BusinessTalk With Paul Scully

George O’Brien sits to talk with Paul Scully, president, and CEO of Country Bank. The two have a lively discussion about everything from the bank’s sponsorship of the Worcester Red Sox and what it means for both institutions, to the outlook for 2021 for small businesses in this region, to how banks, and specifically Country Bank, are coping with the many pandemic-related challenges they are now facing.

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WORCESTER — Country Bank has entered into an elite-level corporate sponsorship arrangement as a ‘founding partner’ of the Worcester Red Sox. Country Bank’s multi-tiered sponsorship includes a sign in right field atop the stands known as the Worcester Wall, along with the Country Bank Guest Services located on the first-base concourse.

The partnership between the WooSox and Country Bank also underscores their mutual commitment to the community through the WooSox Foundation and Country Bank’s Charitable Giving Program by supporting local nonprofits in the region through a combined charitable-giving campaign throughout the baseball season. Read more.

We were excited to partner with our friends at Old Sturbridge Villiage to deliver 750 meals for those in need this Thanksgiving holiday.  Learn more.

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Using social media for your business is one of the quickest and easiest ways to reach your audience. Not only should you be analyzing what’s working for your own company, but also utilizing it to promote what you have to offer in a consistent manner. First, let’s take a look to see if you’re using your company page to its full capacity.

Assess

First thing you should focus on is creating an audit spreadsheet. By doing an audit, you are measuring performance for all your marketing efforts. This helps you identify which techniques are working, which are falling short, and how you’ve progressed or improved from past efforts

Before starting your audit, create a spreadsheet to track your assessments. Here’s a list of columns to include:
– Date
– Number of Followers
– Follower Demographics
– Post Type
– Impressions (reach)
– Clicks
– Likes
– Comments
– Shares
– Engagement Rate
– Channel traffic from Google Analytics

Now that you have the spreadsheet, let’s show you how to find all that data.

First, make a note of your total number of followers at that time. You can find this number by simply looking at your page. This number tells you how many people you’re reaching with your marketing efforts. If you track this number over time, you can view your follower growth pattern.

Next, let’s click on the Analytics drop down, to find “Followers.”

Here is where you’ll be able to figure out who your followers are. Next to follower demographics is a dropdown, this is where you can sort your followers based on job function, country, region, industry, etc. This will help you determine if you’re attracting your target audience.

Next, we want to go back up to the Analytics drop down, to find “Updates.” Each platform will offer an analytics area on the business page.

Here is where you’ll be able to find, based on specific posts, how each performed (post type, impressions, clicks, likes, comments, shares, engagement rate). By taking note of this information, you can see which types of posts are working better than others and create strategies for your future marketing efforts based on the performance measured. What type of posts do your followers like, comment or share – determine that and then do more of that!

Last thing on our spreadsheet, is analyzing referral traffic to see how much traffic social media is driving to your website (if you have one). You can do this in Google Analytics. Go to your website’s Google Analytics dashboard and click Acquisition > Social > Network Referrals. On this page, you can see the amount of traffic you’re receiving from the various social media networks.

Once you’re in a good place with your spreadsheet, taking note of all the pieces we mentioned above and update regularly.

Promotion

Your ability to reach your customer base has never been easier as everyone is on social media these days, certainly more than most of us should be. But, hey we are in a pandemic so let’s give them something else to read and learn about your business while they are scrolling.

If you have a business where you can promote an event, use the event feature to do so. This helps your followers and others see the event when someone clicks interested or shares the event. Be sure to schedule well in advance of your event so you can obtain attendees through this feature.

Do you have a special to offer? Two slices of pizza for the price of one? If so, you can use the boost post feature to target your audience and view results of the campaign once it has completed. Overtime, you will learn what has worked and what hasn’t. This works well if your budget is tight and want to promote a special or offer on the cheap.

When someone likes a boosted post or paid advertisement, when you receive the notification, invite them to like your page. This increases your followers with people who are already engaging with your content. They have begun the journey in becoming a customer – just what you were hoping for right!

