Social Media Marketing Finances

When it comes to social media marketing for finance, many companies in the finance and insurance sectors are extremely reluctant. Often they do not even try to set up social media marketing for finance or insurance. Others, in turn, had tried it once so incidentally and the results were then not satisfactory. And especially with social media marketing, it just doesn’t work that way. Without strategy, effort, creativity and clear objectives, the chance of success with social media marketing in the financial sector is zero.

1. Why many companies in the finance and insurance sectors do not use social media marketing

1.1 Boring product or service

One reason for companies from the finance and insurance sectors not to rely on social media marketing lies in the products themselves. Often, their own product is not perceived as sufficiently exciting to be able to generate cool stories or graphics from it for Facebook or Instagram, for example. This is always done by pointing out that social media marketing is much more of a marketing channel for industries such as fashion and tourism, since these products and services are much more emotional and can convey positive moods. It goes without saying that this view is unacceptable, especially for marketers. The only question that arises is the following:

Are our customers and also potential customers on social media?

If the answer to this question is yes, then there is no reason to do without social media marketing. Just to be clear; no matter what finance and insurance products are involved, customers and potential customers are using social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn or TikTok. The challenge for marketers is essentially to get creative and develop a social media marketing strategy that makes sense. In addition, marketing managers then have to do some convincing internally. This is because a dismissive attitude can often be seen right up to senior management when it comes to the topic of social media marketing finances.

1.2 Reputation

The second main reason for companies in the finance and insurance sectors not to use social media marketing is the often comparatively strong fear of losing trust and reputation and, in case of doubt, of being hit by the dreaded shitstorm. Many companies in the financial sector see customer trust as one of their most important assets. And since products often involve money, the issue of trust is naturally all the more important. It is also possible that the regulations and control mechanisms of BaFin are responsible for the restrained behavior of the companies. After all, Wikipedia states, among other things

… “for investors, bank customers and insured persons, it ensures confidence in the financial markets and the companies operating in them.” …

And anyone who has ever worked in a company in the finance and insurance sectors will be confronted with processes that tend not to be taken for granted in other industries, such as the money laundering audit that has to be completed on a regular basis. However, there are exceptions here as well. Some participants from the financial sector are very active in the area of social media marketing.

2. Very active players from the financial world in social media

As the saying goes; exceptions prove the rule. I see three areas in particular from the financial world that are already very active in the area of social media marketing.

2.1 Exception securities trading

While many banks and insurance companies are still ignoring the social media marketing channel or are taking their first steps, many players in the investment sector are already very active and successful, especially when it comes to securities. My observation here is that, for some reason, securities trading is much more relaxed compared to most other areas of the financial world, and brings a certain coolness factor, so to speak. Even in conservative news programs like “Börse vor acht” in the program of “das Erste”, the stock exchange news is presented with a wink. This area has developed its very own language and also humor. To be fair, one has to admit that the topic of securities has a lot of exciting elements for everyone involved. Stories are told here and legends such as Warren Buffett are quoted, which are very interesting for investors. Accordingly, the supply and demand of informative to funny formats on the social media channels is quite large. In particular, video formats such as those available on YouTube and Instagram are popular for dissemination.

2.2 Exception Fintechs and Insurtechs

Even though Fintechs and Insurtechs often came onto the scene well-funded in the past, however, they are often more receptive to social media. This is partly because these young companies want to be perceived as cool. On the other hand, social media is also a good fit for these startups, especially if these companies can come up with disruptive technologies. Then it also fits very well to differ from the established companies with regard to the customer approach and the use of communication channels.

2.3 Editorial consumer portals

Editorial consumer portals have made a huge leap in social media marketing in recent years. Reader trust is enormously important for these portals as well. After all, these portals offer lots of content and knowledge about finance and insurance products. For many consumers, these players provide the essential information that leads to a purchase decision. Be it the conclusion of a current account, the Depoteröffnung, the credit or the decision for a private age precaution or health insurance. Portals like the Berlin-based company Finanztip, in particular, are now very active and play your message simultaneously on Facebook, YouTube, Xing, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. In addition, they use the synergies and also build the bridge to e-mail marketing via social media marketing, if they offer the entry to the newsletter prominently there.

3. Strategy and setup: Social media marketing for finance and insurance

Anyone who wants to start social media marketing for finance and insurance definitely needs a plan. Just getting started can be a start, of course, but a strategy still needs to be developed promptly. Otherwise, you’ll quickly get lost in social media and won’t celebrate any successes.

3.1 Goals

If you look at some guidebooks on the topic of social media marketing strategy, you will often notice statements that social media goal setting is not about sales. However, I see it differently. For me, the overarching goal of any marketing channel is to sell. How to get there, however, is another question. While some marketing channels enable a very direct sales approach, others are more indirect in nature.
However, this does not change the actual goal:
The acquisition of new customers and, if possible, renewed sales to existing customers.

Subordinate goals can therefore be the following, for example:

Image
Customer loyalty
Brand awareness
Reach
Service

3.2 Target group

Knowing who the target group actually is that is to be reached through social media marketing is essential in order to find the right approach and also to be able to select the right social channels. The following questions are important here:

Who is our target group?
What topics does our target group like?
Which topics do our target group share and like?

A recognized method here is the development of personas. Persona means the creation of prototypical profiles, which have specific information about the target group. The following demographic information is essential here:

Age
Education
Needs
Shopping behavior
Income
Interests
Motivation
Problems
Place of residence

The better the existing and future target group is known, the better it can be addressed with appropriate content. More info on persona is here.

3.3 Selection of social media channels

The selection of channels depends primarily on whether the target group can be reached there and whether the channel fits the defined goal. If both apply, then appropriate content can be created to achieve the goal and adapted to the channel specific requirements.
Tip: A look at the social media marketing activities of other market participants from the areas of finance and insurance can provide valuable information and insights. In particular, it is easy to see what works well and what does not work well.

3.4 Team

Companies from the finance and insurance sectors that want to start with social media now will quickly be confronted with the fact that a cross-functional team from marketing will be necessary here. This is because implementing the social media strategy requires a wide variety of workflows and the involvement of different marketing disciplines. Starting with the strategy, the following areas are also involved:

Management

Budget planning
Budget approval
Monetization
Performance measurement

Editorial

Content ideas
Content creation
Editorial planning
Release manager

Interaction

Edit comments, likes, shares etc. …

Design

Design guidelines
Creation of visuals

With this task list, it is clear that employees from PR, SEO, design, performance marketing, customer support, etc. can be part of the social media marketing team.

4. Conclusion social media marketing finance

When it comes to social media marketing finance, some areas such as securities trading and providers with disruptive technologies have advantages for the time being. Nevertheless, the question is not whether social media is useful for financial products. The question must be:

“How can social media marketing become part of the marketing mix and support the sale of products and services?

For this, a well thought-out strategy must be created, appropriate resources must be deployed, and the company must become aware of the relevance of the channel.