Introduction
The First United Bank and Trust is a financial institution based in Maryland, U.S.A. that is known not only because of the quality and integrity of its banking services but also because of its commitment to customer service responsibilities, which it efficiently and effectively performs using social media strategies. This financial institution owns and maintains its own website with a lot of rich, dynamic, and interactive features that its clients need. The First United Bank and Trust also maintains a strong line of communication with its clients via the social networking platforms Facebook and LinkedIn, which are two of the biggest possible sites where banking clients may have am account on. Facebook users use the platform for social networking purposes while LinkedIn users use the platform mostly for work and business-related purposes. The First United Bank and Trust uses its social media networking footholds to accommodate creation of new client accounts, improve the overall quality of communication with and services for its clients by answering all types of bank-related inquiries and concerns in the comforts of wherever their clients are.
Banks are basically businesses. Just like any other company, they have to sustain a certain level of revenue, and earn a certain amount of profit to stay in the business. Otherwise, the bank could be open for acquisition by a larger bank that has the capability to handle the financial and administrative deficits, or simply be dissolved due to bankruptcy. With this idea in mind, it also makes sense to think that banks are also in dire need of a stable client base—clients that are willing to invest sums of their money in the bank’s coffers, knowing that their financial resources are stored safely and are put to good use. This is actually where the problem lies. Just like any other business, banks may also thrive and be destroyed with competition. There are banks that do enjoy a large client base—which can be equated to larger profits, and there are also some that do not—meaning, they do not enjoy that large a profit, at least when compared to banks that do. There are of course a number of strategies that banks and money-lending administrators could resort to should they want to increase their hold of and presence in the market. Traditional offline marketing strategies and more modern online marketing and advertising strategies are usually used for marketing and advertising purposes. This paper will focus on the use of online marketing strategies, particularly on the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., and how the banks use and could use them to stay more connected with their clients, and their long-term effects, citing some advantages and disadvantages along the process.
How Banks Could Market and Advertise Using Social Networking Websites
The internet is a huge place filled with millions, if not billions, of people. With the advent of the digital era and information technology, a lot of people have been hooked up with the use of the internet. Social media platforms can be used for advertising. The use of social media for marketing and advertising purposes has been called social network advertising. Businesses including banks have taken advantage of the idea that anyone who has a social life has a social media account. It is now so common for companies to own and manage their own fan pages and social media accounts in the most popular platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube. Owning a social media account for business, marketing and advertising purposes is practical because of two major reasons. It is relatively free and it automatically exposes the company to a large audience base the moment it creates its own social media account—which is basically the main idea behind marketing and advertising. The more access or lines of communication a company has to its target market, the larger the potential of any marketing and advertising campaign would be. These two reasons alone make it justifiable for financial institutions to create and manage their own social media accounts. Now, companies use social media platforms as forums where customers could inquire, suggest, and even complain. Clients often prefer to inquire via a company’s social media accounts because they do not have to conduct an on-site visit anymore, which not only adds up to the level of convenience but also saves a considerable amount of time, especially for individuals with heavily plotted schedulers and planners. The use of social media platforms as a mainstream advertisement tool has been common that multinational financial institutions now operate their own social media accounts. According to studies, advertising campaigns focused on social media strategies have more sales and regular client conversion rates than other marketing and advertising strategies.
First United Bank and Trust
The First United Bank and Trust is a financial, state-recognized institution based in the Maryland, United States. This is a bank that has some major footing in the World Wide Web. It currently owns and maintains a website where current and prospective clients could search for information like, the history of the company for example, and even for the steps required in opening up financial ties with this institution. Their website looks neat and professional at first glance. It even features a live chat feature where people with inquiries are given the chance to ask questions directly from the bank’s customer representatives. It would be worth noting that such feature does not work all the time because it appears that the live chat feature is only available within a certain time of the day. The First United Bank and Trust also uses the social media sites Facebook and LinkedIn in keeping up with their clients. In total, the institution has footholds on three popular social media websites. Using Facebook alone exposes the company to millions of users who could later on be bank clients. The company’s stance on social media advertising is not that bad but can definitely be improved.
