Violet Lacey
Author
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, financial services organizations needed to have a social media strategy. However, now that consumers are relying even more heavily on virtual services, social media MUST be a part of your marketing plan, or you risk losing out on potential business.
Nonetheless, using social media when you’re part of a regulated industry can be a challenge. This is why we’ve come up with a list of recommendations for how to build a social media strategy for your financial services organization.
Social media strategy recommendations for financial services marketers. Source: pexels.com
Essential tips for financial services marketers
Create interactive content
In a survey conducted by KPMG, 65% of respondents noted that they wouldn’t consider a career in financial services because they perceived it as boring. This suggests that many people may hold a similar view of the social media content offered by financial services organizations. Therefore, it’s up to you to fix this misconception by providing engaging and interactive content.
Here are a few suggestions for types of content you can offer:
- An “Ask Me Anything” session on LinkedIn
- An IGTV video or live Q&A session on Instagram
- Q&A stickers on Instagram stories
- Twitter polls
Present your company’s accolades and milestones
When customers feel like there are real people behind the face of a company, they’re more likely to give them their business. This is why sharing personal news about your company is so valuable. For example, you could Instagram photos of your team celebrating a staff member’s birthday. You could also post on LinkedIn about a new hire or honor a retiring employee on Facebook.
Another topic you might want to consider posting about on social media is company successes. So, for example, if you were to help customers finance the purchase of their new home, you could create a congratulatory post and tag your customer. In this way, you’d be demonstrating how you help your clients.
Develop a posting strategy
Before you create a posting strategy, you first need to decide what social channels you will use and create accounts on these platforms. Every social account you create should have the same name so users can find you across multiple channels. Use a social media name checker to ensure the name you want to use is available on all platforms.
Next, you’ll need to decide when to post your content.
Due to how social media algorithms work, you need to ensure you’re posting your content when your audience is active on the platforms you’re working with. Therefore, you can’t just upload content randomly. Instead, you need to have a plan for when you’ll post content on each channel. You also need to make sure your content is tailored to the nature of the platform. For instance, you wouldn’t post just text on Instagram or TikTok. These channels are visual mediums. On Instagram, you’ll need an engaging image or video, and TikTok will require an interesting video. You can still include your text, but the visual needs to be the center of your post. Likewise, if you were to post on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook, a visual is useful to grab people’s attention, but your audience will focus on your text, so this needs to be top-notch.
Get help from influencers and social proof
Influencers are people that social media users trust and often depend on for product and service recommendations. Therefore, it would benefit you to find an influencer who could speak positively about your company. However, don’t just choose anyone. Instead, seek out someone who has a significant following on multiple platforms and an audience base that aligns with your target customer.
It’s also important to develop social proof. Social proof usually takes the form of customer reviews. The better your reviews, the more likely it is that you will gain new customers. The best way to develop social proof is by asking your clients to write reviews on your Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
Offer educational information
By offering useful information to your target audience, you will build trust and authority in your brand. For instance, if you post an infographic on Twitter that teaches users how to manage their daily expenses, people will appreciate the free help and be more likely to check out your services.
Other ways you could offer educational information include:
- Creating investment advice videos for TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook
- Linking to financial advice pdfs from Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter
- Developing a blog on LinkedIn that offers solutions to problems like debt management, handling taxes, and RRSPs.
- Creating short text graphics with quick tips for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
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