The rewards of maintaining a thriving social media presence are hard to quantify.
But many banks believe the effort is worth it. The American Bankers Association's latest State of Social Media in Banking report, which was publicly released on September 12, found that 88% of the 330-plus banks surveyed considered themselves "very" or "somewhat" active on social media platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn,
"Banks are active on social media for a lot of reasons. At this point in time, they really need to be in order to demonstrate brand credibility," said Brian Reilly, managing director of digital marketing firm BankBound.
The reasons to be on social channels range from community engagement to humanizing the institution to its customers to building awareness of, and deeper relationships with, the brand. Financial institutions also use these networks for more practical reasons, such as broadcasting a new product or winning business leads. Some see social media as a recruiting tool or another avenue for customer service. The report also characterizes this marketing channel as carrying "very little cost."
Still, the survey uncovered pitfalls and concerns, such as maintaining compliance, ensuring employees are well trained and figuring out how "likes" and "shares" translate to concrete business. Plus, "Social media can be a low-cost channel, but without investment it will also likely be a low-performing channel," said Reilly. "An effective social media strategy will require people, software, a lot of time and ongoing advertising dollars to accelerate performance."
Misinformation is one risk that is hard for banks to control. Some observers point to the
"Banks need to invest more in social media training to help executives, middle managers and employees learn how to handle these types of firestorm situations," said Lincoln Parks, co-founder of digital marketing firm Lincoln James, in a May
An academic paper establishes a link between tweets about withdrawing money and the bank's collapse.
Regina DeMars, the director of content marketing and social media strategy at First National Bank of Omaha, or FNBO, runs a six-person team. They manage the $29 billion-asset bank's branded social media channels, brand ambassador program,
DeMars' main goals are to humanize the brand and bolster relationships with customers.
"We want to provide value-added content to our followers that connects with them on a personal level, so we're top of mind when they're looking to start a banking relationship or expanding on an existing relationship," she said.
That includes dispensing financial advice through its Cashology online community, including via YouTube videos and a Facebook group, and showcasing customer stories, such as
Some banks stick to spotlighting community events or employee activities to sidestep compliance concerns.
Eighty-four percent of banks surveyed reported that regulators reviewed their use of social media in their last exam. Their biggest focus was policies and procedures, where financial institutions have room for improvement. Although more than 90% of respondents said their banks have written social media policies and procedures in place, 40% labeled their bank's training as average or poor.
Reilly says that any brand using social media should ensure employees are properly trained, that a board-approved social media policy is updated annually and that processes are thoroughly documented. Forty percent of respondents turn to third-party software that helps monitor or manage social media content for compliance. One marketing executive quoted in the report, Amber Burge of Flatwater Bank in Gothenburg, Nebraska, said that she claimed social media domains for Flatwater — even if she didn't plan to activate them — to avoid issues with impostors, upon her regulators' advice.
FNBO handles compliance in house. The Omaha, Nebraska, bank holds social media governance meetings to discuss new ideas, runs product-related posts through an approval review process and frequently conducts internal audits to ensure all processes and procedures are being followed.
"We haven't had any concerns from regulators," said DeMars.
Posting consistently can be a lot for small teams to manage. Content can't necessarily be replicated word-for-word across platforms; sometimes it should be tailored to the site's demographics, format or feel. For instance, Eric Helvie, the digital marketing manager of Evolve Bank & Trust in West Memphis, Arkansas, finds that financial education content performs better with its Facebook audience compared to LinkedIn. Conversely, business announcements, partnership agreements and congratulations perform better on LinkedIn.
The $1.5 billion-asset bank's primary focus is LinkedIn. "We consistently perform audience demographic reviews to make sure we are publishing the right content on the right platform," he said.
One creative workaround for small social media teams is to deploy employees as
FNBO has been recruiting brand ambassadors from its employee pool for seven years. The goal is to share tidbits about the bank's products and services in an authentic way.
"We give our brand ambassadors trendy swag and content ideas and they run with it," said DeMars. "It is a very cost-effective way to extend our reach across our markets."
Training employees and investing in slick photography and videography are some of the costs involved in running social media programs. (However, a polished feel is not always necessary — particularly with TikTok.) FNBO regularly recruits local influencers to promote the brand. Banks may also pay for social media management or compliance tools. Sometimes pushing their content to the top of feeds has a price tag.
"Without paid ads, social media will likely remain the lowest performing sales channel for most banks," said Reilly.
Jan Carver, marketing officer at Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank in Woodsville, New Hampshire, told the ABA that she sometimes pays to boost posts on social sites, but rarely more than $200 per month. She uses them sparingly, such as for fraud alerts or items she wants to reach a broader audience.
"They are not vital to our experience on social," she said via email.
Finally, translating the number of followers, comments, retweets or shares into
DeMars agrees it is difficult to measure the impact of FNBO's social media presence. There may be no way to confirm that someone who comments that they intend to become a customer follows through. DeMars tracks engagement, time spent on the site, reach, followers and other metrics. Some campaigns are more easily measurable, such as when influencers insert a tracking link.
Sometimes the results are anecdotal.
Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank, which has $687 million of assets, ran a fraud prevention campaign on social media, including true stories from victims and screenshots of fraud identified by customers.
"I've had people stop me in the grocery store on a number of occasions and comment on a fraud message or story that the bank posted recently," said Carver. "When our social messages get talked about in the real world, I think that's a success."
The ABA report makes clear that concrete results are hard to come by.
"More often the benefits are intangibles — awareness, relationship-building, goodwill — that lead to business wins in ways that are almost impossible to trace or to attribute to social media alone," the report says.
