Don’t quit on Facebook

I sat down with a financial institution last week who was ready to throw in the towel when it comes to marketing themselves on Facebook. She was putting in some time, they weren’t receiving much engagement and she really didn’t see the purpose. Who wants a Financial Institution on their newsfeed?

Our conversation went further to discuss how fewer people were coming into the lobbies, more people were banking online, but yet they were searching for ways to have real conversations with their customers. Over the past 20 years, this financial institution had been well known in their community for their President greeting and engaging with their customers in their lobbies. Through the years this personal touch had brought them great success and they don’t want to lose market share.

I have consistently heard this story for the past few years, but yet financial institutions haven’t altered the way in which they communicate with their customers.

Marketing departments are in the eyes and ears business. Wherever the eyes and ears are, that’s where your FI needs to be. Eyes are not in the yellow book. Eyes are becoming less and less frequent in your lobbies. Half the time eyes aren’t even on the road when people are driving. Watch any teenager walking (or attempting to walk) while they are still glued to their phone. What do people grab for when a commercial comes on TV? What helps pass the time as people wait in line at Chipotle?

Marketing departments need to keep up with what their customers want……good content to capture their 20 second attention span. Content is essentially why some financial institutions are having success with Facebook and other are flopping. People want to read or watch things that are of interest to them! Unfortunately, your latest shred day or holiday hours just aren’t speaking to your audience. But, here are a few interesting ideas to try that can increase your engagement:

• 12 Days of Giving- Pick 1 charity over 12 days to contribute to. If you choose Toys for Tots – ask people to share their favorite childhood toy.
• Does your staff volunteer in the community? Go out and take a video of their good deed and upload it to your Facebook page. (Facebook looks favorably on people who post videos)
• Feature a local athlete in each of your markets every Friday.

Facebook is alive and potentially the most valuable tool in your marketing toolkit. If you have attempted to start a page, try some of the suggested posts and see how your fan base starts to interact. Evaluate what is working and what is not working. Do more of what works, less of what doesn’t. It is a simple concept, but one that really works.