Lizzie Schreier needed to get crap done.

To do so required her to be determined, vocal, understanding, and brilliant—all characteristics that also made her presentation one of the most popular at the eMetrics conference in Washington, D.C. this week. In 50 minutes, Schreier explained how she went from “mission impossible” to “mission accomplished.”

When she joined Allstate Insurance as senior internet marketing strategist in 2006, the company’s Web conversion—that is, just getting visitors to request a quote, not even closing the deal—rate was a dismal 20 percent. Moreover, Allstate’s search engine ranking was on the ninth page.

Part of the problem, she said bluntly, was that “Allstate is a very siloed organization.” The company was selling through its 14,000 agents and content updates were only as quick as the Web masters were able to make the change [Read about marketing and technology alignment in Marketers Need Technology to Step Up.]

The room was impressed as Schreier said she was able to improve conversions to 90 percent and move Allstate’s SEO ranking from the ninth page to the second spot. (In my search just now for “automotive insurance,” Allstate came up below the fold in sixth place, but that ain’t bad either.) How long it took for Schreier to achieve this, I’m not sure, but from what it seems, not very long: Schreier said she laughed a “perhaps disrespectful amount of time” when senior management said that the date of the site relaunch would be in 18 months.

For some, this achievement may have been enough, but Schreier said that you’re never really “done.” If you call it a day and walk away, people inevitably revert back to their old ways rather than enhancing upon the progress that’s been achieved. Perseverance enabled Allstate to continue to see site improvements with increased SEO rankings and conversions in (as reported by Web analytic consultant June Li):

• Agent Locator (44 percent);
• Quotes (104 percent);
• Calls (207 percent);
• Auto section (96 percent); and
• Property Section (47 percent).

So Schreier continued to fight. Other than having to keep the global header and footer, she got technology to relinquish the Web site, giving business 90 percent ownership (Schreier would go on to fight for, and win, the remaining 10 percent). As a result, site updates were deployed in real-time and established brand consistency nationwide.

When the company began to embark on a social media initiative, Schreier faced a challenge familiar to many Web marketers. “We started with writing a business case,” she said, jokingly adding that “you have to write a business case to even go to the bathroom—which I got approved!” Needless to say, Shreier won her battle, getting Allstate actively involved in 26 social media channels from topic forums to Twitter to Facebook within one year.

Lessons Shreier learned:

• People have long memories: When you’ve made a disruptive impact on the company, people remember and they’ll go to you when they need your help.
• Understand the culture: “It’s very important to understand and respect the culture,” she said. “But by no means am I implying that you need to follow it.” Instead, find ways to work through the culture.
• Battle picking: When someone wins the battle, it’s a big deal.
• Partner picking: Vendors, she said, shouldn’t be called “vendors.” They should be your partner, otherwise, you’re just another customer in their eyes.
• People picking: Get the right team.

Tips for getting Legal and Leadership support

• Do your homework: Ask questions and listen to the concerns, issues, special circumstances that make Legal resistant toward new ventures like social media.
• Educate: Now that they’ve educated you, it’s your turn to take what they’ve told you and educate them.
• Customize the language: Schreier avoids using the term “social media” because legal and immediately begins to sweat. Instead, she’s opted for the term, “content syndication for organic search.” Because really, she said, that’s all it is.
• Walk before you run: Take baby steps and succeed with success. Schreier started with topic forums, the progressed to Twitter, then Facebook, then podcasts—leading up to 26 outlets within a year.
• Prove, communicate, enhance, repeat: Work with Legal and walk together every step of the way.

Watch a video from BlogWell (January 2009): “Getting Started in Social Media Without Freaking Out Legal, Leadership, or Liability Teams in Your Organization.”