altshuler's insights into relationship-building in sales are a testament to his expertise.

Max Altshuler's book, "Sales Engagement: How the World's Fastest-Growing Companies are Modernizing Sales Through Humanization at Scale," serves as a cornerstone to his journey, offering a deeper dive into his wealth of knowledge.

If you want get booked to keynote SXSW, now's the time to start planning. And what better way to start then by listening to this exclusive deep dive interview with Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Office at SXSW, about how he goes about making that decision?

Welcome to my first episode of the new B2B Lead Gen podcast, hosted by yours truly, Eric Schwartzman. Many of you may know from On the Record...Online, an award-winning podcast I produced from 2005 to 2015.

Highlights include what it takes to be invited to keynote SXSW; how tech companies have leveraged the popularity of SXSW to launch huge brands such as Twitter and Airbnb; plus the challenges and surprises of his role, including how the festival became involved in the Gamergate controversy, and the ongoing importance of face-to-face meetings in the industry.

After this coronavirus pandemic winds down, I imagine there will be a ton of pent up demand for conferences and trade shows. Next year's SXSW could be the biggest gathering yet.

Show Notes:

Eric Schwartzman: Welcome, B2B start-ups, change-ups, scale-ups and grown-ups. This is the B2B Lead Gen podcast. I'm your host, Eric Schwartzman. Let's do this.

ES: You're the Chief Programming Officer at SXSW. It's definitely the most influential interactive conference in America. And technology's always changing, it's always moving. So when you're creating educational programming in an environment, I guess we have to do it I don't know how many months in advance, but probably a lot of months in advance. I guess you're part fortune teller, yeah?

Hugh Forrest: Part, but I hope not too large a part, because I'm not as good a fortune teller as I'd like to be. If I was I'd be in a different line of work. How about that?

ES: Do you have some sort of a process? I mean, how many years have you been doing this now?

HF: I started at SXSW in 1989, so I've been here roughly 30 years. In terms of a process, the process is just a process, meaning that we start meetings to plan for the next year, the next March, those meetings typically start in July, and we aim for the big name keynote speakers, the people we hope will fill the biggest rooms. We're talking and talking and talking. Someone nominates. The person coming to the committee that we have working on this stuff will nominate someone. Hopefully we have robust dialogue with someone saying, “I think this is a great person for the event,” and someone else will say, “I don't think this is a great person.” I certainly have learned, and learned the hard way, that the more you can discuss something, the more likely the result is going to be a positive one. I also am a huge, huge, huge believer in the power of community. So I get a lot of great ideas from the community. And that belief in the power of community is certainly one of the driving motivators behind the SXSW PanelPicker interface, which is how we choose a lot of our programming. And that idea being that the community has lots of great ideas that we might not have yet, and the more we can engage with that community, communicate with that community, interact with that community, learn from that community, the stronger the event becomes. 

ES: Hugh, I'm particularly interested in the pre-qualification process. And I'm particularly interested in those panels and speakers that don't come from PanelPicker, that you decide, and you and your committee or group decide, need to be there to have a well-rounded event. Are there any lessons learned about pre-qualifying? Obviously, once they've pre-qualified, they still may not pass muster once you start talking to them, but what is it that brings someone up to the level where you say, “Wow, that's somebody we really need to consider”?

HF: Well, 60–70% of the programming comes through PanelPicker. The other 30–40% is stuff that we're curating that we're reaching out to. It was certainly at a basic level where we're doing searches on our favorite search engine to see if this person is in the news a lot at whatever time we're considering this person. That's certainly an indicator. We're also looking at their social media following given that social media is often some degree of indicator of relevance and in terms of where we are in 2019 and 2020. I've learned a lot about simply the power of celebrity over the last few years and whether you like that or not, we're constantly reminded that people who are celebrities have a better chance of filling a big room than people who have fantastic ideas but may not quite have that celebrity factor. So does that mean that you're limited to only talking to celebrities? No, I think that means that you try to be creative and perhaps pair someone with a celebrity-type following with someone who's got some fantastic ideas and get the best of both worlds that way. 

