Can pensions and new media come together?

Perhaps even more surprising is that 57% of participants said social media shouldn’t play any role in providing information about, or education on, their retirement savings plan. As Stephen McGregor, then with Desjardins Financial Security, said in the survey report, the results clearly showed that most members don’t see the point of using social media to communicate pension plan-related information.

Times change
But it may be just a matter of timing. “I think we will be watching this to see what happens over the next couple of years,” noted Virginia Alderman, director of communications with Manulife Financial, in the report. “Looking at the social media options, the definitive phrase is ‘not yet,’ since this is still very new.”

Is social media still too new to consider for pension and benefits communications purposes? Perhaps not, when you look at the numbers. At the end of March 2012, Facebook had a reported 901 million monthly active users. In its most basic form, the tool is used to share information on a personal level between family and friends. But organizations are also using Facebook effectively to share information in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer contexts.

Of course, an audience has to be willing to consider using such media for those media to be effective. “Certainly, one of the things that surprised us when we asked members nearly a year ago was their response: they didn’t want social media, and it wasn’t something they thought would encourage them to participate more,” says Alderman. Manulife Financial hasn’t yet begun incorporating social media into its DC plan offering on either an informational or a transactional basis. In the company’s current experience, the appetite for social media still isn’t pressing.

“If it were something our DC clients wanted, we’d be further ahead with it,” says Alderman. “That may change in the near future. This will be the year to see if, and how, the response has changed.”

Mass education
Even if plan members aren’t yet able to envision the benefits of plan communication and education through social media, it hasn’t stopped some from imagining the role it could play in promoting pension-related information.

“Where possible, we’re trying to work with our clients to help them incorporate new media, including social media, into their overall communication plan,” says Jackie Gallant, assistant vice-president, group retirement services marketing and communications practice, with Sun Life Financial. “However, I think there’s still a lot of education that needs to be done with our clients to show them what’s out there with respect to the different channels of social media, and how [they] can be used effectively.”

Geared toward all Canadians, Sun Life’s Brighter Life website provides general information on money, health, family, working life and retirement. The site integrates a number of social media features: blogs, the ability for people to comment on posts, Twitter feeds, embedded video and links to Facebook. The company also maintains a website called GRS Matters, which helps to keep clients up to date on what’s happening in the DC industry. A Twitter account (@SLFgrsmatters) complements the site by letting its followers know when new information is added.

“We’re working with a lot of clients on the DC side of the business that are not sure how to use social media in their DC plan communication strategies,” says Gallant. “And we’re trying to help them understand that.” Gallant notes that video is definitely a popular online medium among clients. As she explains, a 10-page document can get lost or ignored, but when it’s translated into a one- or two-minute video posted online, the material becomes easier to find and understand.

“It’s all about reaching more people,” she says. “While it’s great to reduce the amount of print that we’re doing, at this point, there’s still a place for it. So we like to encourage a mix between traditional and new media. The advantages of new media are definitely there, but we need to educate and guide [clients] toward it.”

Building a community
Over the past two years, Desjardins Financial Security has revamped how it educates its clients with your way, plain and simple, a customized education program that delivers tailored financial information to plan members. Using a combination of traditional print and in-person meetings, as well as Web-based tools, the program helps guide plan members through the concerns they’ll typically have at the different stages of their lives.

“Let’s face it: people don’t wake up in the morning and think about creating a retirement plan,” says Eric Filion, vice-president, product development and pricing, group retirement savings, with Desjardins. “Engagement is not a given; it doesn’t happen overnight. It has to be built and generated, and [this program] is about doing that.”

Filion says social media is a natural extension of the program. Instead of the traditional mechanical process in which the provider pushes its ideas out to the participants, Desjardins wants to create a community-based conversation in which all stakeholders—providers, plan sponsors and members—are engaged and talking. In addition to its existing new media features, such as webcasts and video, Desjardins is currently testing a Facebook community with one of its clients.

“Think of social media as the house for the community,” says Filion. “It gives participants a place to discuss their retirement objectives with all of the relevant parties as a community. By coming together, the community identifies itself and really builds a sense of why they’re there.”

If providers are talking directly to plan members, at first glance, it would almost appear that the middle layer—the plan sponsor—is removed. Not so, Filion says.

“It’s not about putting anyone on the side of the road,” he stresses. “People need to realize that it’s a work-together approach between the provider, the sponsor and the participant. It’s about being able to have a conversation about retirement, speaking the same language and giving everyone a voice.”

Sponsors invest a lot of money in their plans, explains Filion, and creating engagement is always a challenge. Finding new ways to engage members is important, and newer technologies obviously play a part. But what Filion has found most interesting is the way social media has brought everyone together. Historically, technology has often been viewed as impersonal and indifferent, creating a separation between people. But social media has turned all of that around by adding an authentic human touch. “We’re finding social media is creating conversation that never happened before,” he adds.

Here to stay
According to Scott Stratten, social media expert and president of UnMarketing, a consulting firm that audits the effectiveness of organizations’ current social media use and helps brainstorm new ways to use the tools to engage clients, many companies use regulations and constrictions as an excuse not to engage in social media. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a banking, finance, medical, insurance, pharmaceutical or benefits and pensions company—a lot of [companies] say they can’t use social media because they’re too regulated,” says Stratten. “I beg to differ.”

Stratten explains that when a company says, “We can’t use social media,” it’s basically saying, “We can’t talk,” whether it realizes that or not. He says companies need to treat social media as they would a networking event: it’s simply an opportunity to have a conversation and has nothing to do with sharing sensitive information. Just as you wouldn’t get up in front of everyone at a networking event and start talking about someone’s personal information, neither would you use social media to do so. The difference—and the advantage—notes Stratten, is that social media is virtual. The conversation can happen anywhere in the world.

Interestingly, Stratten says some of the companies that are not seen as being the most social or exciting are providing some of the best examples of social media in action. He points to the Maersk Group, a Danish shipping company, which uses Facebook as one of its online communications tools. A quick look at the Maersk Group’s Facebook page reveals that more than 281,000 people have “liked” its page.

Intrigued, Stratten talked to the person who started Maersk’s Facebook page and asked him why a shipping company decided to get on Facebook. The answer was simple: the company just thought it would be smart to be where the conversation was happening.

“That’s a line that should apply to everyone,” says Stratten. “Just because a company doesn’t want to be social, [it] doesn’t mean the conversation isn’t happening. The conversation will still happen. It’s just that the companies that aren’t social won’t be a part of it.”

Stratten is no stranger to the pension and benefits industry. Prior to becoming a marketing entrepreneur, he studied HR, worked in the industry and even taught HR at Sheridan College.

“Social media can be a tough thing for companies to wrap their heads around—especially where it concerns benefits and pensions,” he says. “I get it. But when I was in HR, I would’ve loved to have had an active provider using social media.”

As Stratten explains it, social media is playing an ever-increasing role in our society, including with older generations. “Age is always a factor, but it’s becoming less so with digital technologies like social media. Social media is blurring that age demographic line. Take Facebook, for example. Young people are all over Facebook, right? Well, if you’re a parent or grandparent who wants to see the latest vacation pictures or whatever, you’re going to be there, too.”

In the end, it’s all about connecting with customers. And, for those dealing with pensions, engaging plan members around the importance of saving for retirement is vital—especially the younger demographic that is typically most comfortable with social media.

“Ask a 22-year-old the last time he or she flipped through a thick binder for information,” says Stratten. “You’re not going to reach that younger demographic by using an older demographic channel.”

Tony Palermo is a freelance writer based in Smiths Falls, Ont. tony@tonypalermo.ca

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