How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
In today's digital age, social media platforms have become essential tools for professionals in various industries to connect with clients, share valuable insights, and build their brand. Instagram, with its visual appeal and highly-engaged user base, is no exception. For financial professionals, leveraging Instagram can be a powerful way to showcase expertise, establish credibility, and build stronger relationships. In this blog post, we will discuss the best practices for building your Instagram business profile as a financial professional that will give your social selling a boost.
Choose a Professional Username and Profile Picture
Start by selecting a username that reflects your name or your financial business's name. Keep it simple and easy to remember. Use a high-quality profile picture, such as a professional headshot or your company logo. This picture will be the first impression potential followers have of you.
Optimize Your Bio
Craft a concise and informative bio that clearly defines your role and expertise. Use relevant keywords, such as "Financial Advisor," "Mortgage Loan Officer,” or "Insurance Agent." Include a brief but captivating description of the value you provide to your customers. Highlight any unique selling points or specializations.
Content Strategy
Determine your content niche. Share content that aligns with your expertise, such as investment tips, financial planning advice, or market insights. Develop a content calendar to ensure consistency. Aim for a mix of educational, inspirational, and personal posts. Use high-quality images and graphics to enhance your posts. Visual appeal is essential on Instagram!
Engage Your Audience
Respond promptly to comments and direct messages. Engaging with your followers builds a sense of trust and connection. You want your followers to engage with your posts, so do the same for them! Like, comment, and share to help increase visibility.
Use Hashtags Wisely
Research and use relevant hashtags to increase the discoverability of your posts. Utilize both industry-specific and popular hashtags. Best practice is to use 5-10 hashtags per post as they relate to the content.
Collaborate and Network
Collaborate with influencers or other professionals in your industry. Guest posts or shoutouts can expand your reach. Attend industry events and share your experiences on Instagram. It’s all about taking those in-person relationships online, too.
Educate and Inform
Share informative and educational content that empowers your audience. Explainer videos, infographics, and step-by-step guides can be especially valuable. Stay up-to-date with the latest financial news and trends, and share your unique insights with your followers. Always provide value!
Analytics and Optimization
Regularly analyze your Instagram Insights to understand which content performs best and when your audience is most active. Use this data to refine your content strategy and posting schedule for optimal engagement.
Promote Your Services
While Instagram is a platform for sharing valuable content, don't forget to promote your services subtly. Share client success stories or case studies to showcase your expertise in action.
Stay Compliant
Ensure that your posts comply with industry regulations and guidelines. Be transparent about any potential conflicts of interest. Luckily, platforms like Denim Social that are built for the financial services industry can help with that!
In conclusion, Instagram can be a valuable tool for financial professionals to connect with clients and prospects. By following these best practices, you can build a strong and trustworthy online presence that sets you apart in the competitive world of finance. Remember that consistency and authenticity are key to establishing a successful Instagram business profile for financial professionals. See our Denim Social guide to building stronger customer relationships on Instagram here!
Instagram stands out as the shining star of social media platforms. While Facebook still reigns supreme and TikTok grows, Instagram is quickly catching up fast with more than 2 billion users worldwide.
With users under age 34 making up nearly 60 percent of this user population, financial services marketers looking to reach younger generations should take note. And with an estimated sum of $68 trillion in wealth expected to transfer from Baby Boomers to Millennials in the next couple of decades, Millennials are a worthwhile target.
Studies predict that, after inheriting wealth, 80% or more young heirs will seek out a new financial advisor. Considering that 9 in 10 accounts follow at least one business on Instagram and 8 in 10 users find new products and services in the app, it’s a safe bet that Instagram will be a place to influence many Millennials. Wise financial services marketers will meet them where they are with strong Instagram marketing strategies, and the following tips can help:
1. Focus on paid ads
Instagram is a visual platform for sharing photos and videos, so it’s important for brand pages to populate their profiles with organic posts. While this presence is important, organic content isn’t what will move the needle on business goals. Financial services aren’t exactly visually interesting, and organic posts tend to have low reach as they only show up in the feeds of a brand’s current followers. Without the ability to include hyperlinks in captions, they also won’t drive any traffic back to your site. If you want to build the type of following needed to generate new business, including paid advertising in your Instagram marketing strategy is your ticket.
With Instagram advertising, institutions and advisors can target ads to land with exactly the right audience — even outside their follower base — and include links in posts to drive more traffic to the brand. With a specific call to action that directs consumers to learn more about a topic, Instagram ads offer a straight-line path to giving customers the valuable information they desire — in their own time and at their own place. What’s more, Instagram advertising is seamlessly integrated directly into Instagram feeds and stories, creating a smoother user experience all around.
2. Connect with consumers on a local level
Instagram marketing on the corporate brand level is a great starting point, but advertising on behalf of your individual advisors can take your strategy to the next level. Think of it this way: If a consumer sees a well-known brand on social media, they might recognize the name, but they won’t feel an intrinsic connection beyond initial familiarity. In contrast, they’ll feel familiarity and an immediate connection when they see a post from an advisor in their own community. Consumers want to build relationships with brands, and a shared community is a great starting point.
Of course, most advisors and other financial services employees are not experts on how to market the business on Instagram. And marketers know they must keep all social media marketing for their financial institutions compliant to avoid heavy regulatory reprimands. To keep posts compliant, save employees time, and help them build relationships with consumers in their physical communities, financial services marketers can set up and run ads on their behalf.
3. Micro-target content to your audience
As big-name brands like Amazon continue to elevate the digital customer experience with seamless customer service, purchasing, and delivery, customer expectations are higher than ever before. When customers evaluate a financial institution, they compare it not only to other organizations in the industry, but also to tech giants in any industry that give them exactly what they need when they need it.
They expect a high level of personalization and convenience, and Instagram marketing with paid advertising can help you give it to them. Match basic behavioral and geographic data to potential customers on Instagram to target ads, and then track clicks, engagements, and post-click actions. These data points don’t indicate much on their own, but together they offer a rich story about what consumers want. Continually refine your strategy with these data points in mind to deliver the kind of highly personalized experiences your audiences want on Instagram.
With a large Millennial user base that engages actively with brands online and the ability to target highly personalized ads to exactly the right audiences, Instagram is a must-have in any financial services marketing strategy. To learn more about how Instagram marketing can work to drive your business forward, download our guide to building stronger customer relationships on Instagram for free today.
Where Are the Biggest Opportunities to Use Social Media in Financial Services?
Denim Social's Guide To Social Selling For Financial Services shows that most financial professionals — 83% of those surveyed — have a social media presence. It’s a great place to start, but having a profile is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what benefits financial institutions can enjoy from social media. Smart financial marketers and their teams should be optimizing their social selling efforts on every network to get the most out of what social media has to offer.
Customers are active in many other places online, so why not meet them there? After all, 79% of people look to social media for financial advice. By meeting customers where they are on the main 4 networks, financial institutions can stay top of mind and grow real, authentic connections. Let’s dive into what Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook have to offer and how financial services marketers can best use each platform.
1. Instagram
As far as major social media platforms in financial services go, Instagram tops the list. While many financial professionals might not at first think of the photographic and visual network as prime business territory, its popularity makes it an excellent place to strengthen real relationships.
Instagram is one of the best ways to get in front of younger audiences, which is a worthwhile goal, considering that many Millennial customers will likely be on the search for new financial services providers as Baby Boomers pass their wealth on to the next generations. What's more, 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business account and 80% use the platform to discover new products.
Even better, getting started on Instagram is a breeze. Instagram ads also allow hyperlinks, so you can lead readers right from their feeds to your website with specific calls to action to learn more. Lead them to a personalized and well-designed landing page on your site, for instance, and you'll be drawing each follower who clicks through one big step closer to conversion.
2. LinkedIn
The majority of financial services providers already use LinkedIn, and there are many ways to make it perhaps the most successful social selling platform out of all the networks. Employees at institutions of all sizes and financial industries can use this professional network to cultivate thought leadership and educate their customers.
For financial services marketers, a brand profile is a necessary starting point. Getting the most out of the platform, however, requires activating your employees in a social selling strategy. They can share relevant content, such as videos and published articles from trusted media outlets, as well as engage with customers and prospects one-on-one via direct messaging to establish themselves as experts and build trusting relationships. People want to engage with other people, not with general brand pages. It’s no wonder that employees on social media can garner 10x the engagement of brand pages alone.
3. Twitter
Like LinkedIn, Twitter is also a great place for agents, loan officers, and advisors to share their expertise. Understandably, financial services marketers might be intimidated by the fast-paced nature of the platform and fear they don’t have enough resources to keep up. However, with the proper social media management tools, maintaining compliant engagement on Twitter is totally possible — and worth it.
One of the greatest benefits of social media marketing for financial services is the ability to provide more value to customers. Twitter makes this incredibly easy to do. Marketers can follow all relevant news media outlets and keep an eye out for any articles that might benefit their clients or prospects. For example, an explainer piece on recent changes in tax legislation may be helpful come tax season. Retweeting such helpful resources educates followers on financial topics and builds trust in the brand and its employees.
There’s no single best social media platform for marketing. Each one has a unique opportunity to reach and engage current and future customers. If you’re already on social media, it’s time to level up your social media marketing strategy by diving into Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook in more depth. No matter the size of your financial institution, extending your social media strategy to encompass these platforms can help grow your audience, build trust, and maintain solid customer relationships.
Whether you love or loathe social media's infiltration into every element of our personal and professional lives, there's no denying that this powerful medium is never going away. Social networks are growing bigger and stronger by the day. Forward-thinking achievers in every industry understand this and have responded by leaning all the way into social selling.
For the unaware, social selling is using social media to sell a product or service by showcasing authenticity, strengthening relationships with clients and prospects, and building thought leadership. In social selling, advisors use their own social pages to promote content about their brand and services, but with a personal spin.
Everyone from dog groomers to financial advisors are utilizing multiple social networks to build a following and bolster their personal brands, and those who fully embrace social media's ubiquity outperform their competitors and win more business. It's as simple as that.
The key, though, is finding a way to stand out from the competition online. There's a big difference between "doing social media" and doing it well.
The difficulty with differentiation
As we all know, the internet is more than likely the first place individuals go to get advice these days — financial, familial, and absolutely everything in between. So when people go online to search for guidance on money matters, they won't find you if you aren't there, actively promoting your expertise and services.
There's no stronger business case for social media (and social selling) than that: It's where your potential customers are. Meet them there and give them what they need. If you don't, someone else will.
