Financial services brands on social media risk getting left behind

Retail and investment banks must quickly get to grips with social media channels or face missing out as new ones emerge. Marketing in the financial services industry has rarely been ahead of the curve. This is nobody’s fault; legislation, data protection and complex target audiences have been the root cause.

However, the world has gone digital, then social, and the industry has been slow to adopt and even slower to adapt its pre-existing structures built to deliver more traditional media.

Brands like Red Bull and Virgin are busy showing the world how to evolve using social channels, while retail and investment banks are still trying to work out handle names for their multiple product-led Twitter accounts. Moreover, when they try, it doesn’t always end well: just look at MasterCard’s disastrous involvement with the Brit Awards. That said, it’s currently one of the most talked about financial brands on Twitter and the #PricelessSurprises hashtag has been shared thousands of times. This is one of the things to watch out for when using social channels: once something is out there, it’s out there.

But it’s not exactly positive, and MasterCard could yet put an end to the original campaign idea.
Most financial services companies have only a piecemeal social presence. Their siloed, product-led nature means their divisions all have their own voices. With the advent of social, they are trying to reorganise this internally instead of focusing resources externally to engage with customers.

In contrast, TSB has used social channels as part of its launch campaign and done so beautifully, with a consistent tone of voice and frequent messaging promoting its brand position as our local bank.

For financial services brands, social media is a very complex thing. Lifestyle brands have it easy, as the trust you need to earn a place on a customer’s mobile phone screen or Twitter feed is inherent for brands like Nike, Google, etc.

However, a lack of trust in the finanical services category makes it hard even for the good companies to use it effectively. In fact, most customers have their head in the sand when it comes to communicating with the big bad world of banking. – Guardian.