Social marketing tips for financial institutions

Does restoring consumers’ trust start with engaging them on Twitter and Facebook?

A number of consumer brands have proven that well-constructed social marketing strategies are effective ways to gather intelligence, drive engagement and generate sales. But as the rise of social media coincided with an historic decline in consumers’ confidence in banks, many financial institutions have been burned by their attempts at social marketing.

That’s not to say consumers don’t expect financial institutions to have a social media presence—or that they can’t equally benefit from social marketing strategies. From March 22–26, Media Logic surveyed the social media efforts of 35 U.S. financial institutions and, based upon the findings, has provided the financial services industry some tips to make the plunge into social marketing less scary and more successful.

Think strategies, not tactics

Social marketing is still too often discussed as a set of platforms. “What are we doing on Facebook?” “What are we doing with Twitter?” “Should we launch a blog?” But Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social platforms are just means to an end.