ES: One of the great things I remember about being at the keynotes is often — maybe this isn't the case recently, I haven't been in the last five years — but I can remember going into a keynote not having any idea who the person is, and being blown away and having that be one of the wonderful things about the conference.

HF: Sure, I think we’re always trying to get a little bit of a mix of people who are well established and have a reputation, as well as up-and-comers who don't have that much of a reputation yet, and that can surprise people with their insights, with their inspiration, with their expertise. So, again, trying to achieve a balance there, although I think that as the event continues to evolve, and as the media landscape continues to change, we probably lean a little more now towards established names just because we know that that is what tends to attract more media attention, and media attention is one of the pillars of how the SXSW system works.

ES: Obviously it's curated. And one of the reasons it's great is because it’s curated, and partially curated by the community. But it's interesting you mentioned the up-and-comer. I'm curious to know, and maybe there's no answer to this, but I'll just throw it out there: How does an up-and-comer get considered? What is it about someone who doesn't have a following, isn't a celebrity, but maybe has an interesting idea? In that case, would you get someone like Tara Hunt to do a keynote? What a fantastic keynote! And I became friends with her afterwards. I loved it. And then there was Danah Boyd from Microsoft, who I didn't really know, and she was fantastic. What is it that gets somebody like that considered? Because there's a lot of people like that, but only a few of them are lucky enough to make it to there, or unlucky enough, depending on how you look at it, to make it to the stage at SXSW. So any thoughts at all on what differentiates that [breeders cap]?

HF: Well, for someone like Tara or Danah — both great people and have contributed a ton to this “interactive industry” — before they had risen to the keynote stage, or however you want to phrase that, they had participated in SXSW quite a lot. So I had seen what kind of audience they would draw, I'd seen what kind of positive response they had gotten from attendees. So for people like that, it's not completely out of the blue. We had had some experience with them in previous years. For other folks who may not be all that well known, I think it's a lot of myself and other people on my staff trying to pay attention to as many different inputs, particularly over the summer when we're a little less busy, and creating lists, however we create them, whether by texts, or by database, by sticky notes of “Wow, I read this really cool article about such-and-such and this person will be a great speaker.” And so, again, we typically bring 200–300 ideas to the table, and in our first meetings of the year try to go through as many of those speaker ideas as possible. If I think Joni Smith is a particularly great speaker and a particularly great candidate for SXSW, my job is to convince the other people on staff who are hopefully skeptical that Joni is a great speaker. Sometimes I can do that, sometimes I can't.

ES: Now, in your position, I imagine you receive a lot of pitches from PR people and marketing people who are trying to get visibility for their brands. And I imagine sometimes you've taken the bait, sometimes you haven't. But after 30 years you must have a thing or two to say about what type of tech services that are being pitched as hot actually make it, and which ones don't. Do you have any wisdom on predicting which types of technology services make it or don't, based on that experience of being pitched and featuring technology that didn't make it, or featuring technology that did make it?

HF: Again, my tips here are fairly limited. If I had better expertise, I would probably be in a different line of work, but I do know that the kind of technology innovations, apps, breakthroughs that have done best at SXSW are the ones that have helped attendees experience and engage and absorb SXSW. So if you think about our biggest success story as an event, which was Twitter in 2007 “launching” at SXSW, one of the reasons in my mind that Twitter was so successful was that people used it or could use it in its still embryonic form to understand what parties their friends were going to, where they were going for lunch, where they were going for dinner. Same thing with Foursquare, which launched in 2019. About this time, Airbnb got a big push out of SXSW. I think we were their first event that they did and they sold one bed, and that was to their co-founder. But again, it was something, that there was a hotel shortage in Austin during SXSW and people needed a way to find rooms: Airbnb. Fast forward to 2015 when Meerkat had a big push at SXSW. Same kind of thing was that it helped people absorb and understand what was going on at SXSW. And you may never have heard of Meerkat — it was short lived, it gave rise to Periscope.

