Financial Institutions Have to Step Up to Social Media

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I don’t remember when I got my first piggy bank, but I must have been really young. I do remember my first savings account, I was in second grade and a bank representative came to our school to talk about savings, I still have that account, and a couple more.

Times have changed and now with the growing number of banks, their marketers are having to compete with others for attention… sound familiar? This competition has spawned some interesting approaches; one that I recently heard of was a bank that sponsored a concert targeting teens. More than 400 teens attended the concert; but only 24 of them opened savings accounts (the point of the event.) Unfortunately there was little connection between the bank and the event.

One of my neighbors runs marketing for a credit union; his team is part of a coalition focused on educating youth on the virtues of saving. Their site is phenomenal – it has calculators, games, stories, testimonials and quizzes to engage users; but they get maybe a dozen hits a month are will likely shut down the site.

The concert and the site are creative approaches but they miss the mark when it comes to association – none of the teens targeted wanted to be forced to go to a non-traditional channel. One possible way to strengthen the connection would be through the social networking power of Facebook… yes, it’s a non-traditional channel for some marketers, but the target market is very familiar with the site.

Ease into the process, maybe start with advertising within your zip codes. Another approach would be to create a bank’s profile to post upcoming events, tips etc.

Be Prepared
The immediate reaction of most, is a negative perception of Facebook, particularly that of upper management. When you present your case be sure that you have a privacy policy, a procedure document, and a plan to engage the young consumer.

My neighbor has since moved his educational site over to social media. He has put all of this information up on a blog and drives traffic to his social site by engaging with youth on Facebook, via Twitter, and a few people do drop in via MySpace.

By having your page on Social Media, you’re marketing to you future customer, your emerging market … maybe without cost. Sure there are risks in this approach but it is becoming even more mainstream and financial institutions cannot sit on the sidelines. Just be careful, choose your friends wisely and make sure your offering is in line with your brand after all, it’s just another medium.