Careful Process Minimized Risks and Maximized Allstate’s Results – Presentation Coverage from BlogWell

The following is the final part of a series covering BlogWell conference which took place at Chicago’s Gleacher Center on Thursday, January 22.

Allstate had a unique problem in the creation of its social media efforts. Its attorneys had concerns that legal precedent might mean that user-generated content could expose the corporation to significant liability.

For example, one customer in a forum could offer insurance “advice” to another customer that could somehow make Allstate responsible to pay for some large loss that they otherwise would not have had to cover.

But it’s 2009 and avoiding all interaction with social media is not an option. So the challenge became one of managing the process and controlling the risks. Lizzie Schreier, Sr. Marketing Manager,

Internet Marketing for Allstate discussed the critical steps of the  process in her presentation at BlogWell on January 22, 2009.

Understand the Issues

Addressing the legal department’s concerns – and their well-founded bases – required a focused effort. “Before we presented anything we spent time listening and asking a lot of questions,” Schreier explained. Multiple attorneys, representing multiple specialties and concerns, participated in the sessions and  she devoted her efforts to understanding the core problems and root causes behind their issues. Only then could she and her team craft an approach with the highest chance of success.

Start Small and Simple

Critical to Allstate internal acceptance and understanding of the potential and risk level related to social media started slowly. The first initiative, for example, was the establishment of a customer forum. No significant marketing or advertising efforts were directed at driving traffic to the forum. It was allowed to grow slowly and organically.

Tie the Effort to a Known Quantity

Social media was an unknown, but Allstate had a very clearly understood issue. Insurance keywords, and auto insurance ones in particular, are some of the most expensive pay-per-click terms available. So while few might relate to the generic concept of Facebook and how it could have a positive impact on their business, people within Allstate could clearly understand how improved natural search results and additional site links could have significant value, both short- and long-term.

Therefore, rather than talk about “social media” initiatives, Schreier and her team focused discussions on “link-building” initiatives, avoiding or dramatically reducing internal discomfort and resistance.

Expand, Repeat and Grow

As customer involvement grew and examples were reviewed, stringent escalation policies were developed, and the disclaimers and terms and conditions that had already been implemented were revised. This process improved the confidence in the company’s risk controls, and at the same time results were improving.

The combination of those two positive results allowed the Allstate team to expand their initiatives from the initial forum into a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter presence, numerous video and audio casts, and, finally, the creation and expansion of VehicleVibes.com.

The end result? A significant increase in referring URLs and improved natural search results. Exactly as intended.

It appears Allstate’s online initiatives were and are “in good hands”.

Guest blogger James R. Dickey is Executive Director of Marketing for Unitrin Specialty. His personal web site is at jamesrdickey.com. Watch for more of his coverage of BlogWell coming soon.