Banking and Social Media Strategies

Social media strategies for banking can be difficult because while we all like money, most of us don’t like hearing about the bad or boring parts of it. Especially while relaxing and scrolling through our social media feeds, that is. So how do companies that have to talk about these topics advertise? While discussing these topics can be difficult, there are specific actions you can take to step up your game as a banking company on social media. Through this article, you will learn the best social media bank tactics so you can create a bank marketing strategy.

social media strategies for banking

How to Get Started With a Bank Social Media Marketing Plan

If this is your first time marketing your financial services on a social media platform, it can be a daunting challenge to get started. With so many site options on digital media and ways to utilize them, beginning your social marketing journey is understandably hard. So where should you start? One concrete first step to take is identifying which social platforms are right for your brand. Different potential customers are on different platforms.

Analyze Your Brand

In order to do this, you first have to analyze your brand. Think about this process like any other marketing experience; what will be best for your business? Who are the competitors in this field, and is what they are doing working? What are our strengths and weaknesses? How do we communicate with our target audience, and which platform fits this style best? Questions like these can help you understand how to begin using social media as a marketing tool and give you a great place to start.

Considerations for Banking

When setting up a social media account for a bank or financial institution, certain sites are more common than others. For example, many banking companies will have at least a Facebook and LinkedIn account. These sites could be a great place to start for your brand, as they offer broad, professional audiences. Just because these sites are commonly used for this industry does not mean you should end your research there. Depending on your specific brand, another option may work even better. Twitter is a great site for providing updates, and Instagram allows you to highlight physical aspects of your brand. Remember, always know your brand and consider what is best for you, not anyone else. A good way to determine which is the best platform for you is to find out which platforms your existings customers already use.

banking

Building Your Profile

Evaluating your brand and deciding on the best platform for it is only part of the fight. Once you have decided on this information, you need to determine how to best reach your audience. This can be done through optimization and use of social strategies, which are necessary components regardless of what you are advertising. Before we can discuss these steps, though, we have to cover the basics first.

Setting Up Your Banking Account

No matter what social site you have decided to focus on, many of the basic components are the same. The standard layout of your profile usually includes a photo, biography, links, location, and so on. In order to get you started on the right foot, look through the following suggestions for starting out your social media page to provide an excellent customer experience.

  • Profile photo– This spot is usually filled by a brand logo, or iteration of your logo based on a promotion. Regardless of what you choose, this will represent what people think of when they see your brand name, so pick carefully!
  • Biography– Limited to a low number of characters, you have to be selective when deciding what information to include in your biography. For a bank, you may consider including financial information, a slogan, or a call to action.
  • Contact information– A necessary part of your social media profile is your contact or important information section. Be sure to include your bank’s location, business phone number, customer service information, and other contact information.
  • Links– Social media is many times the front page of your brand, and is also used to introduce your brand to new consumers. This space can be used to direct visitors to your website, app, other social or websites, and so on. Most platforms only allow one link to be displayed at a time, so be intentional with your choice!

Choosing a Strategy

Now that we have covered the basics of starting your social media page, we can move on to covering social media marketing tactics. Remember, the list above is just a starting point, and more work is required to differentiate your profile. Consider specifying your business’ industry or displaying highlights on your profile page if your platform offers these options. When choosing a strategy for your social media page, you should approach the situation like you are starting any marketing campaign. First, begin by analyzing what your business needs at the time and how you want to go about solving this issue. Do you need to spread awareness about your brand, or do you need people to go to your website?

Brand Identity

Always make sure to consider your brand voice and image. Social media is just another part of your marketing strategy, so it should represent your brand how any other tool would. When considering how your brand is portrayed to your audience, think about how this relates to marketing on social media and how you will communicate your ideas. For example, as a banking company, consumers may expect you to be professional and polite in every encounter you have with them. To avoid confusing the consumer or letting them down, be consistent in your actions and pick a strategy that compliments this style of communication.

Social Media Selection

Think about the social platform you have chosen and how to best introduce your strategy on that site. Each social media site has its own advantages, and using them correctly can boost your marketing efficiency. Sticking with our example from earlier, as a banking account you may have a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn has its own unique direct message-based advertising strategy that you can’t use anywhere else. Consider crafting professional and personalized messages to send to prospective consumers to drive conversions.

bank

Social Media Strategies for Banking

You now have everything you need to get started on executing your social media strategy. Consider the following social media engagement tactics when designing your strategy for your banking social media page!

Capitalize on Events & Holidays

A simple and effective way to connect and relate with social media strategies for banking is to make posts about popular events related to your brand. While there are not many exciting banking-related events to highlight, events that are relevant to every brand and person are holidays. Celebrating holidays in the place of your business opens the possibility for increased engagement and sharing of your profile.

Incentivize

You can increase these chances even further by adding incentives to your post, too. Holidays are usually times for celebration and gift giving, and there is no reason banks can’t get in on the fun too! Offering the chance to win a prize in exchange for engaging with your posts can be a great improvement to your post’s effectiveness. Not only does this expose your brand to a wider audience by influencing action, but it also helps create a positive image of your brand in your consumer’s mind.

Highlight Your Employees

Brands thrive off of loyalty, and who is more loyal to your company than a long time employee? Done responsibly, highlighting employee milestones, birthdays, and achievements, are some of many social media engagement tactics that foster a healthy work environment too.

Building Interest from Within 

Many times, the issues with advertising less exciting topics is the lack of interest in sharing posts between viewers. Celebrating your employees and giving them a spotlight can be an exciting thing for them, increasing the chance they will share your post to other users. This also opens the opportunity for their friends, family, and colleagues to further share the post, creating a much larger audience than before and spreading brand awareness. Sharing achievements by employees can also bode well for your brand image and employee relations.

bank employee

Educate your Audience

As a bank, you may not have the bold and creative side to your brand that is so useful for creating content. What you do have, though, is access to valuable information that people can utilize in their everyday lives. One of the main topics that people want to learn more about is, in fact, money! Since creating content that is relevant to your brand is so important when posting on social media, discussing financial information is perfect for banks. While this knowledge is important, many people still lack basic information on how finances and banking works. Creating easy to understand and appealing graphics paired with the valuable knowledge a bank can offer makes for some of the most shareable posts available. Consider making posts about credit & credit cards, saving money, mortgages, and financing cars.

Share Charity & Community Work

Banks are more than just savings accounts and digital banking options. Accountability is another important part of advertising on social media. People pay close attention to brands and their everyday actions, so making sure you cover all of your bases is necessary. Giving back to the less fortunate and local communities is important regardless of your social strategy, but making posts about it can help your social presence.

Authenticity is Key

Charity and community work posts attract a lot of attention and engagement. From people admiring your work to relating with it, or even being a part of it, everyone loves some good-hearted content. Just like highlighting your employees, sharing community work can give your brand a good image and help increase engagement. However, always be sure to be authentic in these posts. Lying about or embellishing your heart-felt work can lead to even more problems than not posting about it at all.

social media bank

Still No Success?

Social media strategies for banking can be a struggle, regardless of your industry or brand. If you are still struggling to see results from our social media engagement tactics, do not worry! Success comes with time and learning from your past efforts, so don’t give up right away. In addition to social media marketing, content marketing is another great option for banks. If you would like professional help marketing on your platform to increase your success, make sure to reach out to our team here at SEO Design Chicago.

FAQ:

  • What are some good social media strategies for banking?
  • How can I market my bank?
  • How to improve branding for my bank?
  • Which social media platforms should a bank focus on?
  • How to set up a bank social media page?

Contact Us Today!


Call Now