But according to the American Banking Association’s 2017 report on social media in banking, 76 percent of banking leaders agree that social channels are important to their banks. Luckily, more and more banks are beginning to face their fears, and some are thriving on social media. At Gremlin Social, we like to do a quarterly roundup of social media efforts we’re currently drooling over. Here are four that truly stand out:
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First State Bank Offers a Balanced Mix of Content
Few financial institutions understand the need for a balanced diet of content like First State Bank, a loan-origination firm with offices across the Greater St. Louis area. This bank’s 4-1-1 approach to social media is designed to engage users with value first and promotions second. For every four articles it posts providing information and resources on mortgage rates, real estate, or industry news, First State Bank also shares one lighter general interest piece and one company promotional piece. This kind of strategy provides value to readers and increases trust.
First State Bank uses Gremlin Social to manage and schedule all of these posts, which takes compliance issues out of the equation and frees up valuable time for employees to focus on overarching strategy. With each cycle, Gremlin’s analytics insights inform the bank’s content strategy, posting schedule, and more, and their feeds can be managed in just 15 minutes per week.
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First Bank Financial Centre Wields an Effective Content Management Tool
First Bank Financial Centre, a community bank based in Wisconsin, uses highly effective tactics to optimize content for different social media channels. Fun, interactive content goes to Facebook, while company updates and information is reserved for LinkedIn. Even more important than this strategic approach, however, is the tool used to execute it.
Without an efficient, user-friendly planning tool, scheduling and pushing out a wide variety of content every day demands a lot of time and attention. With Gremlin Social, though, FBFC is able to schedule and execute its multi-channel approach with ease. In fact, using Gremlin’s platform has led to a 58 percent increase in referral traffic from social media to the website. You can read more about the bank’s success here.
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Flanagan State Bank Leverages Managed Access to Great Effect
Flanagan State Bank is a family-owned bank with branches peppered throughout Illinois. Comprised of both mortgage offices and deposit branches, Flanagan has social media pages for a variety of locations and individual loan officers. The bank uses Gremlin Social’s scheduling tool to ensure that its social media content is consistent and engaging no matter who’s posting.”
At Gremlin Social, we built our software with managed access in mind because we understand that it’s crucial to the success of a bank’s social strategy. The account owner can access different users’ social platforms within our tool to post content on their behalf. This is exactly how Flanagan uses our tool to publish content across its team’s Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts — to great effect. All the while, Flanagan remains compliant because its account owners and admins archive every post to keep track of who was posting on whose behalf.
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Reliant Bank Keeps Things Personal
Reliant Bank is a locally owned and operated Tennessee bank with a strong handle on content management. Similar to First State Bank, Reliant uses the 4-1-1 method of posting to ensure its followers are receiving a healthy blend of content on both its Facebook and Twitter pages. What’s even more special about Reliant’s social strategy, however, is that it tailors content to its various branches. Each branch uses the Gremlin Social platform to schedule pre-approved content, ensuring that everything is compliant friendly.
More than that, though, by creating branch-specific content, Reliant humanizes its overall brand, forging deeper customer connections. The bank makes a point to create images in-house rather than rely on stock photos. For instance, when the bank recently opened a new branch in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Reliant posted a tweet of the grand opening party, showcasing real customers, employees, and stakeholders mingling at the event.
These four institutions are just a few top performers on social media in the financial industry. Each demonstrates that a commitment to compliance and robust social connectivity can go hand in hand, and more banks would see success by following suit. After all, we’re well over a decade into the age of online sharing, and its impact on brand-customer interaction is palpable in nearly every industry. The dance floor is heating up, and it’s no time to be a wallflower.