Not always pleasant but It is important to read and respond to both positive and negative reviews – thank the person leaving the review or resolve any comments/issues that may have been left. Please do not ignore negative reviews, it is a great time to look at the “why” behind that negative review and either learn from it or in the very least post a response so others can see you are listening and even more importantly acknowledging.

Another helpful tip is to follow and share other local businesses so you can cross promote one another. This works great when the business work together promoting one another as you can reach an extended audience. I have seen some pretty amazing collaborations out there.

Above all, keep your content fresh and of interest to your followers! They love images, so be sure to include them in your posts.

In closing, I would like to say thanks for all you do out there to keep our local communities prospering even in these challenging times. We appreciate YOU and we need you!!

Have questions? Feel free to leave comments or call me anytime at Country Bank.

[Ref: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-assess-your-linkedin-company-page-performance/]

The Boston Business Journal has named Country Bank an honoree in its annual 2020 Corporate Citizenship Awards, a recognition of the region’s top corporate charitable contributors.

The Business Journal annually publishes this list to showcase companies that promote and prioritize giving back to their communities — a feat that is even more important during times of turmoil and crisis like we have experienced in 2020.

“During a year filled with unprecedented events and change, it’s incredible to think that the Boston Business Journal’s Corporate Charitable Contributors list is the largest we have ever compiled. These companies give back at least $100,000 to the local community, and now we are in a time when giving back and helping one another is more important than ever,” said Boston Business Journal Market President and Publisher Carolyn Jones. “These philanthropic companies prioritize the welfare of our communities, and we are excited to be able to honor them.”

This year 107 companies — a record number — have qualified for the distinction by reporting at least $100,000 in cash contributions to Massachusetts-based charities and social-service nonprofits last year. The honorees this year include companies from health care, technology, financial and professional services, retail, professional sports and more. This year’s list grew by two honorees compared with last year.

Top corporate contributors such as Country Bank, which in many instances include corporations and their charitable foundations, will be honored at the BBJ’s 15th Annual Corporate Citizenship Awards on Sept. 10, a celebration of honorees that will be virtual to ensure everyone’s health and safety.

For more information on the event and how to register to attend, click here.

Country Bank Recognizes Community Heroes

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Pandemic Lessons

President and CEO of Country Bank, Paul Scully, joined BusinessWest and banking leaders throughout our region to discuss the future of banking amidst the global pandemic.

“Many people who have long resisted online banking are singing a different tune”, said Paul Scully, president of Country Bank.

“Customers, just because of the nature of the pandemic, with people staying at home, started exploring technology,” he noted. “An amazing number of people are using technology who, for a number of years, fought it.”

In most cases, it’s just a matter of breaking old habits, Scully said — “and old habits are comfortable habits. But I think people are becoming better acclimated to technology and getting over their fears. There are still people who think, ‘I have to go into the bank to make that transaction because what if the money doesn’t get there?’ But as an industry and as a bank, we’ve been able to alleviate the concerns some people have.”

Click here to view the full article

InsightTimer: This free app offers guided meditation, meditation music, and more!

Sleep guidelines during COVID-19*

In spite of the daunting challenges, there are a handful of steps that can promote better sleep during the coronavirus pandemic.

If these efforts don’t pay off immediately, don’t give up. It can take time to stabilize your sleep, and you may find that you need to adapt these suggestions to best fit your specific situation.

Set Your Schedule and Routine

Establishing a routine can facilitate a sense of normalcy even in abnormal times. It’s easier for your mind and body to acclimate to a consistent sleep schedule, which is why health experts have long recommended avoiding major variation in your daily sleep times.

Sleep-specific aspects of your daily schedule should include:

• Wake-Up Time: Set your alarm, bypass the snooze button, and have a fixed time to get every day started.
• Wind-Down Time: This is an important time to relax and get ready for bed. It can involve things like light reading, stretching, and meditating along with preparations for bed like putting on pajamas and brushing your teeth. Given the stress of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s wise to give yourself extra wind-down time each night.
• Bedtime: Pick a consistent time to actually turn out the lights and try to fall asleep.

