Big week for Social Media

Well, It's been a pretty interesting week around here. This morning, an article about our use of Twitter was released in the Baltimore Business Journal. A small excerpt can be seen here. We were pretty excited to be recognized for these efforts.

Later in the afternoon, we participated in Digital Insight's 2nd Twitter Town Hall with the topic of "Financial Fitness for Financial Institutions". The discussion (which can be see at #ditownhall) focused on FI's 2010 plans to address the financial needs of the consumer. It was a very interesting dialogue with a lot of participation from individuals and institutions around the country. We really appreciated the opportunity to participate.

One interesting point. There appear to be few of our peers in the banking industry who actively participate in this channel. The Journal article specifically mentions other, local FI's who aren't even exploring social media. In the Town Hall, many of the participants were from credit unions or the credit union industry. They really get it. We were really the "token" bank involved in the discussion. Seems like many other banks are missing a huge opportunity to connect with their communities via these other channels.

The Evolution of Social Media

An associate and I were just talking about the evolution of our social media efforts. We've been invited to present in a social media event by the Greater Baltimore Technology Council (GBTC) in January. We are very excited (and honored) to be included in this impressive group of technology professionals.

As we started brainstorming the topic, we decided to focus on the evolution of our social media journey. Rather than talk theory, we are going to review our strategic approach and focus on specific examples from that experience. We think this will be more useful for the audience.

Our first foray into the social media world was when we established a Group page (remember them?) on Facebook.

Our goal was (and still is) to demonstrate our involvement in the community and to "humanize" the brand by including company events as well. As Facebook has evolved, so have we. We've since added a "Fan of" page, been actively updating content, and conducted contests to add followers and have some fun. We now have over 900 fans and continue to grow. Feel free to become one yourself!

When did closing a branch become newsworthy?

Late last week, right before the Thanksgiving holiday, we announced the future closing of one of our branches. As anyone in banking (or any other retailer, for that matter) knows, evaluating locations on business needs such as profitability, market share, etc. is a fairly regular exercise. We've closed numerous branches over the the years with little or no fanfare. Not this time.

In a little more than two days, there were no less than twelve local and national posts from various blogs and on Twitter. We even had a local reporter contacting us through Twitter to confirm the news and get a comment. So why such a strong reaction to what, in the past, was a non-event?

Besides the current economic environment, where the slightest corporate change is considered bad news, the web and the social media tools have changed the rules of the game. This is just one example of the ways that basic business activities are interpreted and reported. The days of corporations controlling the message is over. Now, individuals have as powerful a means of communicating across a broad audience as the traditional advertising and media outlets did in the past. Now, we have to adjust to this new reality and learn how to manage our side of the conversation. Not an easy task, is it?

Research firm jumps on the Social Media Bandwagon

I recently came across a blog post from Celent, a research and advisory firm for Financial Institutions. Jacob Jegher, a Senior Analyst, recently released a report entitled "Demystifying Social Media and Next-Generation Online Banking". While we are not subscribers to Celent research (we work with a very modest publication budget), the extract seems to hit all the points I've found in our social media efforts.
I take it as a good sign that a traditional research firm like Celent is advocating participation in social media for financial institutions. We've embraced it and would encourage others too as well. Unfortunately, since I can't see the content, it is impossible for me to say how they suggest banks get involved. If someone has access to the report and can share that with me, I'd love to hear from you.

Personal Finances and Social Media

As we all know, social media has been the norm for most young adults for much of their lives. This audience seems comfortable sharing deeply personal information across networks in a way previous generations never did. Nothing apears to be out of bounds.

Which is what makes a recent study sponsored by AARP so interesting. It is entitled "Personal Finances: The Final Frontier for Social Media". It is available on AARP's LifeTuner website, which they describe as "an online personal finance community site born out of a growing recognition that young adults need to take a much more active role than previous generations in planning and preparing for their own financial security."

If you are in the financial services industry, it is well worth your time to read. It says a lot about how this demographic, the 18-34 year olds, feel about personal finances. Their two top priorities are managing day to day expenses and putting money into savings. However, they are more likely to turn to their parents or friends for advice than to use their expanded social networks.

I think the implications are pretty clear. We can't just assume that by entering the social media channels we will gain their trust. They aren't necessarily looking for financial advice through this avenue. We should, however, provide tools to help them more effectively manage their finances. That could (and should) make us more relevant in their lives.

Why Banks need Social Media

I recently came across a blog post titled Who needs Social Media? My Banks! The writer complains about trying to reach his local branch of a large bank in Florida. He finds it quite difficult to get a phone number let alone reaching out to his bank through other channels (ie Twitter). He is now considering switching banks.
It highlights the basic challenge we face as bankers. As he notes, we often talk about banking as a relationship between us and our customers. If so, how can you not get involved in social media? The ability to reach out, in real time, is one of the key attributes of these channels. For both parties. And isn't that really what customer service and relationships are all about?
FYI- if you are a bank with a location in Boca Raton, FL and are using social media, you may want to reach out to him. Sounds like a good prospect!