Here’s How This Financial Services Marketing Team Rolled Out Marketing Asset Management

One out of four companies claim that internal resistance to change is a major obstacle to their adoption of marketing technology.

Rolling out new technology is often an uphill battle, as many employees who have been part of a company or industry a long time are fearful of change.

For the marketing team at Cornerstone, a broker insurance services agency, this obstacle was not about to prevent them from successfully rolling out a new Marketing Asset Management technology. They knew the benefits at hand outweighed the efforts needed to drive change.

This team developed a strategy to overcome any resistance to change using a combination of methods to engage employees internally and partners externally. In fact, as they explain on a recent webinar, it was fun!

Here’s how Cornerstone rolled out MarcomCentral to their employees:

1. Monthly webinars used for training, began at launch as twice-weekly events providing internal navigational tips, advantages of the platform, explaining its purpose, and more. These helped with the engagement of the tool, and encouraged buy-in among the team. By recording these webinars and making them available on-demand, they became additional tools.
2. Regular weekly emails sharing a series of content related to using the new system including video tutorials, infographics, PPT presentations, and frequently asked questions. These training materials were also included in weekly meetings.
3. Internal talking points – the team needed to get everyone internally telling the same message so they could describe the platform to brokers, who were continually engaged and encouraged to use the centralized platform.
4. Button on homepage – adding a button to the homepage of the website was a smart move, as it immediately directed a visitor to the login screen, making the resource easy to find, which helps engagement.
5. Incorporation into live chat – adding a chat widget helped tremendously, as live chat allowed users to ask questions such as where to access the tool, how to change their password, and more. As site traffic grew, visitors started using the chat feature more and more.
6. Google community page for brokers – the Cornerstone team ran a Google community page for brokers featuring resources and information in a private community just for them.
7. Contests – the team organized a contest looking for ideas to cultivate employee engagement. The winner of the contest (modeled after The Amazing Race TV show) won prizes as contestants competed to find documents using the Marketing Asset Management tool.
8. Video campaign – Team members were interviewed on camera to discuss what they liked about the platform, what they found useful, the advice they’d give to others looking at the platform, and what advantages it brought them. A familiar face helped to sell the platform internally, and earned Cornerstone an edge on increasing internal engagement and adoption.
9. Ambassadors – Employees and brokers serve as ambassadors, helping to spread the news of the benefits of the tool and demonstrating to their peers what advantages it provides.
   For example, a sales representative recorded a webinar for other sales team members in which he demonstrates his process working with brokers to get them onto the platform, walking through specific folders and documents to educate them about the platform.
10. Measurement – Finally, the Cornerstone team tracks usage using MarcomCentral’s analytics capabilities. This helps them understand which products are performing in the platform, and who is using the tool regularly.For those who haven’t used the platform, Cornerstone’s marketing team can reach out and find out if they’re finding value, or what needs to be done to ensure they do.Questions like “what were you looking for? Is there anything we can help with?” can go a long way in uncovering opportunities to enhance the system or its training.

 The team’s multi-faceted approach to employee onboarding and technology adoption serves as a great example for others in a similar situation.

Nobody likes change, and when introduced with a new way of doing things, many colleagues revert to “the way it’s always been done.”

But, by incorporating a variety of channels, addressing multiple learning styles, being persistent and making benefits clear to each user, Cornerstone’s marketing team was able to roll out this new technology successfully.