In addition to time spent sleeping and getting ready for bed, it can be helpful to incorporate steady routines to provide time cues throughout the day, including:

• Showering and getting dressed even if you aren’t leaving the house.
• Eating meals at the same time each day.
• Blocking off specific time periods for work and exercise.

Reserve Your Bed For Sleep

Sleep experts emphasize the importance of creating an association in your mind between your bed and sleep. For this reason, they recommend that sleep and sex be the only activities that take place in your bed.

This means that working-from-home shouldn’t be working-from-bed. It also means avoiding bringing a laptop into bed to watch a movie or series.

On any given night, if you find that you’re having a hard time sleeping, don’t spend more than 20 minutes tossing and turning. Instead, get out of bed and do something relaxing in very low light, and then head back to bed to try to fall asleep.

Frequently changing your sheets, fluffing your pillows, and making your bed can keep your bed feeling fresh, creating a comfortable and inviting setting to doze off.

See the Light

Exposure to light plays a crucial role in helping our bodies regulate sleep in a healthy way. As you deal with disruptions to daily life, you may need to take steps so that light-based cues have a positive effect on your circadian rhythm.

• If you can, spend some time outside in natural light. Even if the sun isn’t shining brightly, natural light still has positive effects on circadian rhythm. Many people find outdoor time is most beneficial in the morning, and as an added bonus, it’s an opportunity to get fresh air.
• As much as possible, open windows and blinds to let light into your home during the day.
• Be mindful of screen time. The blue light produced by electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, and computers, has been found to interfere with the body’s natural sleep-promoting processes. As much as possible, avoid using these devices for an hour before bed. You can also use device settings or special apps that reduce or filter blue light.

Be Careful with Naps

If you’re home all day, you may be tempted to take more naps. While a short power nap early in the afternoon can be useful to some people, it’s best to avoid long naps or naps later in the day that can hinder nighttime sleep.

Stay Active

It’s easy to overlook exercise with everything happening in the world, but regular daily activity has numerous important benefits, including for sleep.

If you can go for a walk while maintaining a safe distance from other people, that’s a great option. If not, there is a wealth of resources online for all types and levels of exercise.  Many gyms and yoga and dance studios are live-streaming free classes during this period of social distancing.

Practice Kindness and Foster Connection

It might not seem critical to your sleep, but kindness and connection can reduce stress and its harmful effects on mood and sleep.

Despite all the bad news that you may come across, try to find some positive stories, such as how people are supporting one another through the pandemic. You can use technology to stay in touch with friends and family so that you can maintain social connections despite the need for social distancing.

Utilize Relaxation Techniques

Finding ways to relax can be a potent tool in improving your sleep. Deep breathing, stretching, yoga, mindfulness meditation, calming music, and quiet reading are just a few examples of relaxation techniques that you can build into your routines. If you’re not sure where to get started, check out smartphone apps like Headspace and Calm that have programs designed for people new to meditation.

Another relaxation strategy during this pandemic is to avoid becoming overwhelmed by coronavirus-related news. For example, you can try techniques including:

• Bookmarking one or two trusted news sites and visiting them only during a limited, pre-set amount of time each day.
• Cutting down the total time that you spend scrolling on social media. If you want a hand in this effort, a number of apps can monitor and even block your time on social media sites or apps each day.
• Scheduling phone or video calls with friends and family and agreeing in advance to focus on topics other than the coronavirus.

Watch What You Eat and Drink

Keeping a healthy diet can promote good sleep. In particular, be cautious with the intake of alcohol and caffeine, especially later in the day, as both can disrupt the quantity and quality of your sleep.

Contact Your Doctor if Necessary

If you have severe or worsening sleep or other health problems, it is advisable to be in touch with your doctor. Many doctors are increasing availability via email or telemedicine to allow patients to discuss concerns without having to physically visit their office.

*https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-guidelines-covid-19-isolation