First Command Financial Services has a unique culture and mission. Not only do they coach military families to become financially disciplined and confident, service and giving is central to its values. They allocate 7% of annual profits to charity (even though they do not get a tax write off due to their business structure) and consider this culture of service to be a superpower. 

In addition to strong values that differentiate its organization from others in the space, First Command has built its reputation in large part from community storytelling. Using digital tools, its employees (including 550 tech-savvy financial advisors) have played a big role in sharing First Command’s brand story, and doing so authentically.

At last month’s Digital Marketing for Financial Services Midwest Summit, Scott Spidell, VP of Strategic Marketing at First Command, shared how empowering advisors digitally – with relevant social media content and compliant texting – helps humanize its brand while strengthening client relationships.

Building a content library within Hearsay Social

First Command helps its field advisors build a strong social media presence and profile, providing a range of compliant, evergreen industry content that advisors can use to engage its audiences. Hearsay’s 2021 Content Study shows that among the different categories of topics frequently shared by financial companies, principles-based content garners the most clicks and engagement on social media – a finding that is in perfect alignment with First Command’s own content strategy centered around corporate values and charitable giving.

Using Hearsay Social, First Command promotes native content within the content library, which is made available to corporate employees and field agents. Dynamic social media campaigns allow advisors and agents to deliver and customize content, covering topics specific  to the different branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force to name a few) and their families to their own networks.

First Command can then track advisor-driven engagement through metrics within Hearsay Social. The platform also includes a seamless pre- and post- review process, that leverages a built-in lexicon, to ensure edited posts are compliant. 

Meeting clients on their preferred channel using Hearsay Relate

When considering the client journey, First Command knows it’s important for advisors to be able to connect and deliver where the client wants to communicate. As a result, they’ve launched compliant texting as an additional channel in their program ecosystem. Just like the social program, text messaging through Hearsay Relate is highly compliant, with data reporting and regulatory assurance built in.

Scott also adds that layering SMS into the communication ecosystem will further strengthen client relationships and help to engage the next generation of investors at key moments of decision-making, while also maintaining business continuity across an omnichannel customer experience.

Using Hearsay, First Command gives its agents the freedom to use the right channels at the right time. Financial firms who have invested deeply in its brands can learn from First Command's deployment of the brand message through modern digital channels that increase reach, engage targeted audiences and build stronger 1:1 client relationships.

If you’d like to learn more, you can view the full session featuring Scott Spidell and Hearsay’s Chief Customer Officer, Matt Newman.