More and more people are using social platforms every day to communicate with each other, and to find relevant information. They start to scroll through their newsfeeds in the morning before their eyes are even fully opened. You should be there too, but what’s in it for you? It’s simple: be where your potential customers are.
When we compare finance to other industries we can see that FinTech is left behind in the social media world. But social networks are not just for lifestyle, food, and clothing industries. It is important to keep an active presence wherever your target market is.
Social media can help you engage your customers, as well as educate or show them your company’s personality and main value. It’s good to provide quality content through various social media channels, especially if you’re thinking of implementing growth hacking methods. It is not a must, but it increases visibility, and builds trust. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes – if you can’t find the company on popular social networks, you’re not very likely to do business with them, right?
So, where do you start?
Social media is a perfect place to build a real community that reaches the people interested in your business. It’s easy to say, but the key (and also the challenge) is to build the public’s trust. This is especially true in the FinTech industry. So if you’re thinking of starting to use social media marketing in your financial company, just remember these few things:
- Optimize your profile. Remember to include the most necessary pieces of information such as location, email address, phone number, and your website. Do not neglect to fill out you ‘About’ section, this is your chance to tell potential customers all about why they should choose you. You should also use an appropriate cover image that matches your company’s visual branding. It is important to leave a good impression on your visitors, and this will be the first thing they see.
- Research your market. You need to know who you can speak with because it helps you to create content that matches with your target goals and objectives.
- Be consistent. Even if your company is present in different social media platforms, you shouldn’t send mixed messages to the audience. It’s not about sharing the same content (because the audience for each social network are different), but remember to build a business identity with consistent brand and voice.
- Prepare for the long journey. A couple of days, or even weeks aren’t enough to build a great impact on your content marketing campaign. So be prepared to stick it out for the long haul.
- Build relations, not sales. Today’s internet users are very savvy, so sometimes it is hard to convince them to trust your brand. Talk with them, interact and answer their question. Be their friend, not a pushy salesperson.
Now that you know the basics, it is time to tell you how you can use individual popular social media channels in different ways.
Let’s begin with Facebook
People usually use Facebook to talk about their products. It’s also a good place to show the brand’s personality, and what really happens behind the scenes. Here you can also post your blog updates and information relevant to your business in order to drive even more interest.
The great thing about Facebook is that you get to listen to consumers, and understand their needs. They can in turn, let you know what they think of your products and share their experiences. Reply to your followers and engage them by asking questions. It is also good to interact with other pages in your industry to increase visibility, but avoid SPAM! Customers can smell spam from a mile away and they will tuck their tail and run at the first sign of it.
You can (and should) also take advantage of Facebook’s advertising capabilities. The platform is truly powerful and allows for targeted marketing.
So what about Twitter?
Twitter is one of the best social networking service to build relations with your prospects, and current customers. Influencers usually use this channel for making their purchasing decisions, so use it to interact with potential customers and people in your industry, and reply to them to increase visibility.
You can (and should) post news and updates related to the payment industry. This is because it helps you to get more followers, create credibility and position yourself as an expert.
Build your professional brand with LinkedIn
If you’re running a FinTech business, you should most definitely be present on LinkedIn. It’s a social platform specifically designed for professionals, so you’re bound to find customers as well as business partners here – maybe even employees.
The content on your company page should be relevant to your industry. Share the company news, information about new products and services, or video from the event you were part of. Be professional, but not boring.
Furthermore, use the power of LinkedIn groups – that’s the part of the platform you should be focusing on most. Join to your industry-relevant groups, monitor discussions and be active in conversations. This helps you to reach the appropriate people, as well as build credibility and position yourself as an expert in the FinTech industry.
Try Instagram
What about Instagram? It’s a huge photo-based social network with over 400 million users sharing their images and videos each day, so it’s hard to ignore.
But how can sharing photos or short videos can improve your sales? It depends on who your target is. Remember that most of Instagram users are millennials, so if your product or service is not targeted at them, let it go. However, using Instagram for your business may be a great idea to maintain relationships with existing customers and with your prospects.
When posting on Instagram, focus on hi-res photos and graphics that are relevant to your financial product. Keep in mind that a video says more than a thousand words, so take advantage! It could be a short info-graphic, summary of an event you attended, or short behind the scenes segment… the possibilities are endless! As a general rule, the content should resolve customer’s problems and answer their needs.
Moreover, you can use advertising options to reach specific users. Instagram is barely touched by the FinTech industry, so this may be your chance to be the leader on this social channel.
Be more visible with YouTube
If you would like to create videos longer than 15 seconds, then you should use YouTube. Create a brand page on this channel and make it awesome! It’s a powerful way to make your business more visible and professional. Keep in mind that YouTube is owned by Google, so – if well optimized – it can boost your SEO ranking!
Here again, the possibilities abound. Try a product video, tutorials and “how-to’s,” video infographics, news releases, or funny animations relevant to your brand. You’re going to have to think outside the box to build up your brand with an audience on YouTube!
These videos can also be distributed through other social media channels or posted on websites and sent by e-mail. But YouTube consumers generally have a taste for videos filmed with quality equipment and great lighting. So if you have a small budget, you should think of posting a short video on Instagram instead.
Do you need social media for customer support?
Sometimes it’s good to use social media (especially Facebook and Twitter) as a customer service channel. This is one of the quickest and easiest way to respond, and people in social media demand a quick response when they ask a question. It is also agreat way for customers to know they can reach their provider any time they need answers. You should always be focused on providing unbeatable customer support on your website.
Did you know that only 2% of users liking Facebook posts or pages, revisit the corporate sites? Social channels are great for publishing information, attracting and listening to the audience, but it’s not easy to get close to customers, so you’ll need to be patient.
The FinTech industry is growing fast, so it’s obvious that financial technology companies are looking for “growth hacking” solutions to find their place on the internet. Social media may be used in many different ways, and for a variety of purposes. So no matter which platform(s) you choose to use, focus on your target audience and think about the best way to reach them. Some companies use these networks as a part of their marketing (and even sales) strategy – while others keep the social media accounts to find out what people are saying about the financial technology market.
All in all, it’s about promotion. People need to hear about you and if you’re running an online business, you should definitely be visible on the social networks. It is a lot of work to get up and running and even more work to maintain but it is worth it in the end.
Key Takeaways
- Choose the right social media channel(s) for your brand.
- Be consistent and patient.
- Listen to and engage customers – and focus on personal interests.
- Interact, don’t just communicate.
- Reach out to influencers.
- Adapt to the new reality created by social media.
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