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The past couple of years seemed to bring more fear than fun for the financial industry in the social media arena.  There was the much-talked-about ‘SEC sweep’ last year, in which investment advisors were asked to provide extensive information about their use of social media.  There were the stringent guidelines posted by Massachusetts for advisors within the commonwealth, stressing record keeping, monitoring, and periodic review of social media use.  And early this year, there was the SEC ‘risk alert’ on the use of social media by advisors, which emphasized the importance of compliance policies including record-keeping and third-party content.  All in all, financial service providers seemed caught between the risks and rewards of using social media — and not many companies were interested in testing the waters to see how regulators would respond to gray areas.

But some in the financial sector refused to back down, pushing the SEC and FINRA to provide guidance that would recognize the importance of social media as an efficient and effective communication avenue for the industry.  A victory came when FINRA backed away from a proposal that would have required broker-dealers to file social media postings with the regulator.  Such a requirement would have placed excessive strain on firms and FINRA alike.  Instead, the current guidelines stress oversight and monitoring as the keys to responsible social media activity by advisors.

Let the tweeting begin

Several financial services providers are leading the way into the social media fray, showing the rest of the industry that it CAN be done, and done well.  The finance sector is “social” by its very nature.  Connecting with clients/customers, advancing into new markets, providing timely advice, and increasing customer service are key motivators for the industry to move into social media.  Here are a few ways financial companies are making it work.

The human touch

Back in January, Wedbush Securities, a leading financial services provider with 1,000 employees across 100 offices, gave the social media green light throughout the company.  From advisors to bankers and everyone in between, Wedbush personnel were given permission to engage online with prospects and clients (within compliance-friendly parameters, of course).

For Wedbush, the main incentives to pursue social media were humanization of financial services and connection with the market.  “We want our team to be truly ‘social’ with their networking,” said Natalie Taylor, Vice President of Marketing, Wedbush Securities, in a news release.  “By offering a more organic approach, their personalities will show and allow them to truly connect with people.”  Like other businesses, Wedbush plans to use social media to add the human touch to an industry that often comes across as impersonal.  They manage the risks by training employees on the appropriate usage of social media in a financial context, and offering guidelines through a social media policy.

Making finances fun

To be honest, no one really equates the finance industry with excitement or pizazz.  But social media is an avenue that can make financial services more interesting.  Several companies have creatively used social media to boost their brand — like Geico, the insurance company who linked mobile and social technologies to their memorable marketing campaigns.  They developed an iPhone app (and similar Facebook app) called BroStache (as a nod to their humorous commercial about smartphones) with which users can see how they would look with a mustache.  As a result, more folks than ever before have Geico’s tagline (15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance!) stuck in their heads.

Another snappy idea came from Capital One, the bank who partnered with Zynga to integrate Facebook marketing with popular social games like Cityville and Farmville.  Players on Cityville could open a Capital One branch in their city, while players on Farmville could acquire a limited-edition Capital One goat.  “The explosion of social gaming offers a great way to engage consumers with our brand,” said Jack Forestell, executive vice president of Digital Strategy at Capital One.  Sure enough, the promotion garnered attention for the bank’s brand and pushed lots of extra traffic to the Capital One Facebook page.

Getting the word out

Investment advisors face particular regulatory challenges with social media.  But they need not be silent in order to maintain compliance.  The website of Bill Gunderson, president of Gunderson Capital Management, Inc., sports a trendy-tech feel and is veritably plastered with social media (Facebook, Twitter, and his self-created stock-tracking apps for iPhone and Android).  Gunderson’s confidence in the social media space generates a feeling of trust and rapport with much of his target audience — people who are using their smartphones for business communications every day.  As an investment advisor registered with the SEC, Gunderson is subject to industry regulation but manages risk by focusing on the distribution of advice, rather than blatant marketing or self-adulation.

Connecting with customers

If you want to deliver stellar customer service, you should communicate with your customers through avenues they are already using.  Nearly everyone is plugged into a social network of some kind . . . and that’s why Ally Bank was recently lauded as a leader in the social media space among financial institutions.  Their customer-centric business model focuses on providing clear, helpful information through Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Ally’s Straight Talk blog.  ”Social media allows Ally Bank to connect with customers in a straightforward way, in forums that make it easy for them to access information,” said Sanjay Gupta, chief marketing officer of Ally Financial.  The bank is “user-friendly” — utilizing social networks to integrate finances with the other aspects of everyday life.

