The Social Media MBA in Practice: An Essential Collection of Inspirational Case Studies to Influence your Social Media Strategy

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Nationwide – Creating Senior Leadership Buy-In

It's all about the Customer, Stupid!

In the highly regulated, risk-averse environment of financial services, Nationwide Building Society's social media strategy breaks the mould by actively encouraging its customers to share their views.

Executive summary

Overview

As one of the UK's most trusted financial services providers, Nationwide used social media to better understand what its customers wanted to talk about and where they wanted to talk. Rejecting the view that “social is just for marketing”, they went back to basics and embraced social media as a customer service channel for a generation of customers.

Key findings

• Getting everyone in the room helps stakeholder buy-in.
• Listen first before you do anything.
• Honesty in the face of a crisis is the best approach.

Recommendations

1. Ask the tough questions first – how will social media make life better for the business and our customers?

2. Get the basics down – business case and governance – it makes life easier in the long run.

3. Listen to lots of people – but be wary of those that call themselves “social media experts”.

Background

Interviewee

Paul Beadle@paulbeadle

Paul Beadle started his career as a journalist before moving into PR, specializing in financial services. After ...