To set yourself apart as a financial advisor, you need to be able to sell yourself — not just your firm. Sure, many financial advisors are intermediated and you likely don't have free rein to post everything you might want to on social channels, but that shouldn't be a deal-breaker. There's still plenty to say without risking any backlash or drawing the ire of regulators.
Put your fears aside
Though some in the financial industry might feel wary or daunted by interacting directly with clients or prospects, online exchanges matter in today’s market. Brands that use a more generic social-media strategy can end up sounding too promotional, focused more on boosting the brand to a broad audience instead of forging real connections. Rather than creating original content that speaks to their particular audience, financial institutions treat these social channels as glorified billboards instead of networking opportunities for each individual advisor.
That’s too bad because there’s real power behind social selling today. When comparing the social media potential of brands vs. individuals, one study found that employees have 10 times the reach and double the engagement of the brands they speak for. The best sellers in large companies, meanwhile, were the ones who regularly used technology to foster connections with new prospects or existing clients. Building genuine relationships pays off for both advisors and brands.
So, how does someone improve their social-selling efforts? How can financial advisors use the power of their individuality to differentiate themselves from their peers? Here are five tips to help you better accomplish social selling on your personal pages:
1. Ask an expert
Even if you’re on board with tapping into the potential of authentic relationship-building through social selling, you still need the right tools and training for the job. After all, your area of expertise is in the valuable services you provide to your clients, not online marketing.
An excellent move for advisors is to seek advice from your firms’s marketing or branding team. Not only can they help you develop an effective social-selling strategy, but they can also provide you with the resources and tools you need to more effectively and efficiently create, plan, and schedule your posts. Compliance experts can also educate you on the rules that govern social media in the financial services industry. Ideally, your firm provides continuous training and tools to ensure you stay on the right side of regulations.
2. Be real
The type of posts that most people see on their social-media feeds are at least partially determined by an algorithm. These algorithms are generally designed to serve up content that users are most likely to engage with in one way or another. This can be a huge advantage, but it also means that you can’t expect to stay on people’s minds if you deliver bland, uninteresting content that isn't relevant to your audience.
That doesn’t mean you should go posting clickbait or try to shock people (there’s definitely such a thing as bad engagement). Instead, the best way to get and keep people’s attention is to be your real self. Post about what matters to you and do it in your own voice, not just copying/pasting brand posts. Post about local happenings that people in your area might care about. Speak to the challenges you hear clients ask about most. In social selling, authenticity is the fastest way to start building deeper and more lasting relationships.
3. Consistency is key
How much engagement your posts garner will often depend on when and how often you post. Not only does each channel (like Facebook or LinkedIn) tend to have different times when engagement is at its peak, but your specific audience may also have their own preferences. A little research here can go a long way.
Build a sustainable cadence and stay the course. Consistency is crucial. If you post more than once a day, make sure that each has a few hours to shine on its own. And if a post is getting a particularly high response rate, wait a while before potentially drowning it out with something new. Remember: Algorithms are looking for engagement, not frequency.
4. Mix it up
Another way to ensure better engagement (and a better response from the algorithm!) is to mix up the type of content you share. Your online presence should be a healthy medley of brand, industry, and personal and community content.
You will need to figure out what the right balance for your own audience is. Think about what they care about, the questions they ask when you work together, or specific local concerns. The bottom line in every case is to make sure you’re maintaining a variety of relevant content in your social selling strategy.
5. Give and take
Approach social media as a conversation, not a bullhorn. Social selling is about more than just getting engagement — it’s also about engaging with your audience in return. This give and take is how relationships are made and strengthened, whether they be prospects or clients you know and love.
Don’t just be reactive by responding only to comments or likes on your posts. Take time to respond to others’ posts as well, whether they’re customers or other thought leaders in the industry. This doesn’t always have to be through comments, either; a simple like can let people know you’re paying attention to what they have to say.
Social selling is a powerful tool that can help financial advisors bring in new prospects and keep old clients coming back for more advice through the power of relationship and trust building. However, in order to rise above the noise, you can’t lean on your — or your firm’s — reputation. Instead, you need to establish an authentic presence for yourself that showcases exactly what makes you the right person for the job.
Learn more by downloading our Social Selling Guidebook for Financial Institutions.
Instagram is a great way for financial institutions to showcase their authenticity and highlight the human side of the business, but have you incorporated best practices into your social selling strategy?
There’s no doubt that this highly visual social media network is a great place to reach audiences and connect with customers, especially for social sellers like insurance agents, mortgage loan officers, and financial advisors.
As you plan content and interact with followers, be sure to follow these best practices for a better Instagram marketing strategy.
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Need more Instagram inspiration? Download our guidebook, Stronger Customer Relationships on Instagram.
Digital transformation means that social media has become an integral part of everyday life. It has changed the way we communicate and connect with others, and it has also transformed the way financial professionals operate. Loan officers, insurance agents, and financial advisors will find that social media networks like LinkedIn have immense potential in terms of building connections, establishing thought leadership in the industry, and supporting their business.
LinkedIn has quickly become a need for financial professionals: in fact, 9 out of 10 financial advisors are currently using LinkedIn for their business, and other industries can show similar numbers, too. To leverage the full potential of LinkedIn, intermediaries should create a strong social media content and post strategy. Here’s how to get started:
Define Your Target Audience
Before creating any content or posting anything on LinkedIn, it is essential to define the right target audience. By knowing this audience, it’s easier and more effective to craft content that resonates with them, and to also tailor any message to their needs and preferences. For the financial services industry, understanding clients and prospective clients is crucial to growing connections on social media.
Develop a Content Strategy
Once the target audience is identified, the next step is to develop a content strategy that aligns with business objectives. The content strategy should focus on creating value for the audience and positioning oneself as an expert in the financial industry, be it insurance, mortgage, banking, or wealth. It’s always helpful to create a mix of content, including articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, and podcasts, depending on current events and what the target audience would prefer.
Some themes to consider using in the content strategy are:
- Industry news and trends
- Tips and advice for financial planning and investments
- Case studies and success stories
- How-to guides and tutorials
- Thought leadership pieces on industry-specific topics
Optimize The LinkedIn Profile
A LinkedIn profile is the first thing that potential connections will see. Therefore, it is essential to optimize the profile to make a good impression and establish credibility. Some tips for making a LinkedIn profile stand out are:
- Use a professional headshot
- Write a compelling headline that reflects expertise
- Craft a well-written summary that highlights skills and experience
- Add relevant keywords to the profile to make it easier for people to find in search results
- Include media such as videos, infographics, and presentations to showcase work
Engage With Connections
LinkedIn is a social media platform, and like any other social network, engagement is key. Engaging with connections demonstrates real interest in building important relationships and sharing valuable insights. Some meaningful ways to engage with connections might include:
- React to and comment on posts
- Share posts with existing network
- Send personalized messages to build rapport and establish connections
- Participate in LinkedIn groups relevant to industry
Measure and Refine Your Strategy
Finally, it is crucial to measure any LinkedIn strategy's effectiveness and refine it over time. Using social media analytics is a smart way to track an audience's engagement with posted content, such as views, likes, shares, and comments. Based on this data, it’s simple to refine an existing strategy, identify what works and what doesn't, and adjust the tactics accordingly.
In conclusion, creating a social media content and post strategy for LinkedIn can help financial professionals build connections, establish thought leadership, and support their business. By defining the right target audience, developing a content strategy, optimizing the profile, engaging with connections, and measuring and refining the approach, anyone can leverage the full potential of LinkedIn and make social media a priority.
Ready to start building your social selling game plan? Check out this Social Selling Playbook for Financial Institutions.
Connect & Convert on Social
How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
Read this guide if you’re asking yourself:
- Is my social media policy current and comprehensive?
- How do I ensure social media compliance during M&A?
- What do I need to consider for direct messaging compliance?
In this guide we will help you think about your all important social media policy and thoughtfully consider how changes in social media tech and even your bank’s structure may impact compliance.
Which roles do you fill when building your bank's marketing dream team? This guide will show you the following:
- Who does what
- The right structure to execute strategy
- How compliance software can help
Enjoy!
It’s no surprise that social media can help drive results for your mortgage business. In fact, the question for most marketers at mortgage lending institutions isn’t IF they should be doing more social media marketing - it’s HOW. Download to learn how to:
- Scale your social selling program
- Plan your content strategy
- Train your loan officers
Like many community banks, Dart Bank wanted to keep customer relationships a top priority. This meant being more available to customers and meeting them where they are. In modern terms, that means on social media.
When Dart Bank learned about how Denim Social supports social selling for loan officers, they knew it was the perfect fit to keep their team engaged at every step of the journey. They wanted to empower their loan officers to create and grow authentic relationships online, never missing an opportunity to connect.
Shelter Insurance® sought to launch a social selling program that would not only create posting efficiency, but also make it easy for agents to establish subject matter expertise via high quality social media content. They also saw an opportunity to empower digitally savvy agents to cultivate leads online to drive business results in a compliant social selling program.
Before launching the program, it was essential that agents understood the pillars of social selling. Together with the Denim Social team, Shelter Insurance® developed a best-in-class program communication, onboarding and training process for agents.
Social selling is just what it sounds like: using social media to sell a product or service. It’s leveraging social to build personal relationships, showcase thought leadership, engage with prospects, interact with existing customers, and ultimately build trust and rapport that will eventually lead to sales.
It enables intermediaries – like insurance agents – to add value to the customer journey where there wouldn’t otherwise be an opportunity.
This guide will help financial services marketers understand why social media should be a core component of their marketing strategy and showcase how the collective reach of their intermediaries’ social media presence can be harnessed to more deeply connect with prospective clients, position producers as thought leaders in their communities, and, ultimately, build trust with clients that translates to positive business results.
It’s called social selling and it works.
The spring 2023 buying season has arrived and with it – you guessed – uncertainty. Spring has long been make-it or break-it season for lenders and loan officers, and despite present conditions, the same holds true this year. But 2023 holds unique challenges and opportunities.
As the season opens, there are a few key considerations the Denim Social team sees as critical for mortgage marketers.
Paid social is one of the most effective ways to introduce people who aren’t yet following your producers, agents, loan officers, or advisors to your financial institution at the right place and the right time.
Paid social is complementary to organic. While organic social builds first-degree connections and facilitates awareness, engagement, and branding, paid social allows you to reach larger, more tailored audiences.
BOK Financial is a financial services partner for consumers, businesses and wealth clients with more than 150 users on the Denim Social platform.
