As Social Media Manager for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), Shannon manages the integration of social media and SEO/SEM into public relations, marketing, advertising, web strategy, community relations and customer service, getting her hands dirty on the details in each and every initiative. Prior to joining Michigan Blue Cross, Shannon was the head of social media for the online division of PEAK6, a privately held financial services company, and created the first social media strategy for the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings, which included the launch of the team's blog and Twitter profile. Shannon’s personal blog has appeared on the Advertising Age Power 150 and she has been named to Lee Odden’s 25 Women who Rock Social Media List, speaks regularly at social media conferences and webinars, and has been resourced by the AtlanticWire, InformationWeek, SmartBrief and MarketingProfs, among others. When Shannon joined BCBSM, AHealthierMichigan.org, was housed on a costly community platform, had meager engagement, inconsistent content and relied heavily on ads to drive traffic. Today the site features a simpler, easier-to-maintain platform and an organic, sustainable approach to garnering site traffic and engagement. Despite the elimination of online advertising, site loyalty and engagement grew by 229% in 2011 through an organic social media and blog content campaign – all without increasing her budget. Thanks to Shannon’s vision, the site is on its way to making Michigan healthier, while growing trust and loyalty in the brand and engaging consumers in new ways online. But, AHealthierMichigan is just a small part of Shannon’s daily activity. She manages a wide array of successful programs speaking to diverse audiences, all while being deeply involved in the details and execution of each program. Just a few of her many roles include serving as editor for a team of writers for two blogs, managing multiple Twitter handles, paid search campaigns, site redesigns and SEO, handling all online crisis communications and acting as community manager for a curated LinkedIn group and multiple Facebook properties. Shannon helped bring BCBSM, a 7,000+ employee company, from social media 1.0 into the modern age of digital, finding ways to leverage social channels to address BCBSM’s wide array of consumers and stakeholders, and using heavy analytics to drive program improvement, best practices, and, ultimately, successful programs. Some of her successes include: Getting AHealthierMichigan.org from roughly 9,000 pageviews in January, 2011 to more than 58,000 pageviews in January, 2012. The blog was also a finalist in SocialFresh.com’s top 10 Corporate Blogs list 2011 Creating a LinkedIn group targeting small-midsized business healthcare decision makers and influencers, and growing that group to more than 130 members in less than 6 months Launching a 30-day holiday giveaway program in 2011 on BCBSM’s Facebook page that quadrupled traffic over 2 months to the BCBSM HealthyBlueXtras.com site In coordination with internal communications teams and event efforts, Shannon has helped to make BCBSM one of the Crain’s Detroit Business’s 10 Cool Places to Work
A Healthier Michigan consumer blog: http://www.ahealthiermichigan.org/ Blues Perspectives corporate blog: http://bcbsmblog.com/ Leading Michigan to a Healthier Future LinkedIn Group (request to join): http://linkd.in/LeadingMI A Healthier Michigan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/healthierMI BCBSM on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/bcbsm A Healthier Michigan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HealthierMI BCBSM on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BCBSM Shannon Paul’s personal blog: http://veryofficialblog.com/