In this podcast episode of For Immediate Release B2B, Paul Gillin and Eric Schwartzman interview SAP Head of Social Business Sarah Goodall about the risks of relying on social networks to deliver news in a democracy, Sprinklr's Get Satisfaction acquisition, Meerkat and Periscope.

Fair use is essential for journalists, enabling them to draw upon copyrighted material in the name of the public’s right to know. But who decides what constitutes fair use in a medium that spans the globe?

It turns out that many platform providers are designating themselves as judge, jury, and executioner.

If you’ve ever had a video removed from YouTube because it included a clip from a popular song, you’ll be interested in this podcast interview.

Facebook’s plan to host content from major media outlets may bring the issue of content ownership to the fore.

Sprinklr is acquiring Get Satisfaction, demonstrating how vital customer reviews have become to social media listening and promotion.

Get Satisfaction has signed up a blue-chip customer base that uses its embedded review service to gather feedback and drive sales from peer recommendations. Companies that host reviews on their commerce sites generate better feedback than those that don’t.

Special Guest: Sarah Goodall, Head of Social Business, EMEA, SAP

Employee brand advocacy programs are complex enough to implement when your people all speak the same language and live in the same country, but what do you do when your program spans dozens of borders, languages, and cultures?

That’s the task that special guest Sarah Goodall of SAP tackles as Head of Social Business for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Sarah’s experience will be of interest to any communications professional who works with a multicultural audience.

You’ll be particularly interested to hear her observations on the characteristics of specific cultures, from the outgoing social networkers in Italy to the intensely private Scandinavians.

How do you develop a climate change communication strategy in an environment where 97% of climate scientists agree that human activity is having a significant impact on climate change but only 50% of the general public agrees?

More Climate Change Public Affairs Podcasts

Climate Scientist Michael E. Mann Reveals Culprits in War Against Science

MIT PhD Joe Romm on the Fossil Fuel Industry's War Against Science

How to Prepare for Climate Change with New York Times Bestselling Author David Pogue

How Global Warming Became Climate Change at the US Dept. of State with Liz Murphy and Billie Gross at the State Department

This disconnect between the scientific consensus on climate change and public opinion is baffling.

Business interests that oppose any policy changes that threaten their economic interests have long used paid experts, faux public policy foundations and outright lies to create doubt in the minds of the public going back to the 1950s.

Numerous examples of these practices from the tobacco and fire retardant industries are exhaustively documented and analyzed in Merchants of Doubt, a book by Harvard professor Naomi Oreskes and CalTech science historian Erik Conway.

The book shows how a small number of politically conservative, academically respected scientists have been involved in campaigns to cast doubt on everything from the dangers of smoking to evidence of an ozone hole to the debate over climate change, and how communications strategy uses the Fairness Doctrine to convince media organizations to give a disproportionate amount of attention to minority views in the interest of stirring up controversy.

A documentary based on Merchants of Doubt is also widely available. It's one of the most important documentary I've ever seen.

Naomi Oreskes, an American historian of science who serves as Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard, joins us to discuss how commercial interests use doubt to block change and how to know when science is being manipulated in this way.

Merchants of Doubt has been praised – and attacked – for telling with “brutal clarity” the unsettling story of how a loose knit group of high-level scientists with political and industry ties ran effective campaigns to mislead the public and deny conclusive scientific evidence that had withstood critical review by a jury of scientific peers with nothing more than circumstantial allegations.

The book also identifies parallels between the climate change debate and earlier controversies over the adverse health impacts of smoking in which big tobacco funded research intended to delay regulatory and legislative action by spreading doubt and confusion on the scientific consensus that smoking is dangerous to your health.

The challenges of communicating climate crisis despite endless misinformation are real and sound climate change communication strategy will need to address this, possibly with an approach that makes use of cultural cognition.

Listen to the Interview

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Morgan Stanley’s decision to loosen the reign for their financial advisers on Twitter is the latest in a long list of financial services case studies of interest to website marketing companies. FINRA fined Barclays $3.75M for system is record keeping and email retention failure.