In addition to building brand credibility and establishing loan officer expertise, Denim Social enables their mortgage loan officers to cultivate relationships in social media and organically source leads.
As financial marketers look to the coming year, most are wondering, “what’s next?” While no one can say for sure, our team of experts here at Denim Social are keeping a pulse on what’s new in digital marketing for financial institutions on social media. This guide will not only educate you on the latest trends, but help you make the case for increased investment in social selling and digital marketing strategies at your institution.
Evolve Bank & Trust (“Evolve”) is an $700M+ asset institution with nearly 40 Home Loan Centers (HLC) and nearly 500 employees nationwide. See how Denim Social helped Evolve activate Home Loan Center Facebook pages over the course of just a few months.
Whether you’re in banking, wealth management, insurance or mortgage, relationships are the bedrock of your business.
Considering clients in these industries are handing over the keys to their personal kingdoms, it’s no surprise that trust and connection matter. That’s why successful sales strategies for these industries are focused on building long-term, trusted relationships.
To truly unleash the potential of social, financial institutions need to use social media as a sales tool. It’s called social selling and it works.
The power of social media is undeniable. The ability of banks to engage with and influence customers and prospects via interactive digital channels is an essential tool and a cornerstone of marketing. Gone are the days when it was “nice to have” a presence on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Today, these pathways are helping banks to build relationships that were historically cultivated by tirelessly walking up and down Main Street, shaking hands and leaving behind business cards.
In this case study by Denim Social and American Bankers Association, we take a look at how banks are using social media to ramp up digital engagement and build sales.
As any marketer worth their salt will tell you, analytics should drive your social strategy. The key to success is understanding how to link social media efforts to ROI metrics. Read this guide to learn how to gain insights that matter, optimize your strategy and prove your social success.
AnnieMac is one of the fastest-growing mortgage loan providers in the U.S., serving clients in 42 states. Learn how Denim Social helped their team to streamline its brand’s social media strategy and activate social selling for hundreds of loan officers in just four months.
As mortgage demand surges to historic highs, home purchase and refinance markets remain hot. This is excellent news for loan officers, but it also means the environment is more competitive than ever.
So how can marketers ensure that their loan officers stand out? The answer is social media.
Read this guidebook from Denim Social to learn how you can help your loan officers build strong relationships, stand out from the crowd and win more business using social media.
Every Mortgage Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Every Financial Services Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Stronger Customer Relationships on Instagram
Financial Services companies should be marketing and advertising on Instagram. We break down why, and help you create a strategy to reach new customers- while continuing to build trust in your brand.
How 6 Financial Marketers Are Creating Value in Social Media
Ever wonder what everyone else is doing in social media? We talked to six leading financial marketers about how they’re succeeding today and planning for the next big thing.
Get their insights on strengthening your social strategies, unlocking the power of employee networks and creating next-level content that drives engagement.
Download this guidebook to learn how 3 mortgage lenders are using social media to:
- Position themselves in a place the community is already looking ... their social media
- Empower loan officers to engage in local conversations
- Turn their institution's loan officers into the voice of their brand
- Build trust within the community
ABA Study: The Current State of Social Media
See what nearly 430 bank marketers had to say when asked questions such as:
COVID-19 & Bank Social Media
Times are different and how you connect with customers and potential customers has changed drastically. In a socially distant world, learn to still build lasting relationships.
Download and learn the guiding principles for using social media to serve both your customers and communities in the midst of a pandemic.
How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
Read this guide if you’re asking yourself:
- Is my social media policy current and comprehensive?
- How do I ensure social media compliance during M&A?
- What do I need to consider for direct messaging compliance?
In this guide we will help you think about your all important social media policy and thoughtfully consider how changes in social media tech and even your bank’s structure may impact compliance.
Which roles do you fill when building your bank's marketing dream team? This guide will show you the following:
- Who does what
- The right structure to execute strategy
- How compliance software can help
Enjoy!
It’s no surprise that social media can help drive results for your mortgage business. In fact, the question for most marketers at mortgage lending institutions isn’t IF they should be doing more social media marketing - it’s HOW. Download to learn how to:
- Scale your social selling program
- Plan your content strategy
- Train your loan officers
Like many community banks, Dart Bank wanted to keep customer relationships a top priority. This meant being more available to customers and meeting them where they are. In modern terms, that means on social media.
When Dart Bank learned about how Denim Social supports social selling for loan officers, they knew it was the perfect fit to keep their team engaged at every step of the journey. They wanted to empower their loan officers to create and grow authentic relationships online, never missing an opportunity to connect.
Shelter Insurance® sought to launch a social selling program that would not only create posting efficiency, but also make it easy for agents to establish subject matter expertise via high quality social media content. They also saw an opportunity to empower digitally savvy agents to cultivate leads online to drive business results in a compliant social selling program.
Before launching the program, it was essential that agents understood the pillars of social selling. Together with the Denim Social team, Shelter Insurance® developed a best-in-class program communication, onboarding and training process for agents.
Social selling is just what it sounds like: using social media to sell a product or service. It’s leveraging social to build personal relationships, showcase thought leadership, engage with prospects, interact with existing customers, and ultimately build trust and rapport that will eventually lead to sales.
It enables intermediaries – like insurance agents – to add value to the customer journey where there wouldn’t otherwise be an opportunity.
This guide will help financial services marketers understand why social media should be a core component of their marketing strategy and showcase how the collective reach of their intermediaries’ social media presence can be harnessed to more deeply connect with prospective clients, position producers as thought leaders in their communities, and, ultimately, build trust with clients that translates to positive business results.
It’s called social selling and it works.
The spring 2023 buying season has arrived and with it – you guessed – uncertainty. Spring has long been make-it or break-it season for lenders and loan officers, and despite present conditions, the same holds true this year. But 2023 holds unique challenges and opportunities.
As the season opens, there are a few key considerations the Denim Social team sees as critical for mortgage marketers.
Paid social is one of the most effective ways to introduce people who aren’t yet following your producers, agents, loan officers, or advisors to your financial institution at the right place and the right time.
Paid social is complementary to organic. While organic social builds first-degree connections and facilitates awareness, engagement, and branding, paid social allows you to reach larger, more tailored audiences.
BOK Financial is a financial services partner for consumers, businesses and wealth clients with more than 150 users on the Denim Social platform.
In addition to building brand credibility and establishing loan officer expertise, Denim Social enables their mortgage loan officers to cultivate relationships in social media and organically source leads.
As financial marketers look to the coming year, most are wondering, “what’s next?” While no one can say for sure, our team of experts here at Denim Social are keeping a pulse on what’s new in digital marketing for financial institutions on social media. This guide will not only educate you on the latest trends, but help you make the case for increased investment in social selling and digital marketing strategies at your institution.
Evolve Bank & Trust (“Evolve”) is an $700M+ asset institution with nearly 40 Home Loan Centers (HLC) and nearly 500 employees nationwide. See how Denim Social helped Evolve activate Home Loan Center Facebook pages over the course of just a few months.
Whether you’re in banking, wealth management, insurance or mortgage, relationships are the bedrock of your business.
Considering clients in these industries are handing over the keys to their personal kingdoms, it’s no surprise that trust and connection matter. That’s why successful sales strategies for these industries are focused on building long-term, trusted relationships.
To truly unleash the potential of social, financial institutions need to use social media as a sales tool. It’s called social selling and it works.
The power of social media is undeniable. The ability of banks to engage with and influence customers and prospects via interactive digital channels is an essential tool and a cornerstone of marketing. Gone are the days when it was “nice to have” a presence on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Today, these pathways are helping banks to build relationships that were historically cultivated by tirelessly walking up and down Main Street, shaking hands and leaving behind business cards.
In this case study by Denim Social and American Bankers Association, we take a look at how banks are using social media to ramp up digital engagement and build sales.
As any marketer worth their salt will tell you, analytics should drive your social strategy. The key to success is understanding how to link social media efforts to ROI metrics. Read this guide to learn how to gain insights that matter, optimize your strategy and prove your social success.
AnnieMac is one of the fastest-growing mortgage loan providers in the U.S., serving clients in 42 states. Learn how Denim Social helped their team to streamline its brand’s social media strategy and activate social selling for hundreds of loan officers in just four months.
As mortgage demand surges to historic highs, home purchase and refinance markets remain hot. This is excellent news for loan officers, but it also means the environment is more competitive than ever.
So how can marketers ensure that their loan officers stand out? The answer is social media.
Read this guidebook from Denim Social to learn how you can help your loan officers build strong relationships, stand out from the crowd and win more business using social media.
Every Mortgage Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Every Financial Services Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Stronger Customer Relationships on Instagram
Financial Services companies should be marketing and advertising on Instagram. We break down why, and help you create a strategy to reach new customers- while continuing to build trust in your brand.
How 6 Financial Marketers Are Creating Value in Social Media
Ever wonder what everyone else is doing in social media? We talked to six leading financial marketers about how they’re succeeding today and planning for the next big thing.
Get their insights on strengthening your social strategies, unlocking the power of employee networks and creating next-level content that drives engagement.
Download this guidebook to learn how 3 mortgage lenders are using social media to:
- Position themselves in a place the community is already looking ... their social media
- Empower loan officers to engage in local conversations
- Turn their institution's loan officers into the voice of their brand
- Build trust within the community
ABA Study: The Current State of Social Media
See what nearly 430 bank marketers had to say when asked questions such as:
COVID-19 & Bank Social Media
Times are different and how you connect with customers and potential customers has changed drastically. In a socially distant world, learn to still build lasting relationships.
Download and learn the guiding principles for using social media to serve both your customers and communities in the midst of a pandemic.
How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
Read this guide if you’re asking yourself:
- Is my social media policy current and comprehensive?
- How do I ensure social media compliance during M&A?
- What do I need to consider for direct messaging compliance?
In this guide we will help you think about your all important social media policy and thoughtfully consider how changes in social media tech and even your bank’s structure may impact compliance.
Which roles do you fill when building your bank's marketing dream team? This guide will show you the following:
- Who does what
- The right structure to execute strategy
- How compliance software can help
Enjoy!
It’s no surprise that social media can help drive results for your mortgage business. In fact, the question for most marketers at mortgage lending institutions isn’t IF they should be doing more social media marketing - it’s HOW. Download to learn how to:
- Scale your social selling program
- Plan your content strategy
- Train your loan officers
Like many community banks, Dart Bank wanted to keep customer relationships a top priority. This meant being more available to customers and meeting them where they are. In modern terms, that means on social media.
