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Its a pain for end-users to manually schedule posts from the Content Library.End-Users traditionally do not want to be incredibly involved in their social media posts, while their corporate marketing team doesn’t want to directly publish to the social accounts of their producersA solution to this problem would be allowing an End-User to “opt in” to an entire Content Library folder worth of content, which will automatically post the content in that content library folder.Dynamic campaigns (campaigns with content that comes with specific preset dates and times) would be useful to our usersUsers will understand what the term “campaigns” refers toUsers love Hearsay’s solution
Who are the key user groups? What are their needs?How are users currently handling the (problem/task)?How are users currently using Denim Social Content Libraries?What are the pros/cons of competitors’ product.How are people using competitors’ product? What features are most important?
Thanks for meeting with us today! We’re constantly trying to improve our product, and getting your frank feedback is a really important part of that. We want to understand your challenges so we can determine how to provide solutions that will truly address them. We also want understand any frustrations you might have using the platform so we can improve your experience.Explain that:I’ll be asking a lot of questions - keep in mind there are no wrong answers, we want honest feedback!They are being recordedGive a brief overview of the feature we are thinking of buildingIn Denim Social’s Publishing Solution today, we allow Admin Users to create social media posts and save them to a Content Library folder, allowing other Users in their organization to schedule and post that content on their own time. The challenge we’re faced with in the current environment is that these end-users need to manually schedule each of those future posts from the Content Library. We’d like to streamline that by allowing and End-User to “opt in” to an entire Content Library folder worth of content, which will automatically post the content in that content library folder. We’ll call that a “campaign.” An End-User can pick a folder of content, and indicate they want to post every post in that folder on a cadence (or possibly specific times and dates) that is set by their Admin team.
Now, she is going to schedule people's content and then notify people that their posts are scheduled and what they areSome people are using this program as a skeleton for the month and filling in with videos.85 people signed up; people sign up and include their branch pagesIncluded in the onboarding trackBasically breaks the program into 3 tiers - this is because they are finding that LOs have different ideas of what they want to post on social. LO’s are licensed so they can give guidance. Others are not so they cannot give guidance. They get a lot of Business Development representatives on Denim and they can share product information. 1 - all types of content - evergreen, charity, products, etc. will add any last minute awards they are publishing2 - everything except charity/recruiting3 - bare minimum 3rd party content & evergreen. 1 Post a week
LO’s can’t edit CL postsLO’s want to edit a post and can’t. Need to be able to edit it while remaining compliant. Some want to add their own call to action, use their own hashtags. Content comes up that they already used and they can’t delete it if the admin has scheduled it.Advisors want to personalize the post/create their own lead-in. If there was a more intuitive way to do this through the content library, that would be greatDealing with time sensitive contentContent doesn’t expire, they organize it by month and hope no one uses the older stuff – sometimes they do thoughContinually staying on top of removing old content has been a challenge. They have to create an “old posts” folder where they can move older posts. It’s time consuming, requires a lot of scrolling and quite a few clicks. Only able to complete this on a quarterly basis and it often falls to the bottom of the priority list
Very excited about the new feature, feel it would be very helpfulLO’s wanting to be involved in posting is split – some are hands off, others are very involved. Many want the ability to customize content from the libraryAllison at Annie Mac is running her own version of what we are doing and it’s going very well. This is a good indication that this feature will be widely adopted.All would like their LO’s to post between 3-5 times, this should help us when setting the cadence for evergreen campaigns
Dynamic Campaign – Series of posts with Preset Dates and TimesEvergreen Campaign – Cadence: 3-5 times per week, no more than two times per day LO’s Opt-in to allow Admin to subscribe them to campaigns (let admin subscribe)Allow LO’s to edit content from the library, require approvalAllow LO’s to change date and time of content within a campaign Allow users to opt-in mid campaignShow what has already been postedPost remaining content in campaignArchive posts/libraries with the click of a buttonColor code posts that are time-sensitiveSet an expiration date – automatically archive and remove accessPossibly post on days where nothing is currently scheduled in a user’s calendarChoose which days you want to post on (Ex: Mon/Wed/Fri) as an alternative to just choosing the cadenceDelete or opt out of posts from a campaign that you don’t want to shareAllow LO’s not subscribed to campaign to still access content and manually schedule it.Hide campaign from LO until date availableCreate campaigns that are only visible to certain users in the companyAnalytics by campaign (not individual post)Clicks, shares, comments, engagement by network, unique readers vs total readers
Discovery Interviews
What assumptions do we want to test?
