Social Media for Banks and Credit Unions
Is your bank or credit union using social media effectively?
As the financial industry continues to grow digitally, it’s critical to strategically use social media to connect with your current and potential customers and members. Although some generations still prefer to connect with their financial advisors in person, younger generations begin their search for financial information and services online. In fact, social media is Gen Z’s primary source of financial information.
When used effectively, social media can help your bank or credit union increase brand awareness, engage current and potential customers and members, drive website traffic to featured products or services, and educate audience members on industry trends and best financial practices.
Want to build an effective social media strategy for your bank or credit union? Check out the tips below to get started!
Set social media marketing goals
It’s great your latest TikTok is going viral, but how is that contributing to the company’s overall business goals? Developing fun, engaging content is one piece of the social media strategy puzzle, but have you established clear goals that fit into broader business objectives?
Each of your social media marketing goals should be S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound). Establishing clear objectives and goals provides a way to measure success and ROI down the road.
Examples of social media marketing goals:
- Increase brand awareness
- Drive traffic to your website
- Boost conversions or sales
- Improve member engagement
- Establish thought leadership
Perform a social media audit
Don’t let this step scare you – this audit doesn’t involve the IRS. A social media audit assesses your current social media performance while identifying key audience demographics, most effective platforms, optimal days/times to post, and types of content your audience wants (or doesn’t want) to see. Check out these steps to get started:
- Create a spreadsheet that lists all your social media accounts
- Review your branding across all platforms to be sure it’s consistent and up to date
- Identify your top-performing posts (based on the goals you established above)
- Analyze what types of content are performing the best on each platform
- Evaluate each channel’s engagement and performance to determine if it aligns with your goals
Develop a content strategy and calendar
Now that you’ve set measurable goals and performed a social media audit, it’s time to develop a social media content strategy and calendar that aligns with your bank or credit union goals.
Not all platforms are created equal
Focus on the social platforms that are most relevant to your target audience and your goals. If your target audience isn’t found on a specific social platform, it’s OK not to have a presence there.
Content tailored to fit, build, and nurture your audience
Outline topics, themes, pain points, and interests that are important and relevant to your audience. Take into consideration the format that performs best amongst your audience (video vs. photo, live vs. planned and produced, candid vs. professionally designed). Develop content buckets to help plan what content to post each month.
Consistency is key, but quality matters
Develop a content calendar and stick to it. Posting regularly and consistently keeps your audience engaged and informed. Determine a cadence that allows your team to create quality, engaging content. It’s better to post strategically twice per week, than posting random content daily.
Monitor and Measure Results
Developing social media marketing goals and a content strategy sets you up to track and analyze performance and ROI. The data you gather over time can help refine and improve your strategy as your audience and your business grows. Consider analyzing the following metrics when tracking and reporting on your social media efforts:
- Reach
- Impressions
- Audience growth
- Engagement rate
- Click-through rate
Developing an effective social media strategy for your bank or credit union can be an exciting but challenging process. Whether you’re a seasoned financial marketing pro, or you’re new to utilizing social media in the financial space, developing goals, performing a social media audit, and creating a consistent, repeatable content strategy can improve the effectiveness of your bank or credit union’s social media marketing efforts.
Need help developing a social media marketing strategy? Give us a call!
