Summary:
The sales strategies of today are more complicated than ever before. Now more than ever, banks are relying on social media to foster new connections and land more customers. The entire process, however, can be complicated and time-consuming. Below, we take a look at how you can start fully utilizing social media to make your bank stand out and attract new customers.
The Social Media Problem
Finding “business success” on social media is becoming much more complicated. Long gone are the days of the occasional social life updates posted on Facebook. Now, ever-changing algorithms relying on largely unpredictable user engagement run the show.
Businesses of all types have started to express concern about being able to keep up with the shifting trends on their timelines. The coveted organic reach has been declining for several years now and things only look to get more difficult. More and more, companies have to rely on paid advertisements or influencer partnerships to reach any potential customers at all. Engagement has also taken a substantial hit as young people grow more accustomed to consuming media without interaction.
With all these problems mounting quickly, how is a community banker supposed to stay ahead of the social media curve?
The Effective Social Media Solution
To get a handle on your socials, starting with the platforms your target audience use most often is essential. Sites such as TikTok and BeReal have quickly become popular with younger crowds, but Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram remain high-ranked among the world’s most-used platforms. If your audience is business professionals, then you’ll likely be spending most of your time on LinkedIn.
Businesses, too, find social media to be an essential feature in their advertising strategies. Many report Facebook and Instagram as the most effective modes of reaching business goals, oftentimes with better results than other traditional advertising methods.
Most of us interact with at least one platform daily, and social media is slowly changing behind the scenes. The best approaches today are shifting away from searching for a high number of followers, and towards specific metrics that amplify the quality of your content to make it more discoverable by the various social platform members. You can better use your time to focus on the particular type of connections you make and followers you gain, rather than on the sheer number of “likes” you may get on a specific post.
What the Metrics Are Telling Us
To fully harness the power of modern social media, it’s important to understand precisely what the numbers are telling you. To do so, you have to keep an eye on two key types of metrics: proxy and business.
Proxy metrics have to do with the totals that stack up at the bottom of each post. Follows, likes, views, and comments all fall under the proxy metric umbrella. This raw data gives you helpful indicators about what is working in your current strategy, and what may need a tune-up. If your proxy metrics stay healthy, you’ve got a solid foundation from which to adjust your strategy.
Business metrics are a bit more complex. These incorporate the three key sub-metrics of traffic on your social sites, leads created by individual posts and connections, and how many of those leads turn over into revenue. Each of these sub-metrics can point you directly to where there may be a break in your advertising chain. For instance, if you have plenty of traffic on your pages, but very little turnover, it may be time to rethink your lead acquisition methods.
How Mari Smith’s 3-Part Success Formula Proves Results
When attending Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing World, if there is ever a session being delivered by Mari Smith, you can bet I’m going to be there (and likely sitting in the front row). As one of the, if not the, most knowledgeable sources of information when it comes to Facebook, she’s someone that I recommend following. The numbers games involved in cultivating an effective social media strategy can be overwhelming. That’s why she has created a simple formula for proven success.
The equation is simple: Content + Community + Conversion = Results (CCC = R). But what do each of these pieces mean?
Content refers to all pieces of media that you integrate into your social pages. Organic content still remains king among a plethora of re-sharing and remixing options. The most popular sites, such as Instagram, now feature short, temporary “Stories” and “Reels.” This feature allows you to create bite-size, easily shareable content that can garner responses and rack up views.
Community incorporates every comment and repost that your social media generates. Algorithms today favor content that receives a lot of intentional interaction like this. To boost your community engagement, remember to add calls to action to your content. Ask questions, pose potential relevant scenarios, or simply give your audience space to voice their opinions on an idea.
Conversion is likely your most important piece of the puzzle. Turning comments into coins is what keeps your business moving. Follow up on all potential leads, and don’t be afraid to nurture connections you may not have originally planned for, but which have presented themselves nonetheless.
At WSI, we know that social media may be the next big thing for your bank. But we also understand that embracing social media organization wide is also a challenge given regulations, privacy, security, and general cultural concerns. When you’re ready to see just how far our proven solutions can take you, get in touch. Our industry-leading experts are excited to grow with you to help put the power of social to work for your bank.