The regulator warned investors against trading on “pump-and-dump” emails. The finance industry has their social media conferences and consultants. Because of specific finance industry rules and regs like FINRA 10-06 and 11-39 and SEC Risk Alert: Investment Adviser Use of Social Media, using social media in financial services must be by applicable advertising, account origination, and document retention requirements.  

Mike Langford is the CEO of finservMarketing and a financial services industry veteran with 20 years of experience in roles spanning customer service, finance, and investment advice and management at Fidelity Investments, State Street Corporation, The Pioneer Group, and BFDS.  In this episode, he explains how Certified Financial Planners, Investment Advisers, and Bankers can use social media effectively and responsibly.

Who regulates how financial service companies use digital marketing

The regulation of how financial service companies employ digital marketing strategies is overseen by various regulatory bodies, including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These entities play a crucial role in ensuring compliance within the industry. They establish guidelines and standards that financial service firms must adhere to when implementing their digital marketing campaigns. Compliance with federal laws, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Securities Act of 1933, also contributes to the regulatory framework governing digital marketing in financial services.

Difference between digital marketing guidelines and actual, enforceable law

It is essential to distinguish between digital marketing guidelines and enforceable laws in the context of financial services. Guidelines, often provided by regulatory bodies like FINRA, offer recommendations and best practices for digital marketing strategies but are not legally binding. Enforceable laws, on the other hand, carry legal obligations and consequences for non-compliance. Financial service companies must navigate both these guidelines and laws to ensure they meet regulatory requirements while effectively utilizing digital marketing channels.

Digital marketing compliance requirements for financial services providers

Financial services providers face stringent compliance requirements when implementing digital marketing strategies. These requirements encompass various aspects, including record-keeping, supervision, and content approval, and are established by regulatory bodies like FINRA and the SEC. Ensuring that digital marketing activities align with these requirements necessitates robust compliance programs and ongoing monitoring to mitigate risks associated with non-compliance.

How to satisfy digital marketing archival and supervisory requirements

Meeting archival and supervisory requirements in digital marketing for financial services demands a comprehensive approach. Financial services providers must implement efficient archival systems to capture and retain digital marketing communications. Additionally, robust supervisory mechanisms are essential to review and approve content before publication. Automation tools and vigilant monitoring help ensure compliance while satisfying archival and supervisory obligations.

Responsibilities for financial services over static vs. interactive digital marketing posts

Financial services providers must differentiate between static and interactive digital marketing posts and understand their responsibilities. Static posts, which do not allow user comments or interactions, primarily require pre-approval and supervision to ensure compliance with regulatory guidelines. Interactive posts, on the other hand, necessitate continuous monitoring and timely responses to user-generated content. Financial institutions must balance maintaining compliance and fostering engaging interactions on their digital marketing platforms.

Best practices for originating new accounts on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook

Establishing new accounts on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook demands adherence to best practices within the financial services sector. It involves comprehensive due diligence, verification of account information, and robust security measures. Financial institutions should also establish explicit content creation and publication guidelines while ensuring consistent branding and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Regulating advertising and public appearances, which digital marketing is considered

Digital marketing, in the context of financial services, is considered a medium for advertising and public appearances. It falls under the purview of regulatory bodies like FINRA, which require financial institutions to adhere to specific advertising rules and guidelines when utilizing digital marketing channels for promotional purposes. Ensuring compliance in this regard is paramount to maintaining transparency and investor protection.

Avoiding adopting or becoming entangled with social networking sites

Financial services providers must exercise caution when adopting and engaging with social networking sites within their digital marketing strategies. Avoiding entanglement with these platforms necessitates a thorough assessment of each site's risks and compliance challenges. Robust policies should be in place to guide employees on appropriate usage and interactions to mitigate potential compliance pitfalls.

