With over 66% of top financially performing companies leverage social in their processes and over 80% positive impact on trust for CEOs who openly communicate on social,  social can mean power to some and hype to others.

In the next 3-5 years the use of social media by Insurers will increase from 4% to 51% as one of the most important mechanisms to engage customers according to IBM CEO study.

Is this because of hype?   I don’t think so.   Financial Services has always been a “social” industry – we are now just shifting from F2F and phone to more online interaction; mirroring the shift of our customers and employees.  The leading FSS companies are using social to explain changes to the financial environment and to provide increased clarity around specific products – partially due to changing regulatory requirements, but also to build trust.

Financial Services as a sector suffers from a major trust gap – social is a powerful capability for building trust

Financial Advisors are using social to engage clients and prospects – using social compliance capabilities to provide support for suitability and records retention.  Many financial companies have embraced external social media for brand promotion, engagement, and marketing. Leading financial companies have also brought social capabilities inside the firewall.  Regulatory requirements necessitate active social compliance monitoring and reporting

Complex, expert-oriented activities (e.g. commercial or specialty underwriting) can be faster (social collaboration) and more accurate (engaging the right people).  Networking social capabilities into traditional core insurance and financial services business processes and legacy systems can create dramatic value while leveraging investments you have already made.

Today I am at Prudential for their Technology Leadership Conference and we will discuss these topics and more!  I’d love your thoughts – especially if you are in the industry!