Social Media in Retail Banking

Generations X & Y do business in a much different way than past generations. As they apply for mortgages, credit cards and loans, they expect the financial institutions they do business with to meet them where they are and with the latest technology.

Banks and financial institutions must get with the times if they are hoping to continue to grow and advance. Retail banking needs to meet and find its customers where they are. Customer acquisition techniques are going to need to use social media in order to reach people in new ways.

Financial institutions are dealing with generations of people that are savvy with their technology, that love their technology and that have technology in every aspect of their lives. You aren't going to reach the same set of people in the newspaper that you might have reached in past years. Direct mail campaigns aren't going to be quite as successful nor are billboards.

Social media is a growing trend in business. Businesses are looking into ways in which they can engage their customers, get them talking and build better, deeper relationships. By establishing these deeper relationships, business can create and provide much more personalized service offerings.

Banks that are utilizing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs in order to gain customers, are reaching an important audience that they aren't necessarily going to reach through traditional means. Plus, the word of mouth provided through these methods is far reaching. As they say, if a customer has a happy experience they are not likely to tell many people about it, but if they have a negative experience they are likely to tell many people about it.

What are you doing as a business to promote and utilize social media to your benefit? Are you managing your reputation online? If you aren't online and aren't involved in what's going on you are going to miss out on what is being said about your business. People make choices everyday based on recommendations from online sources.

Financial institutions are generally viewed as being old school. By engaging customers through social media, this reputation can easily be changed. Think of the benefits of acquiring customers who are just getting into the housing market, are beginning to establish their families and are branching out to buy new cars. All these people are going to be looking into establishing solid financial relationships so that they can choose mortgages, credit cards and car loans. It seems that as a financial institution you are going to want to get a piece of that business.

It seems simple. Reach people where they are. If they are on Facebook make sure you are taking the time to have a presence there. Perhaps create a blog on the company website. You could post articles. Establish a twitter account. Keep customers up to date on new service offerings or customer incentives. Perhaps offer a discount or coupon for those people who mention they saw your ad or information on a social media source. Engage your customers and they will be more likely to keep coming back for more.

Social media is a big deal. Don't miss out on a piece of business simply because you are stuck in your old ways. Customer acquisition needs to change to meet the changing times. Utilizing online sources and focusing on customer engagement will go a long way to maintaining a healthy and strong business into the future.

About the Author: Rebecca Beckett is a freelance writer for Innuity. If you would like more information about Retail Banking or Customer Acquisition go to Zoot Enterprises.