Instagram is big. And big and little brands can leverage it.
My 18 and 20-year-old can often be found glued to their smartphone screens viewing Instagram. About a year ago, they sucked me into their Instagrammer world, and in earnest, I try to use it to engage personal and professional audiences and have learned a thing or two along the way.
After some quick research, I was surprised to see that some 92% of social influencers say Instagram is the social network they expect to focus on most this year, and 87% expect it to be their top focus next year. They see how millennial audiences use this social network to engage others and express themselves. Some experts would tell you that Instagram is a great way for financial institutions to re-humanize banking when done well. Frankly, I think the best way to humanize banking is to actually leverage human capital, but that is an entirely different conversation. In the meantime, I am rather bullish on Instagram and do see it as a great means for brands to reach audiences on a more emotional level.
Citibank now has almost 20,000 followers on Instagram. I thought the big, bad banks were out of favor? Looking at their posts, they show a very human side to banking. They show community investment, engaged employees and remarkable use of imagery. Amex has done extremely well and is approaching 200,000 followers. Their success is bolstered by a huge digital advertising budget, but they too use imagery and more than often, their iconic plastic is inserted into it.
Too often I see financial institutions using stock images on Instagram (and in their marketing). Our audiences are smarter than we think and are looking for authenticity from brands. Posting photos of a retired couple walking on a beach with copy about retirement, won’t be received well. Aside from not being creative, it simply feeds a commodity mindset. Please, do not directly pimp your product on social media. And screaming that you have mobile banking via Instagram is really not appropriate.
A young, tech-savvy generation is starting to apply for mortgages and beginning to fund retirement accounts. Digital influencers and social media platforms like Instagram can help a financial institution better define their brand identity and expand their reach to a consumer base that now spends 2.7 hours on social media apps each day. You seriously need to consider the value of Instagram as a channel to connect with audiences and employees, but you need to do so in a creative, genuine manner. Leveraging Instagram for your financial institution is an inexpensive, fun, and creative way to increase your social media engagement. By sharing interesting and engaging visual content and staying connected with your followers, you can have an Instagram account that supports your bottom line.
