Turning Threat into Opportunity - Social Media Insights into the US Banking Sector
DigitalMR, October 2012, Pages: 215
Social media has been one of the defining developments of the 21st century, with the exponential increase in use of social media revolutionizing the way we all communicate with those we know, and increasingly with those we do not. While there are many opportunities for banks to promote their brand and products on social media, this also comes with the challenge of managing their reputation online, as social media has helped to put companies and people on the same level for the first time. This has revolutionised the traditional notion of B2C communications, and we are now seeing the emergence of C2B communications. Businesses are no longer the sole owners of their brands; through social media, consumers increasingly dictate how brands and companies are perceived.
This comprehensive study of comments made by consumers about the US Retail Banking sector on social media channels is a first for the sector. More than 2 million comments made over the course of 12 months have been analysed to give a true competitive benchmark of consumer sentiment and opinion, going down to a product and service feature level. Rich with additional desk research, conclusions and recommendations, the report is a must for modern financial professionals who need to understand how to use social media to benefit both themselves and their customers.
Foreword
Executive summary
1 Social media, business and banking
2 Social media activity by US banks
3 Social media conversations about the U.S banking sector
4 Social media conversations about the key topics related to the US banking sector
5 Individual bank analysis
- American Express
- Bank of America
- Bank One
- Barclays
- Capital One
- Chase
- CitiBank N.A
- Countrywide Bank
- Discover Bank
- HSBC
- Key Bank USA
- Morgan Stanley
- Orchard Bank
- PNC Bank
- Regions Bank
- Sovereign bank
- Suntrust Bank
- TD Bank
- US Bank
- Wells Fargo
6 Key Findings and recommendations
7 About This Report
8 References
Social media changed the way we all communicate with friends, family and corporations. While parts of the banking sector have been slow to embrace the potential that social media offers, consumers have not been, our research demonstrates the wide ranging conversations that are taking place about the banking sector across social media. Our analysis of the US banking sectors use of social media and listening of customer conversations about the top twenty banks has provided the following insights:
- Social media is well valued by consumers and is now embedded in buying, communicating, problem solving and other activities that take place on the web. The challenge now is for banks to effectively develop social media strategies that are integrated into their business so that they can engage with audiences through this increasingly popular and influential medium.
- It is no longer possible for banks to ignore social media, at the very minimum it is important that they are listening to customer discussions online about their brand so they can improve their services.
- Almost all US banks are using social networks to communicate. The banks have opted to focus on the most popular social media networks in the US, which are; Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.
- There is no uniform use of social media by the banks, the activity varies from bank to bank as they look to engage their core audiences.
- There are limited examples of banks using social media creatively in the US, compared to other industries. Most of the content promoted on social networks by banks revolves around customer service, competitions, recruitment and corporate updates.
- It can seem impressive to have thousands of followers and fans, it is much more important for banks to ensure that these fans and followers are real, interested and engaged. The challenge for all banks when using social media is to create an engaged community that promotes, shares and discusses the bank’s content.
- The analysis demonstrates that regular engagement with their social media communities help generate interest and can lead to positive sentiment towards their brand.
- Despite financial issues traditionally being private issues, consumers welcome the opportunity to receive customer service via platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
- When properly managed, incentivized and measured, banks can begin to develop a greater understanding of positive online word of mouth, the ultimate goal of social media customer strategy.
- By providing customer service through social media channels, more comments about the banks are likely to be generated. This also provides the bank with the opportunity to ‘shine’ in public if it can quickly fix the customer service issue.
- There has been an increase in the number of comments about banks in the US on social media through 2011 and 2012. This increase can be linked to the banks being more proactive on social networks, but also the fact that the public is increasingly vocal about banking issues and the actions of major banks.
- Banks are facing the challenge to effectively develop social media strategies that are fully integrated into their existing communication strategies.
- Social media has meant that for many banks they need to change their approach to crisis communications because of the speed at which a crisis can develop and explode if not effectively managed.
- Banks that have invested resource into developing a comprehensive approach to social media are beginning to carve out a larger share of voice on social media channels than their competitors.
- While many banks appear to be having a campaign approach to social media, the level of comments from the public about banks mean that they need to change from a campaign approach to an ‘always-on’ approach.
- There is enormous opportunity in using social media to co-create ideas, products and services by harnessing it to promote a dialogue. Business will better understand how they can evolve their services to fit their clients’ needs as a result.
- American Express
- Bank of America
- Bank One
- Barclays
- Capital One
- Chase
- CitiBank N.A
- Countrywide Bank
- Discover Bank
- HSBC
- Key Bank USA
- Morgan Stanley
- Orchard Bank
- PNC Bank
- Regions Bank
- Sovereign bank
- Suntrust Bank
- TD Bank
- US Bank
- Wells Fargo
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