Published by Alan Maginn on 12 Nov 2008 at 05:50 pm
optionsXpress Incorporates Social Media Into Trading Quotient Sitelet
In our latest e-Monitor Update (subscription required), we highlighted the new optionsXpress Trading Quotient sitelet which features an aptitude test investors can use to evaluate their trading and investing knowledge. While they can choose to keep their test score to themselves, investors are also provided a number of tools that allow them to share or compare their score with their peers.
- Groups - Users can join groups in one of three categories - NFL Fans, Political Affiliation and State of Residence. Members’s scores are averaged together and displayed to the rest of the community.
- Challenge a Friend - Registered users can challenge anyone they know to take the test and compare their scores through an onsite email service. While the email is supposed to include the original user’s score, we found that this important piece of information was missing from our email.
- Bookmarking on Social Networks - Users can also bookmark the test or post a Trading Quotient badge on a number of popular social networking sites like Facebook, Technorati and Deli.cio.us or their personal blog.
While the social media aspect of the Trading Quotient sitelet is not central to its design, it does highlight an interesting way firms can use these features to promote a service and extend their brand. It also highlights the continued development of optionsXpress’s social media strategy; the firm also provides a message board, as well as a pair of expert blogs.
Interested in learning more about the social media strategies of brokerages like optionsXpress or the rest of the financial services industry? If so, you should read our Social Media: Trends and Tactics in the Financial Services Industry report, which we published a few weeks ago. The 183-page report is the industry’s first comprehensive analysis of everything that’s happening in social media and financial services today. For more information about it, contact Jaclyn Silverberg at jsilverberg@corporateinsight.com or by phone at 212-832-2002 x.127.
