Follow the 80/20 Rule… and Other Social Media Tips
by Georgann Smith
The social media phenomenon can be intimidating for financial institutions (FIs), especially for those who haven’t devoted valuable time to experimenting with tools like Facebook or Twitter. Even though FI team members may have personal accounts on these sites, they might not understand how to translate their personal experiences and know-how into the development of a successful company strategy.
The good news is other marketers have already traveled down the social media path and can offer excellent tricks of the trade to kick-start any FI’s efforts.
For Facebook, social media experts offered up these tips in a recent article, “Social media tips for CUs:”
- Make sure your FI’s communication stream is focused on the core message, including what is happening with your products, services and promotions. But don’t forget to also allow the “personality” of your FI to shine through.
- Limit posts to one or two each day so as to not overwhelm your followers with too much information at one time. Remember, potentially everything you post will show up in your followers’ news feeds.
- Don’t lock your FI’s account. Make sure it is easy for new and current customers to connect with you.
- Post pictures and graphics with brief captions for visual appeal. Social tools are becoming increasingly focused on the visual experience. Twitter’s new profile page options are a recent example.
- Use the “Share” function to pass on interesting and important content posted by others to build connections with other influential users and pages.
- Maintain a cohesive voice and marketing message among all your online accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and the company website.
- Make sure everything posted on your FI’s social media accounts accurately represents and reflects your company’s values.
