Comments on: Enthusiasm For Social Media Dampening In Financial Industry

By: Trevor Rasmussen

Trevor Rasmussen — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:53:24 +0000

My opinion is that the reason for this timidness is that they aren’t using social media the right way. Its all about customer service which is a viable reason to use it but there is so much more to it that they are missing out on!

Most banks are using it for awareness building and customer service and ignoring the best way social media can impact the bank: Relationships. With the shrinking impact of branches and the lack of opportunities to touch their customers social media presents the opportunity to build stronger relationships. We have been enlightening quite a few bankers at Deluxe Expo 13 this week and the response has been very strong. Follow #DeluxeExpo on Twitter to keep up on the action!

By: Editor

Editor — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:26:49 +0000

Hi Karen,

Thanks for your comment. The Financial Brand has frequently noted that social media enjoys a much higher rate of success in the B2B space than with retail consumers.

By: karen marchetti

karen marchetti — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:17:55 +0000

I wonder if the survey had asked the “what are you most interested in” question to the business banking audience, what the answer would have been.

We’ve had tremendous success with using social media to promote the latest Content, posted specifically for the small business (banking) audience.

By: Social Media Lessons to be Learned from Financial Cooperatives « Connecting Cooperatives

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:32:59 +0000

[...] within the financial cooperative, or Credit Union, industry. According to the Financial Brand, “retail banking has consistently ranked among the earliest and most aggressive industries to adopt so…”. Never to be outdone by their shareholder-owned competitors, Credit Unions have also been [...]

By: John Siracusa

John Siracusa — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:46:20 +0000

It is very hard. One major reason is that social media forces banks to go far beyond just the marketing department to have any opportunity of success. Many bank marketers continue looking for those out-of-the-box programs and measurements that no longer work in this new social economy. Banks don't have a social media problem, they have marketing "strategy" problems. Here are a few steps that may help. Step 1 if for banks to stop primarily thinking tactically, and start thinking strategy. Step 2 is to understand that this new social economy is about people (social) and not predominately technology (media). Step 3 is to build strategies with every senior manager at the bank, helping build their strategies around connecting with "people" while growing at the same time. Step 4 is to get everyone on board including but not limited to (branch managers). Step 5 is to implement with people in mind. Meaning, talk to people, not focus groups, have personal emails/phone calls/meetings with people, not survey's. Do the "right things" offline to make online (social media work). Finally, banks need to find other things to talk about (other than banking) that can touch peoples hearts and keep them engaged, yet make those people relevant as customers at the same time. Very difficult. But very, very lucrative when done correctly. Make sense?

By: Editor

Editor — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:04:05 +0000

John – No one said social media is “dead.” But it is harder than hell for financial institutions to figure it out. Banks and credit unions are starting to realize they can’t skate through social media with a laissez-faire approach and willy-nilly strategies. It takes a lot of work — more so than most FIs feel like mustering, especially since there’s no guarantee of success even when they do all the hard work.

It’s more complicated and difficult than FIs expected (and were led to believe by consultants/analysts). So many of them are just throwing up their hands, if not throwing in the towel completely. If the ROI was there, things would be different.

By: John Siracusa

John Siracusa — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:35:47 +0000

Social media and banking is not dead at all. What is dead is the typical boiler plate strategies that banks use and have used for decades. Which will all have to change as consumer communication habits have changed with it.

By: Mark Arnold

Mark Arnold — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:47:18 +0000

Is social media dead for banks and credit unions? Not necessarily. But two things are evident: they must develop better ROI for their social media campaigns and they must do a better job of actually providing info consumers really want. One of the best ways to accomplish this is with a defined target audience and community (and hint: it’s not ALL of your customers or members). Consumers are using social media; the question is can retails financial institutions effectively reach them there.