What else do we want to learn?
Interview Introduction
Product/market fit questions
Product/market fit questions
Allison Dickenson
Amy Leonard
Seth Reeks
Peyton Mohrhusen
Stephanie Salmon
Institution
Annie Mac
Johnson Financial Group
Evolve Bank & Trust
Towne Bank Mortgage
User Interview
02/25/2022
3/28/2022
3/28/2022
3/28/2022
What is your role at your institution?
Social Media Manager
Digital Marketing Specialist
Digital Marketing Coordinator
Social Media and PR Specialist
What are your initial reactions to the feature we just described? Do you feel this would be beneficial? Why or why not?
Yes, it will automate their current process. Currently they run their own program. It starts with a survey through microsoft forms, they decide what type of content they want. This would give the user more responsibility and allow them to be more involved in selecting what content they want.
"Love this idea and think many of our users groups would be interested in this program - particularly for some of our sales leaders who aren't finding the time to post weekly."
Yes. Our LO's would appreciate not having to post themselves.
Personally, I think this would be beneficial so we wouldn't have to go through the process of requesting if people want it.
What does the term “Campaign” mean to you? Do you use the term “Campaign” to describe any of your marketing efforts?
A series of posts with a specific theme. Example pushing an event such as a pet friendly real estate event.
Do you find that your Advisors/LOs want to be involved in their social media posts or would they rather have someone post on their behalf? Why?
Pretty split. Some come on board and say they want absolutely nothing to do with social. For others it’s their #1 concern and they are very involved and serious about growing their presence. They’ll use what is published in CL in Denim as a skeleton and fill in their own info.
It's a mix. However, I think the majority of our MLOs/Advisors would appreciate the assistance in having someone post on their behalf. We have started to test this concept with LOB ambassadors for our Wealth and Mortgage groups. Although, we do have a few superusers who are a bit more active with the content library and creating personalized posts.
Most want it done for them.
its a solid mix of both. they want someone to post the mortgage/industry content on their behalf, but still want to have the authority to post what they want otherwise
Do you currently post on behalf of your advisors/LO’s? If so, how much time do you spend on this per week?
2 hours to schedule for the month. Uploads all of the corporate content into the library, finds outside sources such as upcontent. Starts scheduling and decides what goes in what tier. Some opt in mid month and she has to go back in and schedule the remaining posts for the month.
no
yes, Less than an hour. It's only one LO we post for.
no
How frequently would you like your advisors/LO’s to be posting to social media? How frequently do they post now?
No requirement. 3 times a week is a goal. Try not to post more than twice a day. Once a day if it’s a variety of different types of content.
"Ideally, at least 3-4 posts per week would be great as that is what we aim for on our brand pages."
"For our active users, probably 3-4 times per week. For less active users, more like 1-2."
3-5, 3-5
about 2-4 times per week
If I could have 100% of those actively using social media post and engage at least 2 times per week, that would be ideal
How do you currently solve [consistent posting to each SN on behalf of users]? Walk me through each step of the process. What problems do you most experience in this process?
(see row 27)
We post what we post to the mortgage pages.
Are you currently using Content Libraries in Denim Social? Why/How are you using it? Why not?
Pretty actively, entering new content throughout the week at least once a day. Launching products by state for cash offers - only available in new jersey. Playing around with private folders and allow only people in relevant branches to have access. Right now they organize content by month but they want to go back and organize by topic.
Yes
Yes
Yes
How has your overall experience been with content libraries? Do you find this feature useful? Do you have any frustrations with the feature?
LO’s want to edit a post and can’t. They aren’t opposed to allowing them to edit as long as it’s compliant. Content comes up that they already used and they can’t delete it if the admin has scheduled it.
Yes! Super helpful.
We appreciate how easy they make posting for the LO's and with new updates, they keep getting better.
