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Social Media Management – Opportunities and Challenges!

By on September 24th, 2014 in Marketing

Your account holders are active online. They communicate with friends and family. Social media is the logical choice to connect with your account holders where they are most actively present. Establishing a Facebook page, LinkedIn presence, Twitter account, etc. is commonplace for financial marketers, but social media also has its challenges. Managing social media does not need to be tremendously difficult. LKCS has suggestions to help in this presentation.

Video Webinar

In today’s Webinar Wednesday episode, our Vice-President of Business Development, Sid Haas, discusses ways LKCS can help financial institutions to achieve success with their social media efforts.

Video Transcript (Highlights)

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is the process of using media platforms to engage both new and current account holders. Key ideas:

  • Social media is about engagement and conversation.
  • Social media communities must be built.
  • Social media is NOT a set it and forget it marketing strategy.
  • Social media marketing requires a dedication.

The Social Media Landscape

The social media landscape is HUGE and can be a little overwhelming! – 100+ channels and growing!

  • Specific audiences (general, business, interests, location).
  • Specific purposes (news, friends, photos, videos, ratings).

The benefits of Social Marketing

  • Increase brand awareness and exposure.
  • Strengthen relationships and expand account service opportunities.
  • Build a loyal community of loyal and active followers.
  • Enhance company trustworthiness.
  • Cut marketing costs.
  • Monitor your brand’s online reputation.
  • Account acquisition and sales opportunities.

Why Facebook?

  • 1.32 BILLION MONTHLY active users.
  • 14% increase year over year.
  • 829 MILLION DAILY active users on average (June 2014).
  • 19% increase year over year.
  • 654 million mobile daily active users (39% increase).
  • 30% of Americans get their NEWS on Facebook.
  • Average of 20 minutes spent per visit; Average of 8.3 hours per month.
  • 1 of every 6 minutes spent online is on Facebook!
  • 50% of 18-24 year-olds go on Facebook when they wake up.
  • 47% of Americans say Facebook has the greatest impact on their purchasing behavior.

Why Twitter?

  • 255 million monthly active users (over 58 million in the U.S.).
  • 500 million Tweets are sent per day; over 5,700 per second.
  • 44% growth from 2012-2013.
  • 73% of people follow businesses on Twitter to get news and updates (especially new products and promotions).
  • 61% of people share ideas and get feedback through interactions (member service).
  • 72% of people are more likely to make a future purchase after they follow or interact with a business on Twitter.
  • 85% of people feel more connected to a business after they follow them on Twitter.

Why Google Plus?

If you are not using Google+, you should be. Claim your pages!

  • Over 1 billion accounts; 359 million active monthly users.
  • Growing at a rate of 33% per year.
  • +1 buttons are used over 5 BILLION times per day.
  • It’s easy – start by posting your Facebook content to Google+.
  • The #1 reason to use Google+: SEO
    • Every post to Google+ get its own unique URL.
    • Your posts will be indexed and listed in search results.
    • The number of +1s on your Google+ Business Page(s) are influential in determining search ranking order.
    • Google also owns YouTube. YouTube videos are predominantly featured on Google+.

Why a Blog?

  • Search Engine Optimization
    • Improves search rankings, drives traffic to the web site.
    • Continuous, new web site content on latest trends, products, services, ideas, etc.
    • Content is easily be shared on other social media platforms
  • Establish Your Expertise
    • Answer common questions that your members and prospects have.
  • Generate Leads
  • Including calls to action in posts.
  • Ongoing exposure with search engine prominence.

Be Social.

Post & Respond Often Your financial institution will need to post quality content often, and continually monitor your page for social interactions. How often should you post?

  • Post 3-5 times per week.
  • You can Tweet multiple times per day.
  • Post new updates during business hours.
  • Highest traffic occurs mid-week between 1 to 3 pm.
  • On Thursdays and Fridays, engagement is 18% higher.
  • 72% of people are more likely to make a future purchase after they follow or interact with a business on Twitter.
  • 85% of people feel more connected to a business after they follow them on Twitter.

How should you respond?

  • Be active, spur conversations.
  • Thank people for comments, be visible.
  • Don’t ignore or delete negative comments.
  • Highest traffic occurs mid-week between 1 to 3 pm.
  • On Thursdays and Fridays, engagement is 18% higher.
  • 72% of people are more likely to make a future purchase after they follow or interact with a business on Twitter.
  • 85% of people feel more connected to a business after they follow them on Twitter.

What Makes Good Content?

  • Post photos and videos. High definition photos and videos in graphic detail and vivid color provide engagement levels that far exceed plain and simple text.
  • Links: Don’t limit your links to your products. Link to interesting websites, related news articles, and even funny tidbits. Mix it up.
  • Use the 80/20 rule: 80% of status updates should give value to the fans first, 20% of status updates can be promotional, or brand first.
  • Post like a friend, not a brand. Informal, personal language gets a better response. Stay away from complex terms.
  • Keep status updates short. Use 250 characters or less when possible (only 140 on Twitter).
  • Celebrate milestones. People like numbers and celebrations.
  • Recipes: I know it seems silly. But, guess what. People love posting pictures of food on Facebook, Twitter and especially Pinterest.
  • MOST IMPORTANTLY – POST REGULARLY. Be a consistent, reliable source of information and financial expertise. You can still take time off. Schedule ahead. Use your team.

Easy Ways to Increase Engagement

  • Ask for likes. Tell users to “click like” if they agree with a statement.
  • Trivia isn’t trivial. People love a good factoid. Whether it relates to your product or company, current events, or is just interesting, a cool nugget of information will have people looking for you in their news feed.
  • Ask a question about an image. For example “Where do you think this photo was taken?”
  • Photo/caption contests: Ask fans to post or title interesting photos and announce a winner.
  • Use simple fill in the blank prompts: For example “My biggest savings challenge is __________.”

Where Can You Find Content

  • Human Resources – new hires/promotions/transfers, ask the president.
  • Employees – FAQs, testimonials, tips & tricks, customer education.
  • Products & Services – specials, rate changes, new launches, features, comparisons.
  • Newsletter – if you produce one, it’s chock full of social media posts.
  • Community Events – sponsorships, parades, fairs, chambers of commerce, charitable organizations, churches, donations.
  • Business Customers – grand openings, sales/specials, restaurant menu items, realtor open houses/new listings, auto/service specials
  • News / Weather / Stocks / Sports / Trivia / Seasonal

Social Media Challenges

  • Brand Reputation.
  • Demands on Your Time.
  • Constant Growth and Change.

Compliance

Social media keeps compliance people up at night.

  • Same rules and regulations apply as all other advertising.
  • Risk management and reputational risk.
  • Keep management and board informed of your use of social media.
  • Employees’ use of social media.
  • FFIEC Social Media Guidance – released December 2013. No new requirements. Meant to explain potential risks, expectations to manage risk, and suggestions regarding social media policies and procedures

Our Favorite Tools

Social Media Can Be Managed Efficiently and Affordably!. Here are some of our favorite tools:

  • HootSuite – Good reporting and monitoring, so-so publishing, gets very expensive.
  • TweetDeck – Great for monitoring Twitter feeds, but nothing else.
  • Buffer – Great publishing, but no monitoring.
  • SproutSocial – A great tool, limited number profiles, costly to add users.
  • LKCS’ Social Media Management platform.
    • Advanced publishing capabilities.
    • Advanced publishing extras.
    • Content management.
    • Advanced engagement capabilities.
    • Monitoring capabilities.
    • Advanced reporting.