When Dart Bank learned about how Denim Social supports social selling for loan officers, they knew it was the perfect fit to keep their team engaged at every step of the journey. They wanted to empower their loan officers to create and grow authentic relationships online, never missing an opportunity to connect.
Shelter Insurance® sought to launch a social selling program that would not only create posting efficiency, but also make it easy for agents to establish subject matter expertise via high quality social media content. They also saw an opportunity to empower digitally savvy agents to cultivate leads online to drive business results in a compliant social selling program.
Before launching the program, it was essential that agents understood the pillars of social selling. Together with the Denim Social team, Shelter Insurance® developed a best-in-class program communication, onboarding and training process for agents.
Social selling is just what it sounds like: using social media to sell a product or service. It’s leveraging social to build personal relationships, showcase thought leadership, engage with prospects, interact with existing customers, and ultimately build trust and rapport that will eventually lead to sales.
It enables intermediaries – like insurance agents – to add value to the customer journey where there wouldn’t otherwise be an opportunity.
This guide will help financial services marketers understand why social media should be a core component of their marketing strategy and showcase how the collective reach of their intermediaries’ social media presence can be harnessed to more deeply connect with prospective clients, position producers as thought leaders in their communities, and, ultimately, build trust with clients that translates to positive business results.
It’s called social selling and it works.
The spring 2023 buying season has arrived and with it – you guessed – uncertainty. Spring has long been make-it or break-it season for lenders and loan officers, and despite present conditions, the same holds true this year. But 2023 holds unique challenges and opportunities.
As the season opens, there are a few key considerations the Denim Social team sees as critical for mortgage marketers.
Paid social is one of the most effective ways to introduce people who aren’t yet following your producers, agents, loan officers, or advisors to your financial institution at the right place and the right time.
Paid social is complementary to organic. While organic social builds first-degree connections and facilitates awareness, engagement, and branding, paid social allows you to reach larger, more tailored audiences.
BOK Financial is a financial services partner for consumers, businesses and wealth clients with more than 150 users on the Denim Social platform.
In addition to building brand credibility and establishing loan officer expertise, Denim Social enables their mortgage loan officers to cultivate relationships in social media and organically source leads.
As financial marketers look to the coming year, most are wondering, “what’s next?” While no one can say for sure, our team of experts here at Denim Social are keeping a pulse on what’s new in digital marketing for financial institutions on social media. This guide will not only educate you on the latest trends, but help you make the case for increased investment in social selling and digital marketing strategies at your institution.
Evolve Bank & Trust (“Evolve”) is an $700M+ asset institution with nearly 40 Home Loan Centers (HLC) and nearly 500 employees nationwide. See how Denim Social helped Evolve activate Home Loan Center Facebook pages over the course of just a few months.
Whether you’re in banking, wealth management, insurance or mortgage, relationships are the bedrock of your business.
Considering clients in these industries are handing over the keys to their personal kingdoms, it’s no surprise that trust and connection matter. That’s why successful sales strategies for these industries are focused on building long-term, trusted relationships.
To truly unleash the potential of social, financial institutions need to use social media as a sales tool. It’s called social selling and it works.
The power of social media is undeniable. The ability of banks to engage with and influence customers and prospects via interactive digital channels is an essential tool and a cornerstone of marketing. Gone are the days when it was “nice to have” a presence on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Today, these pathways are helping banks to build relationships that were historically cultivated by tirelessly walking up and down Main Street, shaking hands and leaving behind business cards.
In this case study by Denim Social and American Bankers Association, we take a look at how banks are using social media to ramp up digital engagement and build sales.
As any marketer worth their salt will tell you, analytics should drive your social strategy. The key to success is understanding how to link social media efforts to ROI metrics. Read this guide to learn how to gain insights that matter, optimize your strategy and prove your social success.
AnnieMac is one of the fastest-growing mortgage loan providers in the U.S., serving clients in 42 states. Learn how Denim Social helped their team to streamline its brand’s social media strategy and activate social selling for hundreds of loan officers in just four months.
As mortgage demand surges to historic highs, home purchase and refinance markets remain hot. This is excellent news for loan officers, but it also means the environment is more competitive than ever.
So how can marketers ensure that their loan officers stand out? The answer is social media.
Read this guidebook from Denim Social to learn how you can help your loan officers build strong relationships, stand out from the crowd and win more business using social media.
Every Mortgage Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Every Financial Services Marketer Should Ask Themselves
Compliance is complicated, but don’t let it stop your lending team from making the most of social media. Think you’re ready to start social selling? Ask yourself these five questions!
Stronger Customer Relationships on Instagram
Financial Services companies should be marketing and advertising on Instagram. We break down why, and help you create a strategy to reach new customers- while continuing to build trust in your brand.
How 6 Financial Marketers Are Creating Value in Social Media
Ever wonder what everyone else is doing in social media? We talked to six leading financial marketers about how they’re succeeding today and planning for the next big thing.
Get their insights on strengthening your social strategies, unlocking the power of employee networks and creating next-level content that drives engagement.
Download this guidebook to learn how 3 mortgage lenders are using social media to:
- Position themselves in a place the community is already looking ... their social media
- Empower loan officers to engage in local conversations
- Turn their institution's loan officers into the voice of their brand
- Build trust within the community
ABA Study: The Current State of Social Media
See what nearly 430 bank marketers had to say when asked questions such as:
COVID-19 & Bank Social Media
Times are different and how you connect with customers and potential customers has changed drastically. In a socially distant world, learn to still build lasting relationships.
Download and learn the guiding principles for using social media to serve both your customers and communities in the midst of a pandemic.
How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
In today's digital age, social media platforms have become essential tools for professionals in various industries to connect with clients, share valuable insights, and build their brand. Instagram, with its visual appeal and highly-engaged user base, is no exception. For financial professionals, leveraging Instagram can be a powerful way to showcase expertise, establish credibility, and build stronger relationships. In this blog post, we will discuss the best practices for building your Instagram business profile as a financial professional that will give your social selling a boost.
Choose a Professional Username and Profile Picture
Start by selecting a username that reflects your name or your financial business's name. Keep it simple and easy to remember. Use a high-quality profile picture, such as a professional headshot or your company logo. This picture will be the first impression potential followers have of you.
Optimize Your Bio
Craft a concise and informative bio that clearly defines your role and expertise. Use relevant keywords, such as "Financial Advisor," "Mortgage Loan Officer,” or "Insurance Agent." Include a brief but captivating description of the value you provide to your customers. Highlight any unique selling points or specializations.
Content Strategy
Determine your content niche. Share content that aligns with your expertise, such as investment tips, financial planning advice, or market insights. Develop a content calendar to ensure consistency. Aim for a mix of educational, inspirational, and personal posts. Use high-quality images and graphics to enhance your posts. Visual appeal is essential on Instagram!
Engage Your Audience
Respond promptly to comments and direct messages. Engaging with your followers builds a sense of trust and connection. You want your followers to engage with your posts, so do the same for them! Like, comment, and share to help increase visibility.
Use Hashtags Wisely
Research and use relevant hashtags to increase the discoverability of your posts. Utilize both industry-specific and popular hashtags. Best practice is to use 5-10 hashtags per post as they relate to the content.
Collaborate and Network
Collaborate with influencers or other professionals in your industry. Guest posts or shoutouts can expand your reach. Attend industry events and share your experiences on Instagram. It’s all about taking those in-person relationships online, too.
Educate and Inform
Share informative and educational content that empowers your audience. Explainer videos, infographics, and step-by-step guides can be especially valuable. Stay up-to-date with the latest financial news and trends, and share your unique insights with your followers. Always provide value!
Analytics and Optimization
Regularly analyze your Instagram Insights to understand which content performs best and when your audience is most active. Use this data to refine your content strategy and posting schedule for optimal engagement.
Promote Your Services
While Instagram is a platform for sharing valuable content, don't forget to promote your services subtly. Share client success stories or case studies to showcase your expertise in action.
Stay Compliant
Ensure that your posts comply with industry regulations and guidelines. Be transparent about any potential conflicts of interest. Luckily, platforms like Denim Social that are built for the financial services industry can help with that!
In conclusion, Instagram can be a valuable tool for financial professionals to connect with clients and prospects. By following these best practices, you can build a strong and trustworthy online presence that sets you apart in the competitive world of finance. Remember that consistency and authenticity are key to establishing a successful Instagram business profile for financial professionals. See our Denim Social guide to building stronger customer relationships on Instagram here!
Instagram stands out as the shining star of social media platforms. While Facebook still reigns supreme and TikTok grows, Instagram is quickly catching up fast with more than 2 billion users worldwide.
With users under age 34 making up nearly 60 percent of this user population, financial services marketers looking to reach younger generations should take note. And with an estimated sum of $68 trillion in wealth expected to transfer from Baby Boomers to Millennials in the next couple of decades, Millennials are a worthwhile target.
Studies predict that, after inheriting wealth, 80% or more young heirs will seek out a new financial advisor. Considering that 9 in 10 accounts follow at least one business on Instagram and 8 in 10 users find new products and services in the app, it’s a safe bet that Instagram will be a place to influence many Millennials. Wise financial services marketers will meet them where they are with strong Instagram marketing strategies, and the following tips can help:
1. Focus on paid ads
Instagram is a visual platform for sharing photos and videos, so it’s important for brand pages to populate their profiles with organic posts. While this presence is important, organic content isn’t what will move the needle on business goals. Financial services aren’t exactly visually interesting, and organic posts tend to have low reach as they only show up in the feeds of a brand’s current followers. Without the ability to include hyperlinks in captions, they also won’t drive any traffic back to your site. If you want to build the type of following needed to generate new business, including paid advertising in your Instagram marketing strategy is your ticket.
With Instagram advertising, institutions and advisors can target ads to land with exactly the right audience — even outside their follower base — and include links in posts to drive more traffic to the brand. With a specific call to action that directs consumers to learn more about a topic, Instagram ads offer a straight-line path to giving customers the valuable information they desire — in their own time and at their own place. What’s more, Instagram advertising is seamlessly integrated directly into Instagram feeds and stories, creating a smoother user experience all around.
2. Connect with consumers on a local level
Instagram marketing on the corporate brand level is a great starting point, but advertising on behalf of your individual advisors can take your strategy to the next level. Think of it this way: If a consumer sees a well-known brand on social media, they might recognize the name, but they won’t feel an intrinsic connection beyond initial familiarity. In contrast, they’ll feel familiarity and an immediate connection when they see a post from an advisor in their own community. Consumers want to build relationships with brands, and a shared community is a great starting point.
