How Social Media Is Redefining The Banking Industry

The shift towards a “digital-first”’ marketplace is transforming the retail banking industry on social media.

According to Deloitte, Digital channels are replacing branch sites as the focal point of the banking experience. The key to sustainable growth is dependent on a bank’s ability to shift towards a digital-first approach successfully.

The digital-first shift is real and it’s especially impactful for marketing departments. Customers are spending more time researching, buying, and updating their financial portfolios online. One challenge for digital marketers is developing strategies to target customers by offering timely and relevant solutions.

The Rise of Social Media Marketing

As the amount of time spent on social networks continues to increase, so does the importance of marketing on those channels. Social media marketing is fast becoming the most powerful way to increase brand awareness and promote brand authenticity.

While branded social media channels are relevant, studies show customers are more likely to trust information from within their networks. Seventy percent of adults online reported trusting recommendations from friends and family, but only 15% trusted companies’ social media posts.

Also, social media networks such as LinkedIn or Facebook are changing their algorithms to prioritize posts from friends and family. The impact and engagement of branded content shared through an employee’s social media channel is an important marketing strategy.

Enter Employee Advocacy for the Banking Industry

Employee advocacy programs can increase brand awareness and promote organic marketing efforts through the network of your employees, most often their social networks. Let’s assume each employee has 100 engaged followers on their social networks. For a bank with 5000 employees, promoting a piece of branded content through an employee advocacy program could generate up to 500,000 impressions, all organically.

Social Media Risks and Rewards

While it’s easy to see why the idea of employee advocacy is gaining traction but there are still some conservative industries that are wary of social sharing. Many organizations worry about:

  • Remaining compliant within a strictly regulated industry
  • Ensuring employees posted messages are relevant, accurate and reflect the brand
  • Adoption rates and how they can encourage employees to share company content on their social networks

It is paramount that there is a strategic program for any employee advocacy initiative.

  • Employees must be trained on social media best practices to know precisely what is expected of them when posting.
  • There should also be executive buy-in, as the lead by example approach has proven extremely effective in driving employee advocacy adoption rates and usage.
  • The easiest way to mitigate risk, remain compliant, and increase user adoption is to implement an employee advocacy program.

Employee Advocacy Platforms

By hosting all of your pre-approved content on one easy-to-use platform, employees can easily share these on-brand messages to their social networks.

As an example, one major Canadian bank launched an employee advocacy program and, within 45 days, had over 24,500 pieces of content shared and generated roughly $168k in earned media value.

As the world continues to become more digital, modern retail banks must develop not only a presence on social media but also strategies to drive traffic and engagement. Adoption of an employee advocacy program can help create a more robust and strategic social media marketing program. One with greater reach and authenticity.

Leave a Reply

Ready to get started with employee advocacy?

Request Demo