Social media is an ideal outlet to connect with your community.

posted by Patrick Dix on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 in SHAZAM Blog

Use it to educate, inform and monitor dialogues taking place about your financial institution.

Right now, with social media, you have an opportunity to connect with your customers and future customers. Are you using it?

Many financial institutions have realized that it’s vital to have a presence on platforms where significant public dialogues are taking place. Good or bad, you should know what the community is saying about you. Social media gives you visibility and the chance to control the narrative, and in a crisis situation a little bit of timely information can go a long way. 

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed and not sure where to start, let us offer you some help.

Select a platform

First, consider why you’re using a specific social media platform to communicate with your community and your customers. Too many times institutions jump onto social media before considering why they’re doing it. It seems obvious to start with an omnipresent channel like Facebook, but if you can identify more specific goals for social communication, posts can be used to target specific groups or specific areas of your community. If your goal is to increase small business loans, LinkedIn may be a better solution. When your employee’s teenage daughter says your institution should be on Snapchat, a little research will show whether this strategy can help achieve your business goals.

Tell your story

Once the social media platforms and goals have been identified, focus on telling your story. A mere list of your products and services isn’t going to cut it. Lower interest rates, deep-seated community involvement and excellent customer service are assets every institution offers. Instead, consider the first-time home-buying experience. How did you make your new mortgage holder feel when they were going through the lending process? How do you make the experience better than your competitors? Tell that story in a social media post and nearly every homeowner can relate to your institution.

Consider the connections you’ve made to community organizations through sponsorships or donations. A social media post telling the personal story of why you’ve partnered with a specific charity or community group is often a great motivator for a prospect to visit your institution and open an account.

Target your audience

As your storytelling skills are perfected, boost posts to specific audiences. The cost is significantly less than traditional advertising and allows you to reach new audiences determined by geographic area, gender, age, income level and job type. If just a few of those targeted users “like” your page, you’ve elevated the effectiveness of your social program by opening up connections to new audiences.

There’s no silver bullet to social media — you have to experiment. Find stories to connect community members to the products and services you offer. Work to understand the tools available on social media and try to find the most effective combination of platforms, the types of stories that connect with your audiences, and the places to amplify your message with paid support.

Stop thinking of social media as an enormous universe of content too big for your community institution. Start viewing it as a way to connect closely with the people you want to do business with at your institution.

Tags

1. communication
2. community
3. social media

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SHAZAM, Inc. and ITS, Inc. provide this blog for general informational purposes only. Our blog may be shared by a direct link wherein the content remains as originally presented and has not been altered. SHAZAM, Inc. and ITS, Inc. assume no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents on the blog. By using this blog, reader agrees that the information published does not constitute nor is a substitute for legal advice which should only be sought from a qualified, licensed attorney. 

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