Of course, most advisors and other financial services employees are not experts on how to market the business on Instagram. And marketers know they must keep all social media marketing for their financial institutions compliant to avoid heavy regulatory reprimands. To keep posts compliant, save employees time, and help them build relationships with consumers in their physical communities, financial services marketers can set up and run ads on their behalf.
3. Micro-target content to your audience
As big-name brands like Amazon continue to elevate the digital customer experience with seamless customer service, purchasing, and delivery, customer expectations are higher than ever before. When customers evaluate a financial institution, they compare it not only to other organizations in the industry, but also to tech giants in any industry that give them exactly what they need when they need it.
They expect a high level of personalization and convenience, and Instagram marketing with paid advertising can help you give it to them. Match basic behavioral and geographic data to potential customers on Instagram to target ads, and then track clicks, engagements, and post-click actions. These data points don’t indicate much on their own, but together they offer a rich story about what consumers want. Continually refine your strategy with these data points in mind to deliver the kind of highly personalized experiences your audiences want on Instagram.
With a large Millennial user base that engages actively with brands online and the ability to target highly personalized ads to exactly the right audiences, Instagram is a must-have in any financial services marketing strategy. To learn more about how Instagram marketing can work to drive your business forward, download our guide to building stronger customer relationships on Instagram for free today.
Make the most of your social media pages and posts by optimizing your images and including essential information about your business on each platform. By giving customers an optimal digital experience, you can broaden reach and provide better customer service through your digital platforms.
IMAGE SIZING:
Profile picture: 176 x 176px (desktop), 196x 196px (smartphones)
Cover photo: 820 x 312px (desktop), 640 x 360px (smartphones)
Keep the main content of your image centered. On a desktop the photo will display as 840x312px, but on mobile will size down to 640x360px.
Facebook post image: 1200 x 630px
The ideal width for a Facebook post image is 1200px, but height can vary based on what type of device the image display is optimized for. We recommend keeping it at the recommended size to keep consistency on all devices.
When creating a Facebook Ad graphic, any text should not take up more than 20% of the photo. You can find a cheat sheet here: https://www.facebook.com/ads/tools/text_overlay.
Facebook Video: 1280 x 720px
The optimal length for a short-form video on Facebook is 15 seconds to 1 minute; for a long-form video, it is 3 minutes. The maximum file size is 10GB.
Facebook Link Image: 1200 x 630px
Make sure to claim ownership of your links for the ability to change the link preview photo. You can find more info on that here: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/528858287471922?id=708699556338610.
Carousel Post: 1080 x 1080px
Carousel posts are a great way to display multiple services or features that you offer to your customers. When placing a Facebook ad you can link each carousel photo to a different link, making it easy for people to navigate to your specific products.
Facebook Story: 1080 x 1920px
Make the most of your stories by using all of your space and creating a fullscreen experience.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION:
Page name:
This is where you can name your Facebook Page, but be sure to keep it shorter than 75 characters.
Page username:
Customize your page URL by adding a username, making it easier for people to locate and navigate people from other digital platforms. Your Facebook URL can include up to 50 characters.
Page call to action:
Facebook gives you a variety of choices on calls to action. For example, if you’d like customers to contact you by email, you can set up a “Send Email” button with your email address connected and ready to go.
IMAGE SIZING:
Profile picture: 400 x 400px
Upload your business logo here to personalize your profile. If this page is for an individual, this is where you will upload their headshot.
Cover Photo: 1584 x 396px
Having a personalized business cover photo will make your profile look more professional and give you the opportunity to provide page visitors with more of the look and feel of your business. This can include an image related to your business or a graphic with information on services you provide or your business slogan.
LinkedIn post photo: 1200 x 628px (mobile), 1200 x 1200px (desktop)
When targeting an audience on both desktop and mobile, make sure that you optimize for mobile to give people the best experience.
LinkedIn Link Photo: 1200 x 628px (mobile), 1200 x 1200px (desktop)
Providing an image with your link preview can help give viewers a better idea of article content and improve your click thru rates.
LinkedIn Link Video: 4096 x 2304px maximum, 256 x 144 pixels minimum
The optimal video length for LinkedIn is 30-90 seconds and the maximum file size is 5GB.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION
Page name:
This is where your business name is located, as well as your company industry, location, and number of followers.
Page description:
Add your business slogan, mission, or a short description that tells people what your company, products, and services can do for them.
X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
IMAGE SIZING
Profile picture: 400 x 400px
Upload your business logo or headshot to personalize your profile.
Cover photo: 1500 x 500px
Be sure to center your content to give your followers an optimized experience on mobile.
Twitter post photo: 1600 x 900px
Allow your followers to see the entirety of the photo in their feed by adhering to this sizing guideline. The maximum file size is 5MB.
X video: 1280 x 720px (desktop, recommended), 720 x 720px (mobile)
The optimal video length for Twitter is 20-45 seconds and the maximum file size is 512MB.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION
Underneath your profile photo, your company name and username will be displayed.
Write a short bio to tell people more about your business.
IMAGE SIZING
Profile photo: 110 x 110px
Your profile picture will be small, so be sure your image is sized correctly and centered. This is a great place for your company logo.
Profile thumbnail: Displays as 161 x 161px
This is a preview of your large image post, but looks best when the photo posted is square.
Highlight Cover: 1080 x 1920px
Your cover photos should have centered images to give your highlight reel a balanced look. You can also name your highlights, but be concise as they can only be 15 characters long.
Instagram Feed Photo: 1080 x 1080px (square), 1080 x 1350 (portrait), 1080 x 566 (landscape)
The recommended width for all Instagram feed photos is 1080px, but the height can vary. To optimize for your feed display within your profile, we recommend using the sizing listed above to keep your image square.
Instagram Feed Video: 1080 x 1080px (square), 1080 x 1350 (portrait), 1080 x 566 (landscape)
The optimal length for an Instagram video is 30-60 seconds and the max file size is 650MB.
Instagram Feed Ad Photo: 1080 x 1080px
Your ad photo will display the same as a normal feed photo, but with a link attached. When creating an ad in Ads Manager, you’ll be able to upload a separate photo for Instagram to keep your photos optimized for the user experience.
Instagram Story: 1080 x 1920px (portrait), 1080 x 601 (landscape)
Make the most of your stories by using all of your space and creating a fullscreen experience. The maximum length of the story is 60 seconds.
Instagram Reels & Live: 1080 x 1920px
Reels can be used to offer tutorials, demos, or service features. These will be saved under your profile page for viewers to go back and watch at their leisure. The maximum length for Reels is 90 seconds. For Live, this can be used for announcements, events, or other Q&A sessions. These can also be saved for later viewing, and can last up to 4 hours.
Known as the professional social networking platform, LinkedIn is a powerful tool for social selling, allowing your team to foster strategic customer relationships and build credibility. An important part of your online brand, your LinkedIn profile is a key source of information for people looking to learn more about you.
A strong LinkedIn profile creates opportunities for meaningful connections and interactions with other professionals. But how do you make LinkedIn a successful part of your marketing strategy? Well, for starters, you need to build trust. Use the following best practices to do just that.
1.) Add professional profile and cover photos. According to LinkedIn, a professional headshot makes your profile 21x more likely to be viewed, and profiles with photos get a 40% better message response rate. For best results, upload JPEG or PNG images sized as follows:
- Profile photo: 400x400 pixels
- Cover photo: 1584x396 pixels
Pro Tip: Bookmark our Up-to-Date Social Media Sizing & Resource Guide to optimize your images on every social media platform.
2. Write a compelling headline and summary. Your headline and summary should clearly and succinctly state who you are and why someone should connect with you.
- Headline: More than simply your job title, your headline should answer these two questions:
- Who do you help?
- How do you help?
- Summary: Use the following framework to write a compelling professional summary:
- Paragraph 1: In three sentences or less, what is your value prop to your prospective customers? Reiterate your purpose from your headline.
- Paragraph 2: In three sentences or less, how do you help customers achieve results?
- Paragraph 3: In three sentences or less, what is your call-to-action for the prospective customer?
Pro Tip: In your headline and summary, be sure to include keywords prospective customers might search for.
3. Engage frequently and consistently. Every week, apply consistent effort to LinkedIn to build credibility and keep content relevant and valuable for customers. Below is checklist of activities we recommend performing on a weekly basis:
- Post relevant content: Check your content library or search for trending topics in the LinkedIn search bar. You can find some great recent inspiration from others in your field.
- Post/schedule content at the right time: Generally, the best time to post on LinkedIn is Tuesday through Thursday between 10 and 11 a.m. Content posted in the evenings and on weekends tends to get less engagement. Check out this guide in our Help Center for more information on when to post on various social media channels.
- Seek recommendations from customers and share success stories: What’s better than telling your networks how great you are? Someone else saying it for you! Positive testimonials, endorsements and reviews go a long way in building your credibility.
- Check likes, follows, shares, hashtags and comments. Be sure to engage and respond as appropriate. Set weekly or monthly goals for growth and track progress.
- Grow your network: Join relevant groups in your industry to gain customer insights about needs and interests, follow influencers and connect with others.
Pro tip: Add a 30-minute weekly recurring event on your calendar to go through the above checklist.
LinkedIn should be an essential part of your team’s social selling strategy. Stay visible and build trust with consistency and an optimized profile.
Looking for a quick reference for all of this information? Check out this infographic.
“If you build it, they will come.”
While this advice may work in fictional baseball movies, it’s a bad strategy for building your Facebook business page following.
Successfully growing your page likes and follows requires ongoing attention, but it pays off.
More followers indicates greater popularity and trust in your brand and also means more eyeballs on your content.
Follow these tips to start growing your following today.
1. Share meaningful content. Before posting anything on your page, make sure it provides value to your audience. When you do this consistently, your existing followers will share it with their friends, attracting more followers. As you plan your content strategy, think about the topics you can speak to with authority. Then look for gaps in the content already being shared with your audience. Where these two intersect is a great place to focus your thought leadership efforts.
2. Be consistent. It goes without saying that consistency in voice, tone and style should be inherent in any marketing message. As you work to grow your Facebook page following, it’s also important to aim for consistency in when and how often you post content. When your content quality, quantity or schedule isn’t consistent, it can confuse your audience. Staying on a schedule will improve the experience you deliver and build your business’s credibility and reputation. Use a tool like Denim Social’s Analytics to test and monitor when engagement is at its highest, and design your content schedule accordingly.