Compliance through policy and digital marketing training for financial services

Achieving compliance in digital marketing for financial services is contingent on establishing comprehensive policies and thorough training programs. Financial institutions must develop clear and up-to-date digital marketing policies that align with regulatory requirements. Equally vital is providing ongoing training to employees, ensuring they are well-versed in compliance best practices and capable of navigating the intricacies of digital marketing within the financial sector.

How to make sure you're prepared to comply with random FINRA spot checks

Preparation for random FINRA spot checks is crucial for financial services providers. Firms should implement robust record-keeping systems for digital marketing communications to ensure readiness, allowing for efficient retrieval during spot checks. Additionally, a culture of compliance and vigilance must be instilled across the organization to swiftly address any potential issues that may arise during these examinations. This proactive approach helps maintain regulatory compliance and instills confidence in investors and regulatory authorities.

Photo by Claire Anderson on Unsplash

Ideally, you want someone with a neutral point of view editing Wikipedia entries, not a PR firm clandestinely gussying up their client’s pages. 

PR has a conflict of interest. But that doesn't mean they can't also help improve the accuracy of Wikipedia entries or that they shouldn't have a right to do so.  

It’s been an issue for a while now, because if a PR representative wants to alert a Wikipedia editor to an inaccuracy on a client’s entry, there’s no clear process for ethical engagement.  

In January 2012, Phil Gomes wrote an open letter to Jimmy Wales to initiate a rational discussion about how public relations can effectively contribute to Wikipedia entries.  Shortly after that, he and John Cass formed Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement (CREWE).  

In February 7, 2014, William Beutler managed to convene a meeting of digital leaders for the world’s leading PR agencies, academics and Wikipedia editor volunteers to address issues of transparency and disclosure surrounding the ethical participation of corporate representatives to improve the accuracy of their respective entries.  

On June 16, 2014, Edelman, Ogilvy & Mather, Burson-Marsteller, FleishmanHillard, Ketchum, PNConnect, Peppercomm, and Allison + Partners affirmed a commitment to abide by Wikipedia principles and endeavor to ensure that employees and clients do the same.  

And finally, Wikipedia updated its terms of use to "clarify and strengthen the prohibition against concealing paid editing on all Wikimedia projects.”   In this episode, Phil Gomes and Sam Ford discuss the history and impact of the PR industry’s joint statement to abide by Wikipedia’s terms of use.  

Phil Gomes’ successful career in the communications field is characterized by his passionate interest in technology, media, and emerging forms of communication. He serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman Digital.  

Sam Ford is Director of Audience Engagement with Peppercomm, an affiliate with both MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing and Western Kentucky University, and co-author of Spreadable Media.  

Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

Most people think social media policies are just for regulated industries.

It is true that regulated industries have more rules to comply with. But social media compliance is everybody’s business.  

Whether you’re business is regulated or not, there are dozens of federal and state regulations and local ordinances that dictate how you can and can’t use social media lawfully for business.  

In this podcast, Chris Kieff, Director of Sales Support and Operations, Sprinklr, and Eric Schwartzman reveal strategies for building trust and verifying compliance.

Up to now, that strategy for winning social media compliance at most companies has been to issue a social media policy.   But no one reads your social media policy. They sign for it, and put in the bottom drawer.  

Despite the fact that 80% of employers have social media policies, 70% have disciplined employees for social media misuse, research shows.   We'll also walk through the major US rules and regs that impact how organizations can and can’t use social media lawfully in the workplace.     Enterprise Social Compliance Topics Covered:

Trust gap between leadership and regular employees

Optimizing the impact of official voices on unofficial voices

Creating a workplace environment where employees are trusted

What GM did wrong when they tried to rebuild trust with social

Inspiring employees to serve as goodwill ambassadors

Managing the risks associated with employee advocacy programs

Why social media policies don’t prevent employee misuse

Unmanaged risks around encouraging employees to use social media

Teaching employees about the risks of noncompliant social media use

Fines and penalties of noncompliant social media use

NLRB and how employers can police social media use at work

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

Communications Decency Act

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

FTC Disclosure Guidelines

FDA, HIPAA, FINRA and FFEIC Guidelines

And much, much more

Photo by Mark Duffel on Unsplash

In a significant legal development, a US Federal judge has deemed it unlawful for social media policies to require employees to include a disclaimer in their posts, stating that their opinions are their own.

