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Immediate Future Marketing

A fall back to the bunker isn’t a viable social strategy

By Colin Jacobs, client services director

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March 22, 2017 | 5 min read

Social media is a weapon for advertisers and marketers, so why aren’t financial services up in arms about it? Banking brand C-suites must embrace the social battle once and for all.

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A fall back to the bunker isn’t a viable social strategy

For too long financial services has denounced social media. Fear (manifested from a recent history of financial failings, imposed fines, enforced regulatory change, greater oversight from government and, of course, the well documented bailouts) caused all-time high consumer mistrust. Media honed ‘Fleet Street’s finest’ sights on financial services and many negative column inches were published.

Given the then widespread angst, it’s understandable that some organisations were sceptical about embracing a media channel as visceral and as immediate as social. Such was the fear, some financial organisations even took steps to ban staff from publicly declaring their employment. Public walls went up and organisations hunkered down. Classic.

Financial services has come a long way since 2008. Yet, when it comes to social media, some organisations still adopt the ‘fall-back-to-the-bunker’ approach prevalent nine-years ago. Financial services are not risk averse; they’re known for being well-educated, analytically minded, studious with data, embracive of technology, and fuelled with courage to make tough decisions.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said when it comes to social media and the core decision-making by C-suite individuals. Too few organisations empower their social teams to drive the organisation’s marcomms agenda. In fact, all too often, social media is frowned upon: "we’ve just never done marketing that way". Upon investigation, I am sure you will find even the most traditional of companies employ someone to cover their social. My point is, they’re covering it. It’s not a core pillar within the marketing mix; it’s rarely given the same credence as other marketing channels, which nowadays is laughable.

Greater volume of financial organisations need to be moving with the innovative few, realising the importance of effective and consistent communications with internal and external stakeholders. Technology should be an enabler for better communications with our customers, traders, investors and employees. Not something we fear and prohibit the use of.

Fortunately, at Immediate Future we work with several financial services organisations that are leading the charge and doing it right. Equally, we’ve worked with some who adopted the ‘fall-back-to-the-bunker’ philosophy. They all use digital transformation rhetoric; sadly it’s just few live it.

This is largely due to a lack of social media knowledge at C-suite level. Greater knowledge is needed around reach, impact, targeting and media performance and efficiency versus other channels (particularly above the line). Chieftains need to better understand the full spectrum of relevant initiatives through social, their effectiveness and tangibility. I get frustrated by the number of CMOs and global marketing directors who have maintained or secured an organisation’s senior marketing role without understanding social media and the significant impact it has had globally on industries.

In the last few years, social and paid media budgets have been on the rise, eating into search and ATL budgets. I believe 2017 will see the greatest volume of growth yet. Organisations can no longer ignore the power, impact and tangibility of social media; there’s too much data out there evidencing so.

Technology and financial services are great bedfellows. We all use telephone, online and mobile banking. We use our iPhones and Apple Watches to check balances and make payments. Times have evolved. There is an immediacy to our financial management. The flow of information is faster than ever. We live in always-connected times.

Deploying a robust social strategy for your brand carries substantial benefits. It’s not simple to do; it requires significant investment with smart minds challenging the status quo. But, if done correctly, you’ll be delivering broad scale awareness, customer acquisition and loyalty and retention campaigns with greater and more affective targeting, less wastage than BTL and ATL and evidence with irrefutable data.

It starts with C-suite harnessing better knowledge of social. It ends with stronger stakeholder relationships with our customers, traders, investors and employees. Don’t fall-back to the bunker. Gather in your war room and plan your social offensive.

Colin Jacobs is is managing director at social digital agency Immediate Future.

This article originally appeared in The Drum Network supplement magazine on 8 March 2017.

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