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iFinance had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Allan Schoenberg, director of corporate communications at CME Group, where he shared how the world’s largest and most diverse derivatives exchange has embraced social media. From strategic partnerships, conversations, monitoring and a large focus on being a hub for traders worldwide, CME Group has emerged as a leader in terms of interactive finance.

From the beginning, social media seemed like a natural fit for CME Group according to Schoenberg.

“It was essentially a crossing of two bridges. I was reading a lot and using Forrester’s research and I noticed a group of traders had created a group about CME Group,” Schoenberg said. “They were already talking about us – posting thoughts and connecting with us – so I felt it was natural for us to be a part of that conversation.”

In September of 2007, Schoenberg reached out to the administrator of the group and offered to help manage the group. Instead, the administrator was willing to give Schoenberg complete control of the group, thus creating CME Group’s  footprint in the social space. From there, the footprint continued to grow as CME Group launched their Twitter account in October of 2008 – the account has over 750,000 followers. Since then, they have developed a strong presence on LinkedIn, StumbleUpon and Delicious, among other social platforms.

A key to CME Group’s success is its diverse use of the various social tools, as evident by their LinkedIn groups. The lone public group serves as a career portal for those interested in careers in futures; while they created three private groups: two focusing on products (currency exchange and interest exchange) and one solely for reporters.

“LinkedIn has really been beneficial for us for a number of reasons,” Schoenberg said. “First, we’re able to connect with professionals and get feedback from all over the world. Second, our “reporters” group allows for transparency and we can have open conversations without worrying about them being picked up and turned into a story.”

Partnerships and Conversations

In a true sign of resourcefulness and strategic thinking – coincidentally, these two traits are what prevents most major brands from succeeding in the social space – CME Group partnered with StockTwits, who had created the concept of putting a $ in front of a ticker symbol in tweets, to form a a relationship that allowed CME Group to join a large conversation that was already taking place. This strategic partnership is a prime example of how, often times, the conversation is already taking place. This concept and thinking is key for brands – instead of trying to create your  own conversation, join the one that’s already taking place.

While this remains just a small snippet of CME Group’s adventure into social media – see previous post comment to get a better understanding of the variety of social resources – it’s clear that the key to success for CME Group and Schoenberg has been a combination of providing useful information, engaging with people and a consistent message across all channels (traditional and new media).

“The nice thing for us is there’s so much information out there. So many things apply to the overall economy,” Schoenberg said. However, at the same time, we have to be sure that we continue to create original content that our community finds valuable.”