Maintaining A Legally-Compliant Social Media Presence

The Challenge

Ever since Ali Barghelame founded Barghelame Wealth Advisors in Denver in 2005, he was eager to use social media to increase the visibility of his wealth management practice. However, he was well aware of the SEC’s and FINRA’s extensive marketing restrictions for financial advisors, so rather than risk an inadvertent violation, Barghelame chose not to have an active social media presence.

The Solution

Thanks to his legal background (16 years of active, general practice), Brad Friedman, was able to reassure Barghelame that it was possible for him to have a compliant, effective social media presence.

First we developed a new website for the firm, using an approved template and incorporating a modern and appealing logo and color scheme. We delivered content that presented a clear, differentiating message, rather than relying on industry “boilerplate” language so prevalent on financial sites.

Brad provided the social marketing guidance and support we needed in a very professional manner. Thanks to his experience with the financial industry’s regulatory standards, the process was very efficient and our messaging was legally compliant.

- Ali Barghelame, Barghelame Wealth Advisors, Inc.

Next, we optimized the LinkedIn profiles for Barghelame and his assistant, while maintaining compliance with legal and industry standards.

Finally we coordinated this effort and cleared all of the material with the firm’s legal compliance officers, freeing Barghelame from this time-consuming process.

The Results

Barghelame’s website traffic has increased markedly and his LinkedIn network has grown rapidly. We are now moving ahead and working with his team to put an email marketing campaign in place—again always using compliant messaging and practices.

Because of my background, I speak the same language as a firm’s compliance officers, and they appreciate the fact that they’re working with someone who understands their world.

- Brad Friedman, The Friedman Group, LLC

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Creating A Value-Added Corporate Presence On LinkedIn

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Creating A Value-Added Corporate Presence On LinkedIn

The Challenge

In 2012, a Top-25 specialty insurance company reached out to The Friedman Group for guidance on how to use LinkedIn to enhance their name recognition and business development efforts. The firm had more than 500 brokers in offices around the country and in several other countries, so it was important all their representatives had robust LinkedIn profiles that presented a consistent brand message.

The Solution

As a first step, we overhauled and optimized the firm’s own LinkedIn Company Page, incorporating critical keywords in the messaging and taking advantage of all of LinkedIn’s features—including its use as a recruiting tool.

Next, we created a few sentences of a branded profile Summary section template and a detailed guidance document regarding best practices for completing one's LinkedIn profile and company messaging that the brokers could use to draft the key sections of their profiles.

In collaboration with the firm’s internal marketing staff, we developed a top-down communication strategy for the project to help drive urgency within the offices and practice area teams. After the program guidance and materials were distributed, we followed up with brief calls with teams and individuals.

I really had my doubts about this LinkedIn initiative until I got a call out of blue from someone who found my LinkedIn profile when they were searching for someone with healthcare insurance expertise! I was even more thrilled when I closed the new business.

- Specialty Insurance Broker

As brokers completed their template drafts, we edited the content and then returned the materials to them to post. In some cases, we uploaded the information for the brokers and even established their LinkedIn accounts and wrote their entire profile.

Finally, we held a series of webinars to train the brokers on how to strategically use LinkedIn and their new profiles to share the company’s posted information and enhance their and the company’s visibility.

The Results And Path Ahead

We continue to manage the company’s LinkedIn Company Page, based on guidance and input from the marketing team. The Page now has more than 2,000 followers and the number is growing by roughly 100 followers each month. The company has grown to over 1000 brokers and we are hard at work to optimize every one of their profiles.

More important, we and the marketing staff quickly began hearing about many instances where brokers were receiving client leads and closing new business as a result of their LinkedIn presence and activity. We currently are working with the firm to create a process to identify and measure the ROI of the program.

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Request a consultation and find out how our inbound and social media marketing services can drive your company's marketing ROI.

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Partnering for Social Communication in a Regulated Environment

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Partnering for Social Communication in a Regulated Environment

The Challenge

A regional utility wanted to enhance its strategic use of social media to talk about the benefits of natural gas and stay in touch with its customer base. The company already had developed a green-themed, “urban energy” branded magazine, Facebook, and Twitter presence that served as a platform for stories related to responsible environmental practices and sustainability. Although the company was transparent about its sponsorship of the platform, it was hesitant to use it as a business development channel.

The Solution

Over a two year period, we moved the company forward on several fronts.

First, we delivered content for their urban energy platform, including stories and other information related to environmental stewardship. Over time, we added a more prominent link from the platform that led to the company’s website so users could explore the possibility of converting to natural gas. Given Brad Friedman’s legal background we were able to ensure that the messaging was in compliance with regulatory restrictions.

We also educated the marketing team on how social media could be a proactive customer service tool—for example, using it to share information about repairs, disruptions, and similar service issues. We also served as the company’s eyes and ears for their branded social media sites, alerting them to critical posts and trends and then coaching them on the best response strategies.

Working with Brad, we were able to create a sustaining social media program—within the confines of our regulatory world—to become seen as thought leaders on environmental matters and also convert new customers.

– Utility, Marketing Director

Finally, and most important, we worked with the company to develop and implement a long-term solution to bring all social media communication in-house, delivered through the company’s new branded social media sites.

The Results

As planned, we successfully worked ourselves out of a job with this major client. The company was able to right-size its social media marketing staff. It discontinued the urban energy communication platform, moving all environmental messaging into the company’s branded website and Facebook and Twitter sites.

Leading up to that, though, we helped the company build a community of like-minded individuals numbering in the tens of thousands, and at the same time expand its customer base by carefully presenting messages about natural gas’ place in the environmental sustainability debate.