From our VP of marketing to yours

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be part of this amazing company. I come from a consumer background, having run marketing organizations at companies like Amazon.com and OpenTable . Why did I come to Hearsay, which focuses on business customers? Because I love the team – led by social media pioneer Clara Shih – and because the consumer and business worlds collide when it comes to social media.

I’ve been watching the social media landscape for some time. Companies have historically communicated with prospects in one-way fashion, like through advertising and email. But the ability to have meaningful conversations and interactions with customers has caused a stampede toward social media.

Think of bankers, insurance agents, and realtors as well as your local coffee, hotel or restaurant chain. They want to have engaging conversations and connect on a human level. After all, businesses are made up of people.

Companies need to be where customers are, but it’s not as simple as setting up a LinkedIn profile or Facebook Page. There are branding, operational, legal, and compliance issues which need to be addressed before you can take advantage of the tremendous sales and marketing opportunity afforded by social media. Corporate/local companies in particular face a unique set of challenges. On the one hand, you need to protect the brand. On the other hand, social media demands that you support and empower your local reps and branches to express a unique, authentic voice.

Working with some of the largest and most interesting brands in the world, Hearsay Social addresses the three most crucial areas needed for corporate/local success on social media: compliance, content, and analytics.

Time and again, we hear customers express concern about how to achieve the balance between brand and local. Judging from the media coverage we saw the day we launched, the market is hungry for a solution like Hearsay Social. Take a look at just a few of the articles that appeared:

• Forbes: Hearsay Social Service Targets Corporate / Local Business
• Reuters: Friending you soon on Facebook: Your insurance agent
• TechCrunch: Sequoia-Backed Hearsay Launches Social Media Platform For Corporations With Local Branches
• PC World: Hearsay Preps Social Media Monitoring Tool for Enterprises
• ComputerWorld: Startup Hearsay unveils enterprise social media monitoring tool
• InformationWeek: Hearsay Launches Social Media Management for Branch Offices
• All Things D: Hearsay Labs Brings Compliance to Social Media
• Inside Facebook: Hearsay Social Helps Corporations Manage the Facebook Pages of Their Local Branches
• Xconomy: Hearsay Helps Corporate America Get Local, and Get Smarter About Facebook and Twitter
• Social Media Today: Compliance and Social Media: It’s Hearsay
• Social Times: Hearsay Launches Enterprise Scale Social Media Dashboard
• IDG News Service: Hearsay Preps Social Media Monitoring Tool for Enterprises
• Vator.TV: Hearsay Social launches for corporate/local
• Brent’s Social CRM Blog: Social CRM Mainstreaming Continues With Hearsay

We’re looking forward to having our own conversations with you. Find us on Facebook and Twitter (and of course, here on our blog), and we’ll chat.

– Jaleh