The judge expressed that such a restriction was "unreasonably burdensome," adding a new dimension to the ongoing debate on employee rights in the digital age.

The complexity of this issue becomes apparent when considering platforms like Facebook, where the practicality of including a disclaimer in a simple action like clicking 'Like' becomes questionable. This ruling forces organizations to reevaluate how much they can regulate their employees' social media activities.

This decision is a broader trend in the National Labor Relations Board's (NLRB) stance on social media policies. The NLRB has consistently challenged employers to reconsider their authority over their employees' social media usage, prompting a shift in how organizations approach this sensitive matter.

Jonathan Crotty, a partner at the prestigious law firm Parker Poe located in Charlotte, offers valuable insights into the implications of this latest development in his article. His analysis sheds light on the evolving landscape of social media policies and their impact on employee rights and responsibilities.

Unlawfulness of Mandated "Opinions Are My Own" Disclaimers

In a recent podcast hosted by Eric Schwartzman, attorney Jonathan Crotty delved into the legal complexities surrounding social media policies, shedding light on why the restriction imposed on employers to mandate "opinions are my own" disclaimers has been deemed unlawful. This insightful discussion unraveled the implications of this decision on corporate social media policies and workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Impact on Corporate Social Media Policies

One of the key focal points of the podcast was the significant impact this ruling has on corporate social media policies. Jonathan Crotty elucidated how requiring employees to include such disclaimers in their social media posts has been considered unreasonably burdensome by a Federal judge. This pivotal decision has compelled organizations to reevaluate the veracity and practicality of their existing policies.

Chilling Effects on Workers' Rights

The podcast delved into the potential chilling effects that mandatory social media disclaimers may have on workers' rights to organize and collectively bargain. By exploring the intricacies of this legal development, Jonathan Crotty shed light on how these requirements could inadvertently hinder employees' ability to freely express their opinions and engage in collective action.

Impracticalities of Compliance

A critical aspect discussed in the podcast centered on the practical challenges of complying with mandated social media disclaimers. Jonathan Crotty delved into the complexities of implementing such disclaimers, especially on platforms like Facebook, where a mere "Like" can pose questions about the feasibility of inclusion.

Unlawfulness of Restricting Logo and Trademark Usage

Beyond social media disclaimers, the conversation expanded to address the unlawful nature of restricting employees from using logos and trademarks. This aspect of the discussion emphasized the importance of aligning corporate policies with legal standards to avoid potential pitfalls.

The Role of the NLRA in Social Media Governance

The podcast provided valuable insights into how the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), enacted in 1930, governs social media usage today. Jonathan Crotty's expert analysis offered a comprehensive understanding of how this historical legislation intersects with the modern landscape of social media and employee rights.

Adapting to Legal Developments

As the discussion drew to a close, Jonathan Crotty shared guidance on how employers should react to these legal developments. Navigating the evolving legal landscape surrounding social media disclaimers and related policies requires a proactive approach, and Crotty's insights provided a roadmap for organizations to adapt effectively.

This exclusive podcast discussion with attorney Jonathan Crotty has illuminated several crucial aspects of social media policies and the recent legal developments surrounding mandated "opinions are my own" disclaimers.

Readers have gained valuable insights into the unlawfulness of such requirements, their impact on corporate social media policies, and the potential chilling effects on workers' organizational rights. The impracticalities of compliance, the unlawful nature of restricting logo and trademark usage, and the role of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in governing social media have also been explored.

Most importantly, readers have learned the importance of aligning corporate policies with legal standards and the necessity for organizations to adapt proactively to the evolving legal landscape.

By staying informed and mindful of these critical considerations, employers and employees can navigate the complexities of social media governance more effectively and uphold their rights and responsibilities in the digital age.

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