How Social Media Has Shifted the Financial Industry
Social media has impacted the financial industry more than ever before. Where financial advice and information used to be shared in pricey seminars, books or the closed offices of a bank, financial institutions are sharing their wisdom with droves of engaged followers, soaking up their every word. Finance institutions aren’t the only ones making a splash on social — 14% of social media users follow financial influencers on a range of platforms.
Let’s explore the impact of social media and digital marketing on the financial industry and learn how brands can craft and improve their own social media strategy.
This blog covers:
- Benefits of social media for the finance industry.
- How finance brands can build a social media strategy.
- The most popular channels for the finance industry.
Social Media Benefits for the Finance Industry
Marketing your finance brand on social media can seem challenging due to the industry’s complex makeup and regulatory constraints. However, the benefits can outweigh these challenges and enhance how finance brands increase reach, connect with audiences and more. Below are the benefits of marketing your finance brand on social media.
Build Trust and Credibility
In the finance industry, trust is the currency of choice. Social media provides a platform to showcase your expertise, share insightful content and engage in conversations that help build credibility and trust with your audience. Trust is crucial for financial institutions and a key decision-making factor for customers.
Demystify Finance
Finance can be intimidating for many. Social media lets you break down complex financial concepts into digestible, relatable content. Think infographics, short videos and simple explanations. This approach can help demystify finance for the average person, making your brand more approachable and understandable.
Target Communication
Paid ads and boosted posts let you precisely target specific social media demographics — a big plus for marketers. Whether you want to focus on small business owners for loans or millennials for investment apps, social media lets you tailor your message to different audience segments' needs and interests.
Enhance Customer Service
Social media provides a direct channel for customer feedback and queries. For financial institutions, this is an opportunity to enhance customer service. Timely responses and proactive engagement on these platforms can significantly improve customer loyalty in financial services and satisfaction.
Market Insights and Trends
Social media is a goldmine for real-time market insights. Financial firms can gain valuable insights into consumer behavior, market conditions and emerging economic trends by monitoring conversations with social listening, industry trends, and customer sentiment. This information can be crucial for adapting strategies and staying ahead of the curve.
Thought Leadership
Financial firms can position themselves as thought leaders by consistently sharing informative content. This open sharing of knowledge is particularly effective in finance, where expertise is highly valued. Moreover, 27% of finance influencer followers are innovators or early adopters of new products. With an audience tuned in and more likely to act on new features or products, brands can share exciting concepts and new services with an audience more likely to convert.
Cost-Effective Marketing
Compared to traditional marketing channels, social media can be more cost-effective than traditional marketing channels and offer a higher ROI. Brands can significantly boost their reach and engagement rates even with a modest budget.
Reputation Management
While navigating regulatory requirements is challenging, it also presents an opportunity to showcase your commitment to compliance and ethical practices. Properly managed social media can enhance your brand reputation as responsible and trustworthy.
Social media isn’t just a marketing tool for the finance industry; it’s a strategic asset that can build trust, demystify finance, provide targeted solutions, enhance customer service, offer valuable market insights, establish thought leadership and manage reputation — all while being cost-effective. The trick is to approach it with a strategy that respects the unique nature of the financial world and its regulatory environment.
How To Build a Social Media Strategy for Finance Services in 5 Steps
In the finance industry, trust and expertise are paramount. Therefore, a social media strategy isn’t just beneficial; it’s necessary. As digital marketing evolves, the finance industry faces the unique challenge of communicating complex information in an engaging, approachable and, of course, compliant way. A well-planned social strategy empowers financial institutions to navigate these challenges, stay competitive and meaningfully connect with their audience.
Here’s how Financial brands can create a successful social media strategy.
1. Identify Target Demographics
The foundation of any effective social media strategy lies in knowing your audience. Identifying your target demographics – from millennials seeking investment advice to retirees looking for wealth management solutions – allows you to tailor your content, tone, and messaging. This ensures your social media efforts resonate with those most likely to engage with your services.
2. Identify Key Marketing Campaigns
Once you know your audience, align your social media efforts with key marketing campaigns. Whether promoting a new financial product, sharing insights on market trends, or raising awareness about financial literacy, your campaigns should reflect your business objectives while adding value to your audience's social media experience.
3. Conduct a Social Media Audit
Before you chart a new course, understand where you stand. A social media audit helps you assess your current presence, strengths and areas for improvement. This process involves reviewing your existing channels, audience engagement and content effectiveness.
4. Familiarize Your Team With Finance Compliance
Compliance is crucial in the finance industry. Ensure your team is well-versed in relevant regulations, especially content creation and customer interactions. It’s important to archive all published content and customer correspondence to maintain transparency and adhere to regulatory standards.
