Next week at the Social Media Shake-Up, I have the privilege of moderating a panel called Why CMOs Won’t Invest More in Social Media. Based on our pre-panel discussions, it should be a lively conversation featuring three terrific CMOs: Katharine Mobley of WeCareCard, Scot Safon formerly of The Weather Channel and Bill Koleszar of American Family Care.
Why this panel? From my conversations with various CMOs this year, it is clear to me that the bloom is off the social rose, at least when it comes to organic social. The notion that a tiny investment in conversation-generating content will deliver consistently disproportionate results is no longer a predominant belief although all would be delighted if that happened. Instead, marketers have accepted organic social as a must have component of the mix, but for many brands it is not the channel they can rely on all by itself to drive leads and sales. To dig into this a little deeper, I interviewed each of the panelists separately.
First up is Katharine Mobley of WeCareCard. In our conversation, you’ll get to know her top priorities, where social fits in and what would need to happen for her to radically increase spending on organic social. What’s particularly interesting here is the role social plays for the individuals seeking support for their WeCare campaigns. In this situation, person-to-person versus brand-to-person social communications are essential to success. Which if you think about it is probably why the bloom fell off the social rose in the first place — brands keep forgetting to act socially (like humans) on their social channels!
Drew: First, can you talk a little bit about the WeCareCard?
Absolutely! WeCareCard is a modular B2B SaaS based portal enabling multiple people to donate to a single recipient via a prepaid Debit MasterCard®. In laymen’s terms think Cause Funding + Prepaid = WeCareCard (WCC) – basically GoFundMe meets MasterCard – really cool patent-pending technology!
Our platform can be co-branded or white labeled depending on the need of our clients, or it can be an extension of a retailer’s existing gift card or e-gift program.
The card product was launched live in November ’14 at @Money20/20 and were recognized by the industry as a payments innovator by winning Prepaid with a Heart by Paybefore Magazine in Jan ’15 – not bad for a #startup.
Drew: And what is your role as CMO?
As CMO, it is my responsibly to make sure that any and all components of our marketing strategy and tactics are inline with our core values and brand ideals. All while maintaining a return on investment on marketing dollars, being held to accountable for our P&L & revenue goals, as well as keeping a high level of customer satisfaction. I wear many hats, some say personalities depending on the day!
As for myself, I am an innovator at heart and always had a thirst for learning new things. As a child I was always inquisitive so I asked A LOT of questions – Why? What? Where? When? How? You can also say I was born an old soul and many think I should have been an attorney (all those questions). When you think of it the role of the CMO is no different then that of an inquisitive child. You must challenge the board, be the voice of the customer/vendor and NEVER be happy or settle for less than you expect. And always be innovating – 24/7 I don’t sleep – my Misfit proves just how little sleep I get these days.
And in totally transparency, I reinvent myself on a regular basis – about every 7 years – I guess it is that 7-year itch that gets me, just ask my friends they will tell you – here she goes again!
Drew: What are your top priorities right now as CMO?
- Channels – What channels do our customers (B2B and D2C) use to communicate stories? Being a cause funding organization this is very important, as we need to know what channels work best to communicate these stories for our consumers and B2B customers.
- Engagement – How do we make sure consumers and customers are engaged with our mission, goals, stories and value proposition? This is WAY more than do they follow us, RT, etc. it is more about how do they engage with their own audience and peers. Is it video, pictures, stories and what makes them engage with each other and WHY?
- Measurement – How do we measure engagement by each channel? Remember all those questions I asked as a child, well as you would expect I am a closet data geek and admitted social media addict! I LOVE to know how we are interacting with customers, what they are saying about us, what the industry thinks and I download about every new tool out there to make sure we are achieving the proper measurements. For a CMO – I like playing in the ‘weeds’ with data and measurement.
- ROI – Just like all businesses it comes down to the bottom line. What is our ROI with each channel and interaction? Let’s be honest, this isn’t like launching a company in 1999 during the last bubble, we didn’t even know how to measure anything other than national, regional, or local broadcast spend in those days. This is about every channel, every $ spent and how to maximize each interaction.
Drew: So, where does organic social media fit into this mix? What role(s) does social play?
Social plays an enormous role in our company; it is the very being of web based cause funding. In order to raise $$$ on the web you have to not only tell a story but you have to have an audience to tell it to and social media provides that platform.
Organic reach is decreasing rapidly and consumers, clients and customers see videos go viral and think they can achieve the same goals but it doesn’t happen without A LOT of leg work and a good network you can openly communicate your story to and one that is willing to not only SHARE it, but donate to it! This is the key that most consumers and companies forget – a share doesn’t = $ people must be compelled enough about your mission that there is a clear call to action to donate money to it.
