By Emma Fitzpatrick
With all the data out there, you constantly check your bank’s analytics. How many likes did you get today? How many new followers?
And while that’s certainly satisfying to do, some numbers could tell you more—numbers that you’ve been ignoring. How many followers are you losing every week, month, or quarter?
Think about all the time, money, and pizazz you pour into growing your social audience. Now imagine what’s happening once they get there and discover your bank isn’t what they thought.
In fact, each time you post about a “cool new service” you added, or another reason people just love your bank, you’re irritating your followers—inducing eye rolls and sighs that make their fingers hover over the “unfollow” button.
Read on to see if your bank is unknowingly annoying your social followers.
The top 5 ways you may be annoying your followers (and how to stop).
Note: All data unless otherwise specified is from Q3 Sprout Social data.
1. Too much promoting.
Problem: Promotions on social seem like a positive, and generally they are. Nearly 60% of people follow a bank or brand because they want deals. But, interestingly enough, seeing too much promotional content is also what annoys people the most and causes them to unfollow. What’s a bank to do?
Solution: This one is tricky, but you can succeed—if you get the ratio right on your social editorial calendar. Try using the 80/20 rule. Allocate 20% of social content to sharing bank content that has corresponding calls-to-actions. The other 80% of content should interest and provide value to your followers. This content should be about them, not you.
2. Jargon or slang.
Problem: Nearly 40% of users hate it when you use jargon and slang. In the banking industry, it is easy (and tempting even) to use industry-specific terms in social content. But, the more you use jargon, the more you may isolate your followers by making them feel out of the loop, or even stupid.
Solution: Err on the side of caution, and avoid using jargon whenever you can. As far as slang goes, if you would be uncomfortable saying the term out loud, don’t put it in your content. It won’t be woke or lit and will likely annoy your fam. Soon they’ll be calling you “extra” and hitting unfollow.
3. Lack of personality.
Problem: Accounts that show no personality annoy 35% of social users. People go out of their way to follow and connect with your bank—only to be greeted with content that has no brand voice or personality. How boring.
Solution: Social can humanize your bank. But, if it sounds like your content could have been written by any bank out there, you aren’t maximizing it. Your social content should set you apart from the crowd and your competitors. When writing your posts, keep your brand words in mind, and before posting, make sure every post embodies those brand words.
4. A false sense of humor.
Problem: On the flip side, a third of social users are annoyed when banks and brands try to be funny and aren’t. Jokes that fall flat repeatedly will cause users to cringe and unfollow. Ouch—a swing a miss.
Solution: 50% of people follow a brand because they want entertainment. Humor and laughter can make followers love your bank and engage with your content. For humor to work, though, you must know your target audience incredibly well. Try A/B testing funny social posts to targeted audience subsets. The more you can slice and dice, the more effective your humorous content will be.
5. Ignoring followers.
Problem: 25% of people are annoyed when you don’t respond to their messages. This one is simple. No one likes being ignored—especially on platforms built for two-way conversations.
Solution: On social, your goal is to connect with your customers, and that entails responding when they ask you a question or send you a message. Yes, this is time-consuming, but it is worth it. Create a system that allows you to quickly and efficiently respond to customer inquiries on social. Luckily, we created a guide to help you do just that.
Emma Fitzpatrick is a Philly-based freelance writer and marketer, whose specialties include content marketing, social media marketing, and short, snappy writing. Pick her brain at emma.l.fitzpatrick@gmail.com.
