The beginning of 2015 marks the 5th anniversary of what still feels like a relatively young phenomenon: social media. Starting with the mass distribution of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter etc., a young marketing discipline was born in 2010 that is specifically dedicated to this topic: social media marketing.
In these five years, social media has fascinated many people, and many studies have been produced. In this investment compass, Dallorey Marketing Consulting, in cooperation with the marketing agency publicorange, has analyzed 40 sources (studies, specialist articles, white papers, etc.) from the last two years that are dedicated to the banking sector. The results were striking: While many industries have left the fundamental discussion phase behind when it comes to social media and many companies are already investigating new marketing disciplines, the financial services industry still seems to be in the middle of this fundamental discussion. This could be an indication that social media still holds great potential for the banking sector. Social media is therefore still an important and topical issue for banks in 2015!
Another result of the analysis: many study results are not very suitable as a guide to action for current issues facing banks in practice. A common tenor of the studies is: "Banks are lagging behind when it comes to social media!" Or: "Banks are maneuvering themselves into the sidelines with their social media abstinence!" It is also common to read: "Banks must invest in social media now!" It may be that such statements are intended to shake up decision-makers in the banking sector - but such findings are usually too generalized to serve as concrete decision-making aids. They do not take into account how diversified the banking sector is, nor the different functions that social media can perform in companies.
Answering specific questions about social media
It is not a question of "Do banks need social media or not?" Rather, the Investment Compass aims to answer more specific questions. For example: "Can an investment bank win customers with social media?" Or: "Can the bank improve its customer service in the lending business if it uses social media?"
For this reason, no new data was collected, no further surveys were launched and no existing social media presences of banks were analyzed. Instead, the aim is to build a bridge from the large number of existing social media publications and studies to the decision-makers involved. Five years of lessons learned should help to develop an orientation matrix that makes banks' investment in social media transparent and thus easier.
