Eleanor Goold from Compliance Manager to Copywriter and Communicator – MPAF89

In this episode I talk to Eleanor Goold, an ex-financial services compliance manager who’s reinvented herself as a copywriter.

A fascinating story giving a unique insight into the way we market financial products such as pensions, investments and protection.

Hear Eleanor talk about simplicity in communications and how important it is to focus on benefits and not features.

That’s all right here in episode 89 of the Marketing Protection and Finance Podcast.

Compliance Manager to Copywriter and Communicator

Who is Eleanor Goold?

Eleanor is founder of Kreatív Fordítás Ltd; a forward thinking writing, copywriting and content creation service set up to provide clear, concise and compelling copy.

Her in-depth technical pensions and compliance background has provided her with a unique skill set which she successfully utilises in her role as Creative Director.

As well as having over 20 years experience in the UK Financial Services industry and being professional qualified in both pensions and compliance, she is also an author as well as a professionally trained and qualified animal therapist.

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No Excuse After FG15/4 – Time to Nail Your Social Media Strategy

Have compliance concerns stopped you using Social Media?

Back in 2010 the FCA raised concerns about using Facebook and Twitter to promote products. Many interpreted this as a wider concern about using Social Media in general.

The result. Some companies don’t use social media. Others set up such draconian approval processes that they may as well not use social media.

SMCompliance

The FCA’s just published guidance paper, FG15/4:Social media and customer communications: The FCA’s supervisory approach to financial promotions in social media, means there are no excuses now for not developing a social media strategy.

Yes a social media post could be a financial promotion if it plugs the features of a specific product and its performance and needs balance and the usual warnings (quite difficult on channels with character limits). But this was true before the guidance so nothing has changed.

Social media posts could also point to compliant content elsewhere or offer comments on current issues. They are mainly about engagement.

At a high level I’ve always believed the way to stay compliant on social media is to adopt the following approach.

Don’t Push Product – Point to Great Content.

The FCA’s guidance says the same in a well written 20 page PDF with plenty of examples and illustrations.

So that’s it.

If compliance concerns held you back before, it’s now time to look at your social media strategy.

It’s time to ditch the 48 hour SLA’s for Tweet approvals. It’s time to start creating great content and using social media to find potential customers, engage them, and point to your great content.

Now it’s your turn:

What do you think of the FCA’s guidance on social media and customer communications? Please leave a comment.

If you are looking to put together a social media strategy I can help you. Please get in touch.

You Cannot Be Serious! 48 Hour Service Level Agreement on Tweet Approval

Do you think a company with a 48 hour turn around on Tweet Approval really “gets” social.

Social media is spontaneous. It’s one of the reasons for the name “social”.

48 Hour Service Level Agreement on Tweet Approval

I’ve described Twitter as chatting in a gigantic and crowded virtual pub. In a social setting you have spontaneous conversations in real-time.

Imagine for a moment you were in a real pub enjoying a pint. Someone approaches you and asks you a factual question about your product or your company. Would you reply straight away assuming you knew the answer?

Or would you say you’ll get back to them in 48 hours once the marketing, compliance and legal teams approve your answer.

Most would reply straight away. Why should social media be any different?

Chatting to a colleague from another financial services provider recently we got talking about marketing and social media. He told me his company operated a 48 hour Service Level Agreement on tweet approval.

I had to ask him to repeat himself.

Again he said his company operated a 48 hour Service Level Agreement on Tweet approval.

First the marketing team would check out the language making sure it was “on brand”. Then someone from legal gives it the once over. Finally compliance ensures adherence to the FCA rules and signed off  the Tweet along with documentation.

Processes like this exist for marketing literature with good reason. But for a Tweet? Couldn’t they have at least introduced a fast track lane?

The SLA means they can plan Tweets for a specific time, say for a product launch. But the process cripples spontaneity.

Is this risk aversion or good business sense? I would argue they should replace the Marketing and Legal checks for good old-fashioned common sense. Then simply be aware of the implications of the FCA rules to make sure you don’t promote a product or give advice.

Tweeting the benefits of a specific product without being able to consider the downside or include risk warnings is against the rules. So don’t tweet these with less regard for compliance issues than you would with your website.

This doesn’t stop you from commenting on issues. Warning about deadlines. Or suggesting that it’s wise to insure your sources of income as part of financial planning.

Let’s not use “regulation” as an excuse not to engage in social media. Don’t use it as a cover for not being on social media. Use the FCA compliance guidelines as far as possible and then use your intuition and common sense.

Now it’s your turn:

You can find more information about Compliance and Twitter in my Twitter Guide for Financial Services Professionals. For a copy just use the subscription form above. Do you agree with my views on this subject? Please leave a comment or a link to your own article.