By Justin Smorawske
Take a deep-dive into social media tactics for your bank.
As you probably already know, Facebook is king when it comes to social media. Hate it or love it, you simply cannot argue with the numbers. The facts and figures certainly stack up:
- 1.94 billion active users per month
- 5 new profiles created every second
- 510,000 comments posted, 293,000 statuses updated and 136,000 photos uploaded every minute
But we’re not here to talk just Facebook. This is about how all those other platforms are prime for bank marketer usage.
Since you are likely already on Facebook, it is a must that you get on Instagram as well. With Facebook ownership over Instagram, the platforms work extremely well together, especially when it comes to paid media and the convenience of having everything you need all in one place. It makes getting your messages out to your target audiences much easier. This is also going to be your in with the younger demographic—59% of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 29, and they are highly active on the platform.
So go snap a couple of photos, throw a nice filter on it and get to #hashtagging. Show your products in action (and, for that matter, your team in action out in the community). Make use of burgeoning formats, like Facebook/Instagram carousel ads.
But isn’t Twitter dying? Well, it isn’t dead just yet. It’s just being somewhat overshadowed by some other up-and-coming platforms. But 328 million active users is nothing to overlook. This is still going to be an excellent method of getting your messaging in front of those who like to be instantly up to date with everything you are up to. You’ll find that Twitter users are very engaged and are unafraid to use the platform to ask questions of businesses. Use this to your benefit—it’s a great way to start one-on-one conversations with your customers.
If you haven’t implemented live chat functionality on your site, consider opening up your Twitter account as a way for customers to keep in touch with you about non-sensitive customer questions, such as product information, troubleshooting your web portal, or focus-grouping new mobile app features.
When it comes to Pinterest, you probably assume that since your bank has nothing to do with repurposing old pallets, making crafts, or assembling upscale salads in Mason jars, that it’s of no use to you. But there is an untapped market in Pinterest that you can engage. With 81% of active users being female, you should make use of this via a highly focused implementation strategy. Use this information to start pinning product-related items that are going to appeal to your female audience.
Consider content such as tips on how to save money, amazing piggy bank designs to help encourage children to save money, or dream homes to get the ideas flowing for potential mortgage loans.
Snapchat
The new kid on the block that everyone wants to be friends with—it’s Snapchat. It’s made leaps and bounds over the last couple of years and is becoming more and more of a juggernaut in the digital marketing space. Snapchat is also one of the trickier platforms to handle for a bank marketer. It needs to be moderated by someone who is familiar with the platform and who knows when it’s most advantageous to use it. Unlike other social channels in which you can draft and schedule posts to go out, Snapchat is all about immediacy and doesn’t allow for pre-scheduling.
Luckily, you can make use of Snapchat in fun, creative ways that are sure to impress your customers and followers. Introducing geofilters. For your next event hosted at a branch, create a custom geofilter that can only be accessed if you are in the designated area of the event. These custom graphic overlays are applied to a Snap after the photo is taken and can show each user’s followers that they are participating in a desirable special event.
The best part? These geofilters are typically dirt-cheap and well within a bank marketer’s budget. You must geofence your filter between 20,000 and 5 million square feet—often these can be purchased for considerably less than $20, and can gain thousands of views and a huge return on investment.
Build your presence.
There is a plethora of social media options out there. Knowing which ones to use can be difficult to decipher for a bank marketer. The aforementioned options will be the cornerstones for any successful finance institution’s social presence. If you do choose to engage with any of these platforms, just make sure that you are active—nothing is worse than going to a company page and seeing there hasn’t been activity in weeks.
Justin Smorawske is CMO/Partner at Epicosity, a financial services marketing agency in Sioux Falls, S.D. Epicosity has a keen insight into making the most of social platforms with its expertise in creative development, digital strategy, video production, website development and public relations. Contact: [email protected]