5. Plan and Schedule Your Content
A well-organized content calendar and posting schedule will save you valuable time and energy. Social teams should use a Scheduler tool and social media calendar template to streamline the process and post regular, timely updates with the flexibility to respond to real-time trends and events.
By following these steps, financial institutions can develop a social media strategy that effectively builds reach and engagement and stays compliant with industry standards.
The Most Popular Social Channels For Finance
Navigating the social media and finance landscape requires a strategic approach, as each platform offers unique audiences and opportunities, from B2B marketing to partnerships with social media finance influencers and more.
LinkedIn marketing stands out for financial institutions — this ideal B2B marketing platform can help finance brands network and establish thought leadership in the industry. Financial institutions use LinkedIn to share industry insights, news, white papers and more. It’s also a great tool to acquire talent.
X
X’s real-time nature makes it excellent for sharing market updates, financial news and quick insights. It’s a platform where being concise is vital, and brands can engage in timely conversations, provide customer support and leverage trending topics to stay relevant.
89% of marketers use Facebook — with its vast user base, Facebook is a great place to reach different B2C demographics and share blog posts, educational videos and community stories. Meta’s paid advertisement options also let brands target campaigns and reach specific audiences based on interests, behaviors and location.
TikTok
TikTok is massively popular with a younger demographic, and its short-form video format lends itself to creative content that breaks down complex concepts or offers tips. TikTok lets finance brands engage in a more light-hearted and relatable way and provides a vast potential to tap into the Millennial and Gen Z market.
Though less conventional for finance, Instagram is increasingly popular for financial brands. It’s ideal for visual storytelling, brand-building and humanizing finance through images, short videos and stories. Financial brands on Instagram can showcase their corporate culture, CSR initiatives and to share infographics that simplify complex financial concepts.
YouTube
YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google and a powerhouse for short-form content via YouTube Shorts and long-form videos. YouTube is an excellent medium for educational content, explainer videos and in-depth analysis. Financial institutions can leverage YouTube to provide value-added content like investment advice, market analysis and how-to guides.
6 Finance Social Media Posts Examples
Social media for finance presents an excellent opportunity to leverage visuals and connect with audiences. Here’s how a variety of financial brands find success using social media.
RBC
RBC effectively uses humor and relatability to engage its audience. They present financial advice light-heartedly, making it more accessible and appealing to a younger audience. Using a popular platform like TikTok and incorporating trending styles or music can significantly boost engagement.
Wealth Simple
Wealth Simple uses bright, colorful visuals to remind users about an upcoming RRSP deadline. Its design is perfect for catching user’s attention and appealing to a younger audience.
PayPal
PayPal’s Instagram Reel incorporates social proof into their social content by spotlighting a user’s experience getting hacked and how PayPal’s digital wallet helps users avoid security issues with their financial accounts.
SoFi
This post is effective because it addresses a common financial concern — student loans — in a relatable way. SoFi uses humor and a casual tone to provide insight into a typically complex topic, making financial information more digestible for a broad audience.
Klarna
Klarna uses a creative and humorous approach to showcasing its services. Using humor and a quirky presentation makes the brand more memorable and stands out. The post is tailored to the broader TikTok audience, which appreciates creativity and entertainment.
Coinbase
Coinbase’s video is successful because it provides valuable and informative content in an engaging format. It likely uses storytelling or visual elements to simplify complex financial concepts and make them more accessible to a broader audience. YouTube allows for longer, more in-depth content, which can benefit topics that require more explanation.
Elevate Social Media for Finance with Dash Hudson
Dash Hudson’s suite of social media tools for brands in the financial industry streamlines and enhances social strategy. Tools like Dash Hudson's Predictive Vision AI help predict which visual assets have the best chance to perform, while Social Analytics and Monitoring help you measure performance, identify trends and learn more about your audience.
Relationships help you measure influencer performance and ROI, while the Creator Discovery feature lets brands research potential influencer partnerships and sort them by industry, followers and more. LikeShop offers a link-in-bio solution for financial institutions to streamline the customer journey and share more resources with your audience.
FAQs
What kind of social media should a finance company have?
Social media for finance companies offers a unique blend of challenge and opportunity. It's all about striking the right balance between professionalism and accessibility. Financial organizations should focus on platforms that favor informative content and foster professional networking. LinkedIn, for instance, is a goldmine for connecting with professionals and sharing detailed, insightful content. TikTok, on the other hand, is perfect for utilizing short-form videos and TikTok campaigns that target younger demographics.
How is social media used in finance?
Social media in finance isn't just about broadcasting content; it's a tool for engagement and building trust. It's used to share market insights, regulatory changes and thought leadership articles, which position your company as a knowledgeable and reliable source. Moreover, it opens up a channel for direct communication with clients, providing timely updates and responses to their queries.