3. Invite friends. One of the quickest, most efficient ways to start driving awareness and growing your audience is to invite your friends to follow your page. Remember, your friends have friends, and they might be interested in following your business and your new page.
4. Run ads. A surefire way to grow your following is to run Facebook ads. Ads are an effective tool for promoting your page, boosting your posts, getting more leads, increasing conversions and performing a number of other actions. Keep in mind, however, that it may not always be in your best interest to grow your following just for the sake of a bigger number. You want to attract people who are interested in your products and services (and, in turn, more likely to engage with your content). Using audience targeting strategies will help you reach the right consumer with the right message.
A Facebook business page is an easy and effective way to grow your brand awareness and credibility. Although it’s not as simple as set-it-and-forget-it, if you follow the tips outlined above, you will be well on your way to growing your Facebook fan base. If you need help engaging your audience on social media, get in touch with us today.
Where Are the Biggest Opportunities to Use Social Media in Financial Services?
Denim Social's Guide To Social Selling For Financial Services shows that most financial professionals — 83% of those surveyed — have a social media presence. It’s a great place to start, but having a profile is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what benefits financial institutions can enjoy from social media. Smart financial marketers and their teams should be optimizing their social selling efforts on every network to get the most out of what social media has to offer.
Customers are active in many other places online, so why not meet them there? After all, 79% of people look to social media for financial advice. By meeting customers where they are on the main 4 networks, financial institutions can stay top of mind and grow real, authentic connections. Let’s dive into what Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook have to offer and how financial services marketers can best use each platform.
1. Instagram
As far as major social media platforms in financial services go, Instagram tops the list. While many financial professionals might not at first think of the photographic and visual network as prime business territory, its popularity makes it an excellent place to strengthen real relationships.
Instagram is one of the best ways to get in front of younger audiences, which is a worthwhile goal, considering that many Millennial customers will likely be on the search for new financial services providers as Baby Boomers pass their wealth on to the next generations. What's more, 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business account and 80% use the platform to discover new products.
Even better, getting started on Instagram is a breeze. Instagram ads also allow hyperlinks, so you can lead readers right from their feeds to your website with specific calls to action to learn more. Lead them to a personalized and well-designed landing page on your site, for instance, and you'll be drawing each follower who clicks through one big step closer to conversion.
2. LinkedIn
The majority of financial services providers already use LinkedIn, and there are many ways to make it perhaps the most successful social selling platform out of all the networks. Employees at institutions of all sizes and financial industries can use this professional network to cultivate thought leadership and educate their customers.
For financial services marketers, a brand profile is a necessary starting point. Getting the most out of the platform, however, requires activating your employees in a social selling strategy. They can share relevant content, such as videos and published articles from trusted media outlets, as well as engage with customers and prospects one-on-one via direct messaging to establish themselves as experts and build trusting relationships. People want to engage with other people, not with general brand pages. It’s no wonder that employees on social media can garner 10x the engagement of brand pages alone.
3. Twitter
Like LinkedIn, Twitter is also a great place for agents, loan officers, and advisors to share their expertise. Understandably, financial services marketers might be intimidated by the fast-paced nature of the platform and fear they don’t have enough resources to keep up. However, with the proper social media management tools, maintaining compliant engagement on Twitter is totally possible — and worth it.
One of the greatest benefits of social media marketing for financial services is the ability to provide more value to customers. Twitter makes this incredibly easy to do. Marketers can follow all relevant news media outlets and keep an eye out for any articles that might benefit their clients or prospects. For example, an explainer piece on recent changes in tax legislation may be helpful come tax season. Retweeting such helpful resources educates followers on financial topics and builds trust in the brand and its employees.
There’s no single best social media platform for marketing. Each one has a unique opportunity to reach and engage current and future customers. If you’re already on social media, it’s time to level up your social media marketing strategy by diving into Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook in more depth. No matter the size of your financial institution, extending your social media strategy to encompass these platforms can help grow your audience, build trust, and maintain solid customer relationships.
Connect & Convert on Social
How Does Your Social Media Strategy Measure Up to Other Financial Services Organizations?
Financial institutions of all sizes have realized the value of social media and digital marketing to reach prospects and customers today. Modern data and analytics make it possible to track the impact of your efforts, but it can be difficult to see how your institution compares to others when it comes to digital strategy.
That’s why Denim Social teamed up with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis to analyze more than 150,000 social media posts from financial institutions. We used the findings in our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services to answer the question: How are we doing on social media?
Keep reading for a rundown of our most telling findings and insights from 2020 that can help you optimize your social media marketing strategies in 2021 and beyond.
The Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing Financial Services
First, let’s dive into where financial services marketers are putting their attention online. Then, we’ll look at how marketers can strengthen strategies across these platforms to make more connections and drive business goals.
Facebook: The first social stop for financial services providers
Facebook is the most popular social platform for financial services institutions with 82% of those surveyed active on the platform. Yet most institutions still have room to further optimize their Facebook social media strategies. More on that later.
Other platforms that go underutilized but deserve more attention are LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram. You don’t have to be on all of these platforms to have a strong and holistic approach, but you should have a working knowledge of each one to make the best-informed decisions about where and how to reach prospects and customers online.
LinkedIn: A winning social avenue for smaller financial services organizations
According to our research, fewer than two-thirds of banks, insurance companies, credit unions, and similar entities consider LinkedIn as a marketing vehicle.But LinkedIn can help brands, especially smaller ones, boost their visibility and foster more connections. Personnel at smaller financial services organizations tend to form closer relationships with clients, and LinkedIn is an excellent avenue for sourcing customers, making inroads with them, and maintaining strong connections throughout the relationship.
The first step to setting up a LinkedIn account is to create a brand profile.Then, encourage employees to share brand-related content on their own channels with a strategy known as social selling. Putting human faces behind your content can help you built trust and connections. Consider working with your executive team to develop a social media engagement calendar to guide brand and employee posts.
Twitter: Ideal for financial institutions ready for a fast-paced, hashtag-heavy forum
Only about 36% of financial institution marketers are using Twitter on a regular basis. Many worry about staying in line with important compliance regulations on such a fast-paced platform. With the right tools and approach, however, financial institutions can see great benefit from focusing more on Twitter, especially when it comes to sharing more newsworthy items. Twitter is where many people go to learn about what’s happening in the world in real time.
Banks and other financial brands can use automated software to conduct social listening for specific hashtags. This can show you what trends and discussions are hot in the industry and among customers so you can weigh in. Social media management software can also help streamline review and approvals processes for brand-related tweets, so marketers can rest easy knowing every post that goes live will be compliant.
Instagram: The unsung social media platform for financial brands
Many financial institutions lack any kind of Instagram marketing strategy because they aren’t sure Instagram holds relevance. It does, especially for brands looking to reach younger customers. The platform is popular amongGeneration Z and Millennial users, and about four-fifths of Instagrammers follow a favorite brand. This means it’s an ideal place to get in front of younger audiences looking to learn how to attain and grow wealth.
Remember the importance of paid advertising as you plan your Instagram marketing strategy. Posting organically to your brand's Instagram feed is still important — and DenimSocial can help you do it compliantly with our new Instagram publishing, monitoring, and analytics features. But organic posts tend to have low reach because they only show up in the feeds of those who follow the brand.
With paid advertising, however, you can target ads to land in front of exactly the right people — even if they're not following you. Instagram ads also allow you to include a direct call to action in the post, giving viewers a clear path to learning more about your brand. Denim Social's platform helps marketers create ads at scale, both for the brand and individual advisors. Targeting ads to Instagram users in advisor's geographical areas can help build local connections.
Best Practices Across All Platforms
As we analyzed thousands of social media posts from financial institutions, we pinpointed a few growth opportunities across posts on all platforms. Whether you’re looking to revamp your current strategy or get started on one of the platforms above altogether, keep these two major tips in mind:
1. Audit your posts for self-promotion.
One of the biggest areas for improvement involves the content institutions share and post on social media. Our research shows that one-third of financial institution social media posts are about companies' offerings, but users don't appreciate being bombarded with promotional posts; about half will unfollow a brand on social media if they do too much self-promotion.
If you’re feeling that your credit union, insurance company, or bank social media posts have fallen into self-absorption, don’t despair. Instead, create more opportunities to provide value to and foster connection with your audience with a couple of modern financial services marketing strategies:
Let employees be the voice behind the brand. Consumers want to hear from real people — not big brand names — on social media. Enable and encourage employees to share brand-related content with their own networks. This is social selling, and it aims to set the foundation for greater trust and stronger connections by putting real human faces behind branded posts. You’ll expand your reach while humanizing your brand. Of course, having many employees posting about the brand raises some compliance concerns, but a comprehensive social media management software like Denim Social’s can help you keep everything within bounds by automating approval workflows, housing pre-approved content, and more.
Provide value with educational content. A recent report from the National Financial Educators Council found that a quarter of American adults surveyed said they had no source for financial advice. That's a huge opportunity for your team to step in and be the resources your audience needs. Create and share valuable resources like how-to videos, online pamphlets, easy-to-use calculators, and step-by-step guides. This approach puts the focus on prospects and customers rather than the brand, but it also showcases the brand’s financial expertise and eagerness to help. You’ll become a trusted source for audience members looking to become smarter money managers.
2. Practice strategic linking.
Another major stumbling block we uncovered in our analysis has to do with linking in social media posts. Approximately 80% of financial organizations don't include any links in their posts, which means most are missing huge opportunities to drive more conversions.
Think about it: Someone visits your social media page. Your latest content is about the future of mortgage rates. But you don’t add a link to your own institution’s mortgage rates or other information. So what’s your curious reader going to do? They might Google the topic and end upon a competitor’s website.
Don’t let this happen. Instead, include the following three types of links:
External links: For every six posts you schedule, try to make four informational and evergreen. These posts should include links to trustworthy, non-competing sites with informative and educational resources.
Landing page links: Landing pages can be a valuable part of your internal website real estate. They allow you to gather personal information from visitors in exchange for something like an exclusive whitepaper download. Make sure 1 in every 6 social media posts contains a landing page link. If you don’t have landing pages on your website and aren’t sure how to start making them, check out our easy landing-page builder — no coding or website design experience required.
Owned content links: This is where tactful and strategic promotion can come into play. On social posts that don’t include external or landing-page links, include links to relevant on-site content. These could be blog posts, videos, or service offering pages. Just make sure the content on the link matches up with the tone and focus of the post. For instance, you wouldn’t want to post about home improvement loans and include a link to an article about 401(k)plans.