Minding compliance policies

There’s no denying that the finance industry faces complex regulatory issues.  No company should embark on social media without clear policies regarding record-keeping, oversight, and other applicable rules.  But financial service providers CAN join the industry conversation.  Just make sure you have the right tools to track, archive, and locate your social media activity in a way that’s acceptable to regulators.  And check out this excellent advice on navigating social media and developing a compliance policy.  Then, get going!  Your customers are just waiting to have a conversation with you.

Have you created a mobile-optimized website for customers to view on their iPhones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices?  You’ve ensured a great user experience for your customers on-the-go!  But you may not realize that you’ve also complicated your digital records by making a similar — but not exact — replica of your website.

If you’re only archiving the standard version of your site, be aware that mobile versions of your website are every bit as accountable to regulators and vulnerable to e-discovery or litigation.  Think about the implications of having both a native and mobile version of your company site, from the perspective of records retention:

Two website versions = two different user experiences.

You work tirelessly to give your customers the best online experience possible, whether they’re accessing your website at home or on the go.  But with great service comes great responsibility — when you provide mobile versions of your site, you’re multiplying your digital content, and changing it as well.  Regulatory requirements for most industries demand that ALL your electronic records be preserved, so you need to archive BOTH your standard and mobile versions to remain compliant.

Original medium and perfect playback required.

Some industry regulations (like those for the financial sector) demand that digital records be preserved in whatever medium they were originally produced.  If you’re running Flash on a mobile site, or developing with Javascript frameworks like JQuery Mobile, Titanium, Sencha, and XHTML Touch, make sure your archiving solution can handle these dynamic javascript frameworks.  The digital copies need to perform perfectly, giving an accurate representation of the user experience at the time of archive.  This will include mobile sites being viewed on a mobile device.

Litigation risk increases with mobile websites.

What if your mobile website includes a Flash video explaining the use of your product or services?  What if there’s fine print on your website that’s hard to read on a mobile phone?  If a customer brings a lawsuit against you, with the claim that you didn’t provide pertinent or obligatory information, you need to be prepared to show what was visible on the mobile site.  It’s not enough to show that your standard website contains the necessary info.  Your proof of content must exist in the mobile context — you must be able to show exactly how your website appeared to customers on their mobile devices.

Feel secure — archive your mobile website.

Social media and mobile communications have complicated the field of digital archiving — but PageFreezer works to make the process simple for your organization.  Simple, but comprehensive and secure.  We can archive your mobile website, including Flash and rich media content, in a way that complies with industry standards.  As always, the digital timestamp and signature ensure that your records stand up as evidence in court.  So go ahead and give your customers a stellar mobile web experience, and we’ll make sure your mobile website is archived securely.

The results of the 2011 Accenture Innovation Awards in The Netherlands are in: PageFreezer’s concept for archiving web content earned 2nd place in the category of Media, Communications, and High Tech!  The Awards took place on November 10, celebrating the most vibrant ideas and stunning tech products.  Attendees listened to product pitches by the finalists and enjoyed presentations from industry experts.  We’re super excited to be recognized among such forward-thinking entrepreneurs.

Accenture honors the most exceptional concepts in the Netherlands by holding the Innovation Awards each year, and presenting the “Blue Tulip” to the winners.  The contest highlights the trends in Dutch innovation and policy.  This year, hundreds of applicants were divided into 5 categories: Financial Services, Media/Communications & High Tech, Public Service & Health, and Consumer Products & Agriculture.  We offered our product for consideration as the leading solution for website and social media archiving, a critical tool for businesses who increasingly communicate and advertise online.

Reviews and impressions of the MC & HT category can be found here, including a brief video overview of the awards event.  We are honored to have been part of it, and give sincere congratulations to all the winners of this year’s Blue Tulip Awards.

PageFreezer just got better!  We’re thrilled to announce the latest release of PageFreezer — including several important additions that focus on making your archives easier to navigate.  Over the last few months, we’ve been working to bring more control into your hands, so you can easily find what you’re looking for.  Read on to discover the latest in PageFreezer’s unique archiving technology.

And stay tuned: we have even more great features coming up in our July Release!

The most important part of archiving your website is the ability to navigate those archives with ease.  Finding what you need, when you need it — that’s a crucial element to success in e-discovery, litigation, web-analytics, or just looking over past snapshots to see how your site has changed over time.  Fortunately, PageFreezer is dedicated to making sure your digital records are simple to navigate, even if you archive thousands of pages per month.