Drew: I imagine there are some downsides in social, perhaps through social blackmail like when an unhappy customer threatens to complain on his/her social channels. How do you all deal with these situations?
Oh no, they don’t threaten in our industry they just do it, but we are lucky as our fraud protection helps ensure that campaigns are legitimate and there is a relationship between the recipient and the donor. Additionally, we have Care Coaches that help manage any social media that is negative. Our customer service platform is integrated into our social media channels so that we know customer sentiment and any issue can be escalated to the proper team member to address quickly. Due to the fact that we are a transaction mechanism we tend to put out fires as quickly as possible and to date have been able to resolve any issues and move forward in a positive manner.
Drew: On one hand you’re in the highly regulated financial services industry. On the other, your product supports social causes, which are famed for enjoyed viral success (Ice Bucket challenge anyone?) on social channels. Should social be able to play more profound role in your business and if so, what’s holding you back?
You are correct, on one hand (prepaid) we are in a highly regulated industry on the other (cause funding) we are in an early stage high growth industry that hasn’t been clearly defined and it requires education as to how it works, it takes a village at this point. But like I stated earlier, everyone thinks they tell their story, share it and it will go viral and they will raise 100K. It doesn’t happen! We help provide a clear understanding of the role each person’s network plays in making sure a campaign is successful. And provide direction as to how they can make their campaign more impactful via our Sponsorship Toolkit and other resources.
Drew: A few years back my agency worked on Magic by Magic Johnson, a prepaid card. We enjoyed success on social channels by giving cardholders what they wanted — a chance to win money to put on their cards. Have you considered any kind of social promotions like this and if so, how did they perform?
We have run a few similar promotions and they have been successful, such as share a way to ‘give back’ and then giving away preloaded cards, etc. Currently, we have a few things in the works with our partners that in incent newly engaged couples to replace their ‘traditional’ registry with our reloadable prepaid card, which anyone from their wedding list can donate directly through IF they have a WeCareCard! So for this let’s just say #staytuned!
Drew: For organic social to become a top 3 marketing priority for you, what would need to change? For example, if social media could suddenly become a measurable source of site traffic, would that move it up the list?
Yes! I watch Google Analytics, all our social traffic etc. and the biggest gap we have is conversion and organic reach – but who doesn’t! I think we (marketers) as an industry are in a state of total flux and transition as we shift from our normal metrics of measurement/engagement and conversion and evolve with the ever-changing media ecosystem. And let’s be honest – organic reach is reducing daily and the world is becoming a ‘pay to play’ but we already know this and are looking at ways to work around it and make sure we stay relevant without breaking the bank. I think the greatest thing about the social media revolution is that it is making us be smarter marketers, stretch our dollars, prove our ROI and most importantly – Get to know our customers better! That is what we have needed to do for a LONG time – look at how much Market Research has grown in 20 years, when I graduated from UGA – that was where the ‘geeks’ ended up and now I am one of those geeks and love it! That shift is making us better marketers in the long run, what could prove better than that?
Drew: You mentioned wanting the WeCare Card to become a highly recognized and appreciated brand. What role if any could social play to help you achieve this goal?
WeCareCard is in growth mode, but I can assure you at it’s core is our founder, Jessica Weiss a nineteen year NICU nurse that saw first- hand the challenges and financial burden of medical bills, travel expenses and loss of income facing people during long hospital stays and surgeries with infants. Then, her own family was struck with a personal tragedy, and she found herself walking in the shoes of her patients – which is where, the idea of WeCareCard was born… a vehicle that meets the critical need of providing immediate financial assistance to people in distress.
Growing this company into a brand that not only can help those during a crisis (funerals, medical illness) but also a time of celebration (wedding, graduations, births) is why I am so passionate about making this company a well known, respected and ADMIRED brand. The best way for us to get to the most admired list isn’t by us telling you why we think we should be there but for those we have assisted telling you how we impacted them and sharing our impact by their stories in a social world. Take Haleigh Mann’s testimonial as an example, this is what our company is about at it’s core – helping others, “The sudden passing of my mother, left my sister and brother (ages 21 and 19) with no idea how to pay for her funeral expenses. She was young and we were unprepared, as she did not have life insurance or savings; imagine our shock when we were informed that we needed $2,000 before the funeral home would even pick up her body from the hospital. If it had not been for WeCareCard, I don’t know what we would have done. With their platform we were able to raise money within 72 hours and give my mother a proper funeral. In a world that is focused heavily on negative news – WeCareCard.com restored our faith that there are not only good people but great companies that can make a positive impact on others.’ (Tracy Driscoll’s funeral fund)
This story and countless others make the sleepless nights and long hours worth it in the end. Our goal is to have people connect, care and contribute to one another regardless of the situation.