One thing we are big fans of is for banks to get more interactive with their small business customers and to design strategies to help them build their own businesses. In addition to increasing ties to the customer, banks serve to reduce risk and increase profitability by helping pass on the best practices. We strive to do this every day with this and other publications and services. Today, we share some tips for social media, the content of which you can utilize and pass on to your small business customers in a newsletter, white paper or email. These tips are applicable to both banks and small business and are tried and true ways to help your customers better understand social media.
Find a Voice: The most important part about a social media effort is finding the right tone, content and attitude. Experimentation is the key until you find the right groove. In addition to business tips, be authentic and showcase management's talents or passion. The point of social media is to develop more of an intimate relationship via electronic channels. If this means sharing a hobby, sport or passion, this makes the social media effort easier and more effective. Many companies make the mistake of trying to stay "all business." Let the culture of the company be part of your brand and let it show. A steady stream of background and personal data about management and your company will better help your customers personalize the company and what it stands for.
Less is More: Update your posts as frequently as you would normally talk to customers. Six posts a day is excessive, just like 6 calls a day would be. While this varies, our rule of thumb is between 3 and 6 per week depending on the value of the content. The more valuable your content, the more you can post and get away with posts that are largely marketing related.
Focus: It is better to focus on just one or two social media channels, instead of spreading yourself too thin. We recommend Linkedin and Facebook to start and then expand to Twitter and Google+ once you have success.
Harvest Your Efforts: While building a brand is good, building sales is better. Collecting the names and email addresses of customers you want to have is more than a social media exercise. Building targeted relationships is important as it develops a set of qualified leads. On Facebook, start by creating a custom welcome tab and then include a call to action to encourage non-fans to click "Like" and become a fan. Once you get the "Like," offer a valuable giveaway, in exchange for their name and email. Here, providing information about the industry, economy or community is perfect (such as these tips). With this model, you are increasing your fan base and growing your lead list at the same time.
Continual Improvement: Every quarter, strive to make a small improvement in social media. Add design elements to Facebook or Twitter, incorporate video (work in a custom channel on YouTube), add a blog or create alerts (new products, industry changes, interest rates, etc.). Incorporate social media with your CRM system, make an effort to get local journalists (for better press coverage) and work on focused promotions incorporating both live events and social media. Small steps lead to a journey and when it comes to social media, companies need to continue to take those steps and experiment to see what works and what doesn't. Be scientific about it and try to quantify performance. That way, with each change, you can see the number of new fans, e-mail sign ups or posted comments.