At a social media for financial services conference in San Francisco, Hearsay Social announced a new model designed to help firms grow their business through social media.
The Social Business Maturity Model is a quantitative metric companies can use to measure how well their social business programs are doing relative to peers and industry averages. In addition to figuring out where their social media programs stand, Hearsay Social says the Maturity Model provides a roadmap to accelerate the program and remain competitive, measure new social initiatives, and increase return on investment in social media.
Abhay Rajaram, Hearsay Social’s vice president of customer success, said after helping more than 100 firms integrate social media into their business, Hearsay Social identified seven areas that are critical for success. The Maturity Model measures how well a firm ranks in each area and provides a cumulative score.
“We have enough data points and success stories that really corroborate the playbook,” Rajaram said.
According to their model, the most important thing firms can do with social media is have a dedicated project team and recommend it to all advisors. Hearsay Social said at least 80 percent of the employees in the field should be using social, and there should be clear, quantifiable indicators to measure performance.
Rajaram said the Maturity Model is free to both current Hearsay Social customers and non-customers. The consulting process takes a few weeks, beginning with a conversation with c-level executives and follow-ups with targeted individuals in the company.
Hearsay Social believes a mature social media strategy can result in double-digit asset growth, both from existing clients and in new assets, but Rajaram said focusing on ROI ignores the bigger picture.
“The financial services industry is behind in terms of digital and social maturation,” Rajaram said. “As we help all of these companies move along the maturity spectrum, our hope is that the whole industry will move ahead.”