Social media is the name of the game in marketing for financial services — and most organizations already know that.But how do your strategies measure up to the competition? Are you on the right platforms and sharing the right types of posts to reach your target audience, provide value, and ultimately drive more conversions? Dive further into our 2020 Social Media Benchmark Report for Financial Services and request a custom report today to answer those questions and optimize your social media strategy for the future.
Retail banks in the U.S. are facing a major customer attrition challenges. According to a recent Bain report, customers make as many as 55 percent of financial-related purchases from their primary bank’s competitors. While primary banks may be able to retain customers’ savings and checking accounts, the report suggests that they’re likely losing out on lucrative sales when it comes to loans, credit cards and investments.
Considering that almost one-third of those who defected from their primary bank did so in response to a direct offer from a competitor, wise marketers will up their customer engagement and outreach efforts to retain more customers. Affordability of products is the top reason for customer defection, which marketers may not have much say in, but it isn’t the only contributing factor. Digitization has also been a major catalyst. Namely, the strong digital products and experiences that some banks offer—and others do not.
Bank marketers who can jump onboard the digitization train to meet customers where they are with engaging, valuable messaging will be much more likely to keep customers coming back again and again for each of their financial needs. The following strategies can help:
1. Put the human element front and center
Traditional banks have an innate advantage over digital direct banks: The human touch. Leveraging this benefit, especially when it comes to increasingly digital customer interactions, can lead to measurable improvements in customer retention.
One way to ensure the human touch remains part of every customer touchpoint is to focus on personalization. A February Insurance Thought Leadership piece revealed that 72 percent of people ignore marketing that’s not highly personalized. So targeting relevant content to the right recipients is essential, especially when digitization can easily strip the human element out of an interaction. Personalizing messaging and services to be relevant and valuable to the specific needs of each customer can bring the human element into focus even in a digital world.
One way to create more relevant, personalized outreach is to practice social selling, or leveraging a bank’s employees on social media. People can relate more to other people than they can to big brand names. When your employees are the ones getting in front of customers virtually, it humanizes the digital customer experience and sets the stage for trusting and loyal relationships to come. What’s more, employees also tend to have further reach and engagement on brand-related social posts than brand pages alone, so they can expand the impact of your messaging exponentially.
2. Create digital pathways to human interactions
When considering how to anchor all digital marketing for financial services around the human element, keep in mind that every pathway should connect prospects and customers directly to a human.
For example, a social media post from an employee could include a link to a landing page on your website where visitors can learn more valuable information on the topic of the post. On that landing page, you can include valuable content, such as a guidebook, behind an information request form. When users submit their names and email addresses, they will receive the content and your sales team members can reach out to them directly with a human-centric, personalized outreach approach.
When prospects and customers know they’re just an email or phone call away from a real person at your organization, they’re likely to turn to you instead of an impersonal digital direct bank for their next financial need.
3. Focus on customer retention just as much as acquisition
Bringing in new prospects gets a lot of attention from financial services marketers, sometimes at the expense of retaining current ones. But focusing on customer retention and continuously improving the digital customer experience will help secure more revenue when it comes to additional services such as loans and credit cards.
Listen to the needs of customers and keep refining your personalization tactics to meet their needs. Every time you get in front of a current customer with relevant, valuable messaging or content, you help build trust in that relationship and increase the chances of that customer coming to you for whatever service they need next.
It’s true that people will always be drawn to brands that offer more affordable products and services. But money isn’t the only reason people look outside of their primary bank to fulfill their financial needs. Banks that differentiate by focusing on digitization alongside the human element will find that it’s easier to keep current customers from looking for greener pastures.
This was originally published on ABA Bank Marketing.
In today's digital age, social media platforms have become essential tools for professionals in various industries to connect with clients, share valuable insights, and build their brand. Instagram, with its visual appeal and highly-engaged user base, is no exception. For financial professionals, leveraging Instagram can be a powerful way to showcase expertise, establish credibility, and build stronger relationships. In this blog post, we will discuss the best practices for building your Instagram business profile as a financial professional that will give your social selling a boost.
Choose a Professional Username and Profile Picture
Start by selecting a username that reflects your name or your financial business's name. Keep it simple and easy to remember. Use a high-quality profile picture, such as a professional headshot or your company logo. This picture will be the first impression potential followers have of you.
Optimize Your Bio
Craft a concise and informative bio that clearly defines your role and expertise. Use relevant keywords, such as "Financial Advisor," "Mortgage Loan Officer,” or "Insurance Agent." Include a brief but captivating description of the value you provide to your customers. Highlight any unique selling points or specializations.
Content Strategy
Determine your content niche. Share content that aligns with your expertise, such as investment tips, financial planning advice, or market insights. Develop a content calendar to ensure consistency. Aim for a mix of educational, inspirational, and personal posts. Use high-quality images and graphics to enhance your posts. Visual appeal is essential on Instagram!
Engage Your Audience
Respond promptly to comments and direct messages. Engaging with your followers builds a sense of trust and connection. You want your followers to engage with your posts, so do the same for them! Like, comment, and share to help increase visibility.
Use Hashtags Wisely
Research and use relevant hashtags to increase the discoverability of your posts. Utilize both industry-specific and popular hashtags. Best practice is to use 5-10 hashtags per post as they relate to the content.
Collaborate and Network
Collaborate with influencers or other professionals in your industry. Guest posts or shoutouts can expand your reach. Attend industry events and share your experiences on Instagram. It’s all about taking those in-person relationships online, too.
Educate and Inform
Share informative and educational content that empowers your audience. Explainer videos, infographics, and step-by-step guides can be especially valuable. Stay up-to-date with the latest financial news and trends, and share your unique insights with your followers. Always provide value!
Analytics and Optimization
Regularly analyze your Instagram Insights to understand which content performs best and when your audience is most active. Use this data to refine your content strategy and posting schedule for optimal engagement.
Promote Your Services
While Instagram is a platform for sharing valuable content, don't forget to promote your services subtly. Share client success stories or case studies to showcase your expertise in action.
Stay Compliant
Ensure that your posts comply with industry regulations and guidelines. Be transparent about any potential conflicts of interest. Luckily, platforms like Denim Social that are built for the financial services industry can help with that!
In conclusion, Instagram can be a valuable tool for financial professionals to connect with clients and prospects. By following these best practices, you can build a strong and trustworthy online presence that sets you apart in the competitive world of finance. Remember that consistency and authenticity are key to establishing a successful Instagram business profile for financial professionals. See our Denim Social guide to building stronger customer relationships on Instagram here!
Connecting with customers and prospects on social media is a natural extension of the financial services industry becoming more digital. Consumers expect the businesses they patronize to be on the same social platforms they use — and they expect those brands to be ready to interact with them. Case in point: A survey of over 500 social media users found that nearly three-quarters follow organizations on social platforms, and the vast majority of them interact with those brands on social.
Social media is the perfect tool for financial institutions to build brand awareness, meet the demand for greater digital engagement, recruit prospective customers, and drive referrals.
While social media is a great way to connect with customers and prospects, it’s not without its risk. It’s essential to use social media tools that will keep your team in compliance.
1. START WITH A SOCIAL SELLING STRATEGY.
There are few limits to how you can connect with customers and prospects on social media, but it needs to be about more than posts from a brand page. Direct messaging is always an option for private communication, but to reach more people at scale, social sellers (i.e., agents, loan officers, financial advisors, intermediaries, etc.) should also be posting original content, resharing educational articles, responding to comments and questions, and liking others’ posts. With so many options, it’s important for marketers to craft a social selling strategy that guides social sellers in their social interactions on behalf of the institution.
A well-thought-out strategy can ensure effective social selling. For instance, rather than posting on channels at random and hoping for the best, social sellers can determine which social media platforms suit them best based on audience engagement and follower counts; then they can focus their efforts there. Consider also equipping intermediaries with a library of branded content they can mix in with their personal posts. This strategy will inform your all-important social media policy moving forward.
2. TURN YOUR STRATEGY INTO A DETAILED POLICY.
In a heavily regulated industry, it’s essential for firms to have a comprehensive social media policy. This is a package of brand messaging in a detailed policy to help ensure consistency when social sellers post on your behalf.
Take the plan you mapped out in your strategy and turn it into a documented policy that intermediaries can access easily. Social media and the way people use it continues to evolve, which is why your social media policy should always be a work in progress. Make updates periodically to account for shifts in your approval workflow, changes in messaging, and general social media best practices. As social sellers become savvier, your policy will grow more detailed.
3. MAKE TRAINING AN ONGOING EFFORT.
Intermediaries who are new to social media will require initial training — but it shouldn’t be a one-and-done initiative. Hold regular social selling workshops to keep all social sellers up to date on your social media policy and messaging.
You can also use workshop time to walk your team through any tools you invest in to fuel social media efforts. Denim Social, for example, offers live product demos you can share to show them how to use the technology and get the most benefit.
Demonstrate how the software streamlines the approval process for posts and automatically archives them for future reference. The more they know, the more comfortable they’ll be using such tools to facilitate social selling efforts. The great news is, our customer success team is here to help get your team trained and ready.
Social media opens up a world of opportunity for financial institutions to reach and engage customers and prospects, but that doesn’t mean you should set your team free to do as they please. The right strategy and social media management software can make it a lot easier to avoid mistakes and create a successful social selling strategy. Want to see how Denim Social can help your team up their social media game? Schedule a demo today!
Instagram stands out as the shining star of social media platforms. While Facebook still reigns supreme and TikTok grows, Instagram is quickly catching up fast with more than 2 billion users worldwide.
With users under age 34 making up nearly 60 percent of this user population, financial services marketers looking to reach younger generations should take note. And with an estimated sum of $68 trillion in wealth expected to transfer from Baby Boomers to Millennials in the next couple of decades, Millennials are a worthwhile target.
Studies predict that, after inheriting wealth, 80% or more young heirs will seek out a new financial advisor. Considering that 9 in 10 accounts follow at least one business on Instagram and 8 in 10 users find new products and services in the app, it’s a safe bet that Instagram will be a place to influence many Millennials. Wise financial services marketers will meet them where they are with strong Instagram marketing strategies, and the following tips can help:
1. Focus on paid ads
Instagram is a visual platform for sharing photos and videos, so it’s important for brand pages to populate their profiles with organic posts. While this presence is important, organic content isn’t what will move the needle on business goals. Financial services aren’t exactly visually interesting, and organic posts tend to have low reach as they only show up in the feeds of a brand’s current followers. Without the ability to include hyperlinks in captions, they also won’t drive any traffic back to your site. If you want to build the type of following needed to generate new business, including paid advertising in your Instagram marketing strategy is your ticket.