Summit Community at West Virginia State
The Summit Community Bank is also a financial institution that was established in as early as 1883 in Moorefield, West Virginia. The company has recently shifted their advertising focus online. The company now has a fully operational website where the clients could find all the necessary information to open up a new account. They also have a live chat feature although we still happened to notice that just like the other banks who have website tested, this bank’s live chat feature appear to work selectively. The bank also features an iPhone and mobile integration system that enables users to receive alerts and other notifications on their phones, in real-time. Aside from owning a website, a Facebook fan page, and an iPhone and mobile integration platform, the company does not have any other foothold on the World Wide Web. Although using Facebook would, in most situations, be more than enough since it is basically the first choice among all other social media platforms of prospective banking clients, it would never hurt this bank to open up accounts in other major social media websites like Twitter,
Standard Bank
The Standard Bank is a 100 year old financial institution that was first established in Maryland State. They currently own and operate a website which clients looking for steps on how to open up a financial account in this institution could look up. Everything that a current and prospective client would want to know about the company, is it currently or in the past, can all be seen in the web platform. Major news such as the current events, down to the minutest information like the institution’s share prices are included. Unlike other financial institutions that were reviewed in this paper, the Standard Bank does not have foothold on any other internet social media platforms. The company does not even have a Facebook account which means that the only line of communication the clients can make use of would be via call, personal consultations, and by reading the information and guidelines provided in their website, which all appear to be very generic.
The First People’s Bank
The First People’s Bank is a financial institution that became fully operational during the 60s. Among the four banking websites that were reviewed in this paper, this is the simplest and least professional looking one. It was as if the website was made by a team of amateur website developers and programmers. It does not have a live chat feature unlike the other three banking websites we covered. Based on all the present information in the web pages, it would be safe to assume that the purpose of this financial institution’s managing a website was never to introduce electronic banking services to their clients or even their prospective clients but rather to simply serve as a spot where people could find their contact information—landline numbers, and email and physical addresses, which definitely helps them by increasing their online exposure, at some point, but could definitely be improved. Yes, the company does offer electronic banking services but the current online webpages they have provided for the clients to use are not as conducive or as premium compared to the electronic banking webpages of other banks we have reviewed. The company does not have any open accounts in other social media networking websites like Facebook and Twitter.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The First United Bank and Trust should take advantage of the fact that a huge percentage of the world population are now inclined and are actually hooked up with the internet. They can take advantage of this fact by creating social media accounts in the most popular platforms and keeping an official website. Currently, they have their own website, and account in Facebook and LinkedIn which are two of the most stable and popular platforms used by banking clients. One way to expand their social media influence is to try and reach out to their clients who are not in any of these two platforms. They may do so by making sure they have access to all the most commonly used social media platforms. In addition to what they have access to now, the First United Bank and Trust may try to maintain accounts in Twitter, Google Plus, and in Bank and money making forums. This will not only boost their online presence but also their credibility as a financial institution. They must also make sure that these communication outlets are well-maintained and that all inquiries and concerns are entertained or their social network advertising efforts would be as good as nothing. An adequate number of people should be assigned to maintain the accounts, especially for larger companies.
Compared to the four other banks reviewed in the paper, First United Bank and Trust and the Summit Community Bank at West Virginia State appear to be the most socially-integrated. In terms of the use of social media and the internet in communicating with current and prospective clients, the Stander Bank and First People’s Bank are a far cry from these two. Among the two, the Summit Community appears to get the higher edge in social integration. Both banks have their own websites with an almost identical set of features—live chat features, news and updates section, service applications pages, etc. The only difference is that the First United Bank and Trust has a LinkedIn account while the Summit Community Bank do not and the latter has an iPhone and Mobile social integration feature while the former do not. First United Bank and Trust’s social media advertising capabilities are good enough, at least when we compare it against the three other banks in this paper. However, for improvement’s sake, the author of this paper strongly recommends that the First United Bank and Trust work on having an Android and iPhone mobile integration feature on their website so that clients will be able to enjoy access to their services on the go.
There is no major reason for banks and other financial institutions not to engage in social media advertising. The developments in the internet and information technology have been so rampant a bank having its own website and social media accounts in multiple platforms is already considered a norm. Marketing and advertising campaigns that are inspired by social media will definitely outperform any traditional offline strategy.
References
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