Site navigation menu

Opening a snapshot (archived page) of a website within your PageFreezer account, you can navigate through the latest archived version of the site using the new navigation menu that appears on the left.  It shows the website structure and archived pages in a list form, so you can click around to get an overall view of how the site looked at the time of archive.  This feature expands upon the calendar and other tools that allow for navigating your digital records.

Snaphots shortcuts

In addition, we’ve added a shortcut bar to the bottom of the page (within the snapshot view of an archive).  Right from there, you can jump to snapshots on other websites that PageFreezer is archiving for you.  This is especially nice for large organizations that maintain several sites or keep tabs on competitors’ sites — you can click around to snapshots of different webpages, viewing how they compared at the selected date you’ve chosen to view.  The shortcut bar also gives you quick access to customer support and your account info.

Date Range Search Filter

Finally, we improved the Search functionality by making it possible to search for specific terms within a particular date range.  Want to find every occurrence of the word “environment” on your site between May and August?  After typing the term into the Search bar, you can use the calendars to filter your results by date.  You can search any or all of the websites that PageFreezer is archiving for you, making it easy to track your own webpages or those of your competitors.

The goal of all these features is to put more control into your hands.  That’s what PageFreezer is all about — making website & social media records retention as simple and painless as possible, even in this age of information overload.  The recent improvements we’ve made will continue to ensure that your digital records are not in “overload,” but retained securely in an organized manner, so you can focus on more important things.

Because your agency’s online content is increasing both in complexity and volume, and because governments are held accountable for the information they publish on the web, you need to employ a records retention policy.

So say the industry experts. But for local government leaders, it’s hard to take the advice to heart when faced with a budget that barely allows room for a functioning emergency services department. The economic downturn of 2007 caused a ripple effect felt by nearly every municipal agency. Attempting to adjust city budgets in response to huge deficits, communities have turned off streetlights, removed public trash cans, trimmed emergency services, and more — all of which have had measurable, tangible effects on quality-of-life for citizens.

Considering these budget strains (and the stressed-out citizens attending the town hall meetings) how can agencies be expected to concern themselves with records retention?  Is it really that important? The answer is: yes. Your agency’s online publishings (including social media, which more governments are now embracing) are considered to be public records — and the responsibility to properly preserve those records cannot be underestimated.

Don’t get caught without it!
Think of records retention for your agency as an investment like health insurance: sometimes it’s hard to justify that monthly expense and you wonder if it’s worth it — until someone lands a $12,000 hospital bill for an appendectomy. You just don’t want to get caught without the insurance to cover it.

Similarly, municipalities need to consider the potential costs of being caught unprepared in litigation or e-discovery proceedings. Consequences can include being made to pay attorney and litigation expenses, or being compelled to purchase e-discovery services (wouldn’t it be better to do that at your own discretion?)

If your agency is found to be negligent in handling online records, you could face expenses that exacerbate your everyday budget woes, not to mention an enormous legal headache and bad publicity.Just like you would make every effort to invest in some level of health insurance to guard against the possibility of disaster, so should your government invest in a web archiving policy against the possibility of legal or regulatory investigation.

If you’re going to do it — do it right.
The 2006 changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure indicate that all organizations (including governments) must be able to find, capture, and produce electronically stored information that might be relevant to a judicial or regulatory request. This can’t be done with server backups, CMS revision control, or other outdated methods. You need a solution that can provide indisputable proof of your online records integrity and authenticity (as required by the Federal Rules of Evidence.)

Want to know how to do it right? Website and social media archiving is a good solution for e-discovery preparedness.  PageFreezer’s archiving technology uses web crawlers that capture all web pages (including social media). The pages are stored exactly as they are captured (including links, rich media, video, and Flash), which satisfies regulatory requirements for digital records. PageFreezer also provides a digital timestamp and signature for each archived page, ensuring data integrity and authenticity.  With this SaaS solution (no tedious installation or software), governments can sign up and begin archiving in less than an hour.

But can we afford it??
As we’ve discussed, adopting a web archiving policy is essential. But it’s not just for big cities or the federal government. PageFreezer’s pricing is competitive so that even small towns can stay prepared.  For instance, the City of DeLeon, TX recently signed up with PageFreezer as part of a Gov 2.0 Make-Over intending to show how any community can deploy technology in effective but affordable ways. The archiving policy was among the lower-priced innovations DeLeon adopted — and the ROI is invaluable.

The Internet will only continue to grow in scale and complexity, and governments are increasingly interested in how it can be used for civic growth and development.The issue of records retention must be addressed from the start, so that agencies can move forward confidently online.

Can your agency afford to start archiving and properly preserving your web records?

You can’t afford NOT to.