With Instagram advertising, institutions and advisors can target ads to land with exactly the right audience — even outside their follower base — and include links in posts to drive more traffic to the brand. With a specific call to action that directs consumers to learn more about a topic, Instagram ads offer a straight-line path to giving customers the valuable information they desire — in their own time and at their own place. What’s more, Instagram advertising is seamlessly integrated directly into Instagram feeds and stories, creating a smoother user experience all around.
2. Connect with consumers on a local level
Instagram marketing on the corporate brand level is a great starting point, but advertising on behalf of your individual advisors can take your strategy to the next level. Think of it this way: If a consumer sees a well-known brand on social media, they might recognize the name, but they won’t feel an intrinsic connection beyond initial familiarity. In contrast, they’ll feel familiarity and an immediate connection when they see a post from an advisor in their own community. Consumers want to build relationships with brands, and a shared community is a great starting point.
Of course, most advisors and other financial services employees are not experts on how to market the business on Instagram. And marketers know they must keep all social media marketing for their financial institutions compliant to avoid heavy regulatory reprimands. To keep posts compliant, save employees time, and help them build relationships with consumers in their physical communities, financial services marketers can set up and run ads on their behalf.
3. Micro-target content to your audience
As big-name brands like Amazon continue to elevate the digital customer experience with seamless customer service, purchasing, and delivery, customer expectations are higher than ever before. When customers evaluate a financial institution, they compare it not only to other organizations in the industry, but also to tech giants in any industry that give them exactly what they need when they need it.
They expect a high level of personalization and convenience, and Instagram marketing with paid advertising can help you give it to them. Match basic behavioral and geographic data to potential customers on Instagram to target ads, and then track clicks, engagements, and post-click actions. These data points don’t indicate much on their own, but together they offer a rich story about what consumers want. Continually refine your strategy with these data points in mind to deliver the kind of highly personalized experiences your audiences want on Instagram.
With a large Millennial user base that engages actively with brands online and the ability to target highly personalized ads to exactly the right audiences, Instagram is a must-have in any financial services marketing strategy. To learn more about how Instagram marketing can work to drive your business forward, download our guide to building stronger customer relationships on Instagram for free today.
Make the most of your social media pages and posts by optimizing your images and including essential information about your business on each platform. By giving customers an optimal digital experience, you can broaden reach and provide better customer service through your digital platforms.
IMAGE SIZING:
Profile picture: 176 x 176px (desktop), 196x 196px (smartphones)
Cover photo: 820 x 312px (desktop), 640 x 360px (smartphones)
Keep the main content of your image centered. On a desktop the photo will display as 840x312px, but on mobile will size down to 640x360px.
Facebook post image: 1200 x 630px
The ideal width for a Facebook post image is 1200px, but height can vary based on what type of device the image display is optimized for. We recommend keeping it at the recommended size to keep consistency on all devices.
When creating a Facebook Ad graphic, any text should not take up more than 20% of the photo. You can find a cheat sheet here: https://www.facebook.com/ads/tools/text_overlay.
Facebook Video: 1280 x 720px
The optimal length for a short-form video on Facebook is 15 seconds to 1 minute; for a long-form video, it is 3 minutes. The maximum file size is 10GB.
Facebook Link Image: 1200 x 630px
Make sure to claim ownership of your links for the ability to change the link preview photo. You can find more info on that here: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/528858287471922?id=708699556338610.
Carousel Post: 1080 x 1080px
Carousel posts are a great way to display multiple services or features that you offer to your customers. When placing a Facebook ad you can link each carousel photo to a different link, making it easy for people to navigate to your specific products.
Facebook Story: 1080 x 1920px
Make the most of your stories by using all of your space and creating a fullscreen experience.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION:
Page name:
This is where you can name your Facebook Page, but be sure to keep it shorter than 75 characters.
Page username:
Customize your page URL by adding a username, making it easier for people to locate and navigate people from other digital platforms. Your Facebook URL can include up to 50 characters.
Page call to action:
Facebook gives you a variety of choices on calls to action. For example, if you’d like customers to contact you by email, you can set up a “Send Email” button with your email address connected and ready to go.
IMAGE SIZING:
Profile picture: 400 x 400px
Upload your business logo here to personalize your profile. If this page is for an individual, this is where you will upload their headshot.
Cover Photo: 1584 x 396px
Having a personalized business cover photo will make your profile look more professional and give you the opportunity to provide page visitors with more of the look and feel of your business. This can include an image related to your business or a graphic with information on services you provide or your business slogan.
LinkedIn post photo: 1200 x 628px (mobile), 1200 x 1200px (desktop)
When targeting an audience on both desktop and mobile, make sure that you optimize for mobile to give people the best experience.
LinkedIn Link Photo: 1200 x 628px (mobile), 1200 x 1200px (desktop)
Providing an image with your link preview can help give viewers a better idea of article content and improve your click thru rates.
LinkedIn Link Video: 4096 x 2304px maximum, 256 x 144 pixels minimum
The optimal video length for LinkedIn is 30-90 seconds and the maximum file size is 5GB.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION
Page name:
This is where your business name is located, as well as your company industry, location, and number of followers.
Page description:
Add your business slogan, mission, or a short description that tells people what your company, products, and services can do for them.
X (Formerly Known as Twitter)
IMAGE SIZING
Profile picture: 400 x 400px
Upload your business logo or headshot to personalize your profile.
Cover photo: 1500 x 500px
Be sure to center your content to give your followers an optimized experience on mobile.
Twitter post photo: 1600 x 900px
Allow your followers to see the entirety of the photo in their feed by adhering to this sizing guideline. The maximum file size is 5MB.
X video: 1280 x 720px (desktop, recommended), 720 x 720px (mobile)
The optimal video length for Twitter is 20-45 seconds and the maximum file size is 512MB.
IMPORTANT PAGE INFORMATION
Underneath your profile photo, your company name and username will be displayed.
Write a short bio to tell people more about your business.
IMAGE SIZING
Profile photo: 110 x 110px
Your profile picture will be small, so be sure your image is sized correctly and centered. This is a great place for your company logo.
Profile thumbnail: Displays as 161 x 161px
This is a preview of your large image post, but looks best when the photo posted is square.
Highlight Cover: 1080 x 1920px
Your cover photos should have centered images to give your highlight reel a balanced look. You can also name your highlights, but be concise as they can only be 15 characters long.
Instagram Feed Photo: 1080 x 1080px (square), 1080 x 1350 (portrait), 1080 x 566 (landscape)
The recommended width for all Instagram feed photos is 1080px, but the height can vary. To optimize for your feed display within your profile, we recommend using the sizing listed above to keep your image square.
Instagram Feed Video: 1080 x 1080px (square), 1080 x 1350 (portrait), 1080 x 566 (landscape)
The optimal length for an Instagram video is 30-60 seconds and the max file size is 650MB.
Instagram Feed Ad Photo: 1080 x 1080px
Your ad photo will display the same as a normal feed photo, but with a link attached. When creating an ad in Ads Manager, you’ll be able to upload a separate photo for Instagram to keep your photos optimized for the user experience.
Instagram Story: 1080 x 1920px (portrait), 1080 x 601 (landscape)
Make the most of your stories by using all of your space and creating a fullscreen experience. The maximum length of the story is 60 seconds.
Instagram Reels & Live: 1080 x 1920px
Reels can be used to offer tutorials, demos, or service features. These will be saved under your profile page for viewers to go back and watch at their leisure. The maximum length for Reels is 90 seconds. For Live, this can be used for announcements, events, or other Q&A sessions. These can also be saved for later viewing, and can last up to 4 hours.
So you've invested the time, energy, and money into building a website that details all of your financial products and services, and you have a solid social media strategy in place — but do you have any means of connecting the two? A full digital marketing strategy requires a connection point to lead prospects along the digital journey and toward conversion. Landing pages can serve as the bridges you need.
These pages live on your website and hold information geared toward specific audience segments. For example, if an insurance agent is interested in helping first-time homebuyers with homeowners insurance, a social media post on the subject could include a link to a landing page on your website with even more resources for new buyers.
Landing pages are important because no matter how well-built your website homepage is, it simply can’t serve the needs of every consumer — not conveniently, at least. Without landing pages, site visitors arrive on the homepage and are left to dig through the site for specific information on their own. Landing pages, on the other hand, allow visitors to arrive at your site in the exact place they want to be. It’s the best way for financial institution marketers to quickly and easily offer content that meets the specific needs of various target audiences.
Customers want this level of personalization, and they're open to the idea of trading their information for it. In fact, more than three-quarters of consumers in one study said they would be willing to give more personal data in return for more tailored services. When customers submit their contact information through a form to download the content on your landing page, not only are they getting tailored content, but you're getting data that can fuel more personalized outreach directly to primed prospects. And that leads to higher conversion rates.
Start creating landing pages by planning a page for each promotion in your overall marketing campaign or for each of your target audiences. Then, we recommend the following steps to drive conversion:
1. Keep it simple and direct.
Ultimately, the goal of a landing page for financial institutions is to learn more about prospects by gathering their information in the form field. For visitors, the clearer the path to the field, the likelier they will be to share their data. Don’t fill a page with too many images, multiple offers, and other clutter — you’ll just increase the chances of visitors bouncing off the page before taking action. Instead, stick with concise, clear messaging, easy-to-follow directives, strong calls to action, and impactful design elements.
2. Leverage pre-built, fully customizable templates.
Few marketing professionals have the bandwidth or experience to build a whole webpage on their own. Fortunately, software like Denim Social with landing page functionality will offer pre-built, customizable templates that allow you to start with a page already optimized for conversion.
From there, you can easily customize the content, form fields, colors, images, and video on each page to fit your campaign goals. The key here is to keep a consistent style across pages so each one fits under your overall brand umbrella.
3. Scale, scale, scale!
The real beauty of using pre-built, customizable templates is the ability to design, build, and launch landing pages at scale. Denim Social’s code-free interface makes it easy for anyone to populate many templates with customized elements — no web design expertise required. Just personalize, publish, then easily iterate and adjust based on conversion data.
In practice, this looks like building hundreds or even thousands of highly professional landing pages in just minutes. That’s a lot more opportunity for targeted messaging than one broad website homepage on its own.
Landing pages are one of the most effective tools at your disposal to create tailored experiences, capture valuable information, and generate high-quality leads. With the right platform, any marketer can build landing pages at scale and propel more prospects toward conversion.