Julie Waddle did not expect her video about Venmo to go viral.
The digital marketing manager at FNB Community Bank filmed a
Bankers across the country are capitalizing on the social media channel. Dunroe, a social media analytics company, tracks more than 1,400 institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Instagram, which CEO Cameron MacNiven says he expects is close to comprehensive. But banks continue to add accounts and to use videos and influencers to boost brand awareness among Instagram’s billion-plus monthly users.
First National Bank of Omaha in Nebraska, for example, has spent seven years honing its strategy. The $26.8 billion-asset bank finds that giveaways of custom boxes or swag get the most engagement. FNBO frequently recruits influencers to build excitement about these products (and the bank) on social media. It nearly doubled its follower count in 2021.
Institutions such as Community Spirit Bank in Red Bay, Alabama, FNB Community Bank in Midwest City, Oklahoma, and First National Bank of Omaha say it’s difficult to calculate how likes and comments translate to new business for the bank. Still, they believe regularly posting community photos and kernels of advice on Instagram helps them reach a younger demographic, humanize the brand and keep the institution top of mind among potential customers or prospective employees.
“Everyone in financial services, banks especially, have been striving to develop a friendlier face,” said Ellie Bamford, global head of media and connections at the brand consulting company R/GA. “Instagram becomes a primary platform where brands feel they can offer that personal human connection.”
Tactics that make Instagram tick
Instagram is like a collection of channels, said Bamford. There are regular photo or video posts, “Stories” that disappear in 24 hours, short-form video “Reels,” and more.
Emphasizing video is one of Bamford’s golden rules when it comes to Instagram. So is testing new Instagram features straight away, because they are prioritized in the algorithm.
Waddle jumped on Instagram’s Reels soon after it debuted for that reason. She regularly browses the social media platform to see what is trending and brainstorm how she can adapt those ideas for the bank. She stars in many of her bank’s videos and records them on her phone.
“Before I post, I try to think, is this relatable to more than just a couple of people and is it something people would share to educate their friends?” she said.
The $575 million-asset FNB accumulated 10,000 new followers on Instagram after Waddle’s Venmo video. It has since lost 2,000, but retains thousands more than before the video went up.
“Our biggest goal is brand awareness,” said Waddle. “It’s so difficult to track accounts or loans opened from a social media post. Someone may see it and open an account three months later when they are in need, but might not remember to say it was because they saw that video.”
Dunroe found that FNB Community Bank had the highest reels “reach rate” for FDIC- (or the Canadian equivalent, CDIC-) insured banks it tracks with a follower count of more than 1,000 between March 2021 and March 2022. It largely attributes this rate to the engagement surrounding the Venmo post.
Emily Mays, the chief administrative officer and senior marketing director at the $182 million-asset Community Spirit, agrees that brand recognition is her biggest focus when posting daily on the bank’s Instagram feed.
“The payoff is, I couldn’t tell you the number of people who say, 'I’ve never been inside your bank and I feel like I know your bank’ or ‘If I went to work for a bank, it would be your bank,’ ” she said.
Mays finds that posts celebrating promotion or a success among employees do particularly well. “Instagram feels like a warmer, more connected place" than other social media platforms "and not driven by so many agendas,” she said.
First National of Omaha has a presence on several social media platforms, but Instagram has seen the largest growth. The major goals are to reach a younger demographic, emphasize the bank’s financial expertise and position the Nebraska bank as an attractive place to work.
Regina DeMars, director of content marketing and social media at First National Bank of Omaha, frequently turns to local
“People seem to respond more when there’s something cool they can visually show online,” she said.
For campaigns around the bank’s themed debit cards, DeMars chooses people who embody the spirit of the card and have a voice in their communities. For example, she recruited college athletes from Nebraska and Colorado, where the bank has a significant presence, to pique their followers' interest in the bank’s collegiate fan cards. When two basketball players posted about the cards on Instagram and Twitter during the NCAA men’s tournament in March, the bank saw a 44% increase in checking account application submissions that week compared to the previous week.
The bank also commissioned a rainbow mural, replete with butterflies and flapping birds, to decorate a brick wall outside Early Bird, a brunch restaurant (and FNBO business customer) in Omaha’s Blackstone District. DeMars was inspired after seeing people line up to pose against a mural of angel wings in Nashville, and recruited the same artist. The project was completed in early April after pandemic delays.
“I try to look at trends happening outside of the banking industry,” DeMars said. “What are consumers interested in? How can we make that work for FNBO?” The bank influencers pose against the wall for posts promoting its Be Kind debit card series and the importance of kindness. Passersby tag the bank in their own photos.
The limits of Instagram
No matter the number of heart emojis or enthusiastic comments a bank accrues on its posts, it is difficult to figure out whether engaged followers translate to new customers.
Brian Reilly, managing director of BankBound, a digital marketing agency for banks, finds organic social media performs below other digital channels in terms of online engagement and new business generated.
“An active presence on social media does help demonstrate credibility with prospects and also build loyalty with customers and employees, but it is easily outperformed by search engine optimization, digital ads, and email,” he said.
Instead, “Instagram and other social channels offer a lot of value to human resources departments struggling to find and retain employees, since the labor market is very competitive right now and company culture is a top consideration for many applicants,” he said.
Still, some banks have tracked or strongly inferred new business from their social posts. Central Pacific Bank in Honolulu recruited 50 well-known Hawaiians in 2021 to
DeMars found she could more easily assess new business after YouTube influencers reviewed First National Bank of Omaha’s Evergreen credit card in 2021 (the first time the bank used YouTube in that way) because they could insert a tracking link, whereas not all Instagram influencers want to do that. The YouTube campaign promoting the Evergreen credit card generated 106 account openings.
Overall, “If we can leverage influencers to grow our following, we see that as a huge return on investment,” DeMars said. “It doesn’t cost much to engage with influencers and have them reach that younger demographic who is harder to find.”
