Fireworks, cow videos, giveaways: How banks are embracing TikTok

First National Bank of Omaha first popped up on TikTok at the end of June with a 14-second montage of panoramas from the top of the FNBO skyscraper. A few days later came shots of fireworks showering the tower in Omaha as facts about the Fourth of July materialized onscreen.

The posts were masterminded by Regina DeMars, director of content marketing and social media strategy at the Omaha, Nebraska, bank. DeMars wants FNBO's TikTok channel to showcase an array of fun, bite-sized videos that capitalize on trends and entertain the platform's largely Generation Z audience, an important demographic for the $27.2 billion-asset institution.

"We have wanted to be on TikTok for a while, but it took us a little time to get everyone comfortable with the channel," she said.

Although some banks such as FNB Community Bank in Midwest City, Oklahoma, and the challenger bank Current have been a presence on the video app for several years, most financial institutions, like FNBO, are still testing the waters if they are on the platform at all. The main reason to be on TikTok is the same reason banks are on other social media channels:  to raise brand awareness and connect with customers. TikTok is primarily for the younger set, but not entirely — 30% of users are 35 and older as of April 2022, according to the data source eMarketer. 

TikTok is also growing fast. According to the mobile app data company Apptopia, TikTok was the most downloaded app both in the U.S. and around the world in 2021. 

But most banks have been hesitant to take the plunge.

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"The majority of banks are on the legacy social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. They're watching and learning to see where their place" is with TikTok, said Nichelle Sanders, managing director of client services at R/GA, a brand consulting company.

Finding success on TikTok requires a mindset shift, one that Sanders has noticed smaller financial institutions generally feel more comfortable making.

"The content that performs the best is not highly polished," she said. "It feels one-to-one or personal, like you're getting inside information. When you are talking about the best performing financial literacy content on TikTok, it's a person talking."

Julie Waddle, the digital marketing manager at FNB Community Bank in Midwest City, Oklahoma, embraced that ethos.

"We wanted to reach a younger audience because it's an area of opportunity for the bank, but we also wanted to remain authentic and relatable," she said. That's why Waddle is featured in many of the videos.

She got FNB Community Bank's TikTok channel up and running in March 2020, when she dove deeper into the site out of boredom when the world was shutting down and realized it was not just for teenagers. For now, the $621.5 million-asset bank is repurposing videos that Waddle shot for Instagram to maximize their reach, including the viral video that Waddle filmed in August 2021 that used Venmo as an entry point to explaining federal deposit insurance.

Waddle hopes to do more original content moving forward. She has noticed trends or information appearing on TikTok first before they surfaced on Instagram.

"A lot of TikTok users value learning new things," said Waddle, who is now working on a post about the risks of cryptocurrency.  

DeMars is creating original content for the $27.2 billion-asset FNBO's TikTok that often spins off trends or events. The most popular post so far was an inside look at a "day in the life" of an FNBO intern, released on July 28, which was National Intern Day. A montage of cows munching and moseying around their fields debuted on July 12, Cow Appreciation Day.

DeMars wants to get to the point of posting one to three times per week. She is exploring ways to incorporate the bank's employee ambassadors and capitalize on content the bank has already shot, such as blooper reels from its Dollar Belles and Dollar Bills personal finance video series.

TikTok has a shaky reputation for data security, with concerns that parent company ByteDance could exploit user data. DeMars notes FNBO's legal and compliance teams did have initial concerns about the bank appearing on TikTok, but they felt more comfortable after she explained the type of lighthearted content she was going for and that FNBO would not be asking users for personal information.

Ally Financial in Detroit is zeroing in one an aspect of TikTok that several of the banks interviewed for this story have noticed: TikTok is a hotbed for financial education.

"We have an opportunity to be an authentic and credible voice on this platform where there is a lot of information with varying degrees of accuracy," said Jennifer Brockington, executive director of advertising, content and research of the $185.7 billion-asset Ally.

The online bank debuted on TikTok in October 2021, with a campaign it called #MyFinALLYMoment that encouraged users to share what they are saving for. It has also used influencers to raise awareness of the brand. After a campaign it called #allytipoff, in which popular TikTok personalities appeared at college bars during the National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament in March to tip the staff $50,000 and pick up the tabs for everyone present, the bank's follower count increased more than seven times in four days.

After eyeballing competitors, challenger bank Current believes it has the most followers of any financial brand on TikTok. The company started posting on TikTok several years ago, as a way to make people aware of Current, engage with existing customers, and potentially convert new ones. Current actively recruits influencers to promote its products. For example, YouTube personality MrBeast gave away prizes of $20,000 to people who downloaded the Current app and requested it from him using Current's peer-to-peer payment system.

Although the company declined to give specifics, it said it has data showing that its TikTok presence has affected awareness of, consideration of, and conversion to, Current. Current has measured the latter through links and codes it shares on TikTok and through surveys.

Adam Hadi, vice president of marketing for Current, finds that one difference between TikTok and other social media channels is the element of discovery. "With Facebook or Instagram's main feed you are reaching people who follow you," he said. "With TikTok you are reaching people who don't know much about you. Before you tell anyone how to set up a savings pod or roundups, [you have to explain] what is Current?"

Sanders agrees, and points out that people and businesses can succeed on TikTok without building up a big following over time.

"Legacy social is about building an audience around your brand or persona, whereas the TikTok algorithm skews toward performance of a single piece of content irrespective of followership," she said. "Anyone can win the lottery on TikTok."