I think so far it has been good! we are still learning how we want to do things, but its been useful
Have advisors/LOs been quick to adopt this feature? If not, what barriers have hindered them?
One person said they didn’t want to have posts scheduled on their behalf because they can’t edit them. Some want to add their own call to action, use their own hashtags.
"Sometimes, advisors like the content found in the library, but they still want to personalize the post/create their own lead-in. If there was a more intuitive way to do this through the content library, that would be great. "
Most have been quick. The ones who haven't don't understand how to use them even though they've been in on the trainings.
Work in progress. Implementation starts april 13
In the current environment, end-users need to manually schedule each posts from the Content Library. How is that working for you?
Do you often add time sensitive content to a library? If so, how do you currently remove access to content when it’s no longer relevant?
Yes - holidays, monthly recaps, awards. They don’t remove stuff, they label each folder by month and expect that no one will use content that is no longer relevant. Sometimes they do though...
This has been a challenge as it's hard to continually stay on top of removing old content. Yes, we do add time sensitive content - mainly our "homegrown posts" which have sponsorships, events, etc. and our wealth folder which holds economic/investment updates which are timely. Recently, we created an "Old" posts folder where we can move older posts from our other libraries. However, it's a time consuming process requiring a lot of scrolling and quite a few clicks, so we're only able to complete this on a quarterly basis, and often falls to the bottom of our priority list. It would be great to easily "archive" a post with the click of a button. Another idea would be to somehow color code posts that are time-sensitive or set an expiration date for when they would automatically be archived/no longer accessible to end users for posting.
no
not frequently. We haven't actually thought about that. I think it could be beneficial to have an option for an archival date on content added to folders.
Would it be beneficial to be able to create a library/campaign with content that comes preset with schedule dates and times? Why or why not?
Yes, it would take the work off their hands and they could always schedule additional content if they wanted to.
Yes, I think this would streamline posting for our end users and even our LOB ambassadors who are posting on some of our advisors' behalf.
I feel like we would still want to have some control of the dates with the other content we have
How do you feel about admins being able to auto-subscribe users to a campaign that automatically posts to their social networks?
Basically already doing that
I think this is a great idea.
Our users would not like that.
i like that
Do you use these content library filters: Approval group? Approved by? Created by?
No because they have a small team. The three people in marketing are the only people who upload the content so it doesn’t even have to be approved. They had to change user roles so other people couldn’t create content (some LOs were posting other LO’s branded content)
Approval Group
Created By
Created By
Have you used other platforms or tools that addressed your pain points in this area?
No
no
no
no, this is the first one and we are so excited
What are pros/cons of competitors' products?
Did you find Hearsay’s/Sprout’s/Hootsuite’s/Other’s Campaigns tool to be useful? Why or why not?
Which features did you find to be the most beneficial? Why?
Did you have any frustrations with the product?
Not really
Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to share with us?
No
"Not at this time - thank you! "
No. Keep doing what you're doing.
LinkedIn only allows for one photo !!!!!! I CANNOT POST TO INSTAGRAM. the size of the images are too large for denim to post on Instagram, but not for any other platform that I use. I don't like that I have to leave denim to post to social channels that aren't facebook
Background on publishing
Currently notifying LOs when posts are scheduled - is that something the LO requested? Do they want to know what is going to go out?
What made you decided to break the program into 3 tiers?
Previously, they didn't post on their users behalf they started the 'auto-post program' that LOs could sign up for if they wanted to be posted on behalf of them.
Cardinal Financial Company:
Stephanie and her team don't post for anyone. They just use the ext shared content libraries to load corporate content for their branches.
The branches use this content to post on behalf of their LOs.
Example: wolfpack institution - she posts on behalf of all of her users.
Cardinal has multiple institutions and use the external shared CL
This will be interesting because Stephanie would approve this feature for all their branches. They have requested the org approval for all the other branch/institution posts
There are no rows in this table
Review Conclusion
Your input is really valuable for me and the team as we think about the next steps for these ideas. We really appreciate your taking the time to come in, and answering all of my questions. Thanks SO much!
Key Takeaways from User Interviews
Pain Points:
Other Key Takeaways
Features Requested By Users
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