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Enough about social media in financial services already! While some of us may not love it, at the very least we must learn to tolerate it. As we all know, tolerance requires understanding – and that means starting with your audience. These hints will help different sectors understand who they might want to engage with – and how.
The financial services sector can no longer dismiss the popularity and power of social media.
Establishing a presence on social media allows businesses to communicate directly with their existing customers and potential prospects. Being highly visible also allows organisations to remain up to date with trends, needs and concerns and can promptly respond to matters concerning brand reputation.
Most financial services organisations now know there is a vast pool of largely untapped customers and prospects online, chatting about a range of topics, including financial matters. It is the organisations which are prepared to enter these forums of information and opinion trading that will experience the best results: building trust, relationships and brand awareness, gaining ownership of their images and being able to develop and distribute the kind of content that sets them apart from their competitors
Having established that setting out on the social media path is a must, it’s also important to understand that a one-size-fits-all social media strategy will not work. That’s because of the different target audiences of various financial services organisations. Information that might be applicable to members of a superannuation fund will differ widely from that which resonates with the clients and prospects of wealth managers. In turn, the social media platforms each type of organisation uses might differ according to each audience.
Before setting up your social media strategy, you’ll need to assess where you target audiences get their information before selecting the social media platforms to use and the information you might want to share on them.
To help get you started, here we share some basic suggestions that apply to four different kinds of financial services organisations:
Superannuation funds
Audience: Super fund members – this audience remains a priority for super funds to encourage members to take action and make decisions to maximise their retirement savings.
Platforms: Twitter and Facebook
Content: Actionable information that connects members more closely with their super, plain English explanation of the practical impact of regulatory change, news about product innovation, performance results, new tools or interactive devices
Fund managers
Audience: Investors and potential investors
Platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
Content: Share asset trend reports, market commentary, fund information
Insurance (life)
Audience: Customers and potential customers – don’t just talk to your customers when they experience a significant life change, engage with them consistently to build trust
Platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
Content: Product updates, case studies, facts / tips on life events (ie. jobs, weddings, children etc)
Wealth managers
Audience: Clients, prospects and other advisers
Platforms: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook
Content: Industry commentary, regulatory change, media releases, events, general financial advice tips
As with all social media strategies, having a policy and guidelines around the use of each channel before you start is a must. This not only helps safeguard your reputation – it also helps you gain maximum benefit for your efforts. Because it’s not all about the risks – it’s also about the opportunities.
BlueChip has developed a free, downloadable Online Reputation Checklist to help you get started. Our checklist covers setting up, establishing a digital footprint and engaging with customers through to tracking and monitoring key stakeholders.
