The number one hurdle to using social media expressed by many bank marketers is, “I don’t have the time to use social media.” So how does a bank marketer find the time?
Work Smarter, Not Harder
By working smarter and implementing time management strategies, bank marketers can overcome the obstacles that keep them from investing in using social media. This can be done by implementing the following six tactics:
- Stop Being All Things to All People
The first question to ask is – who is your best customer and what social media platforms do they use? Many times we fall into the trap that everyone is our customer so we spread ourselves too thin by trying to use all social media (usually poorly without results) or we opt not to use it at all. Yes, potentially anyone or everyone may use your products and services, but basic marketing starts with identifying your target market and then marketing to them. You need to focus on the customer that will give you the best return on your investment. Once you have specified your target market, you can specify which social media platforms will help you reach them. For example, if you market to older women and your product or service is very visual, you may want to use Pinterest. If you are looking for referral sources, you may want to use LinkedIn. The key is you don’t need to be everywhere, just be where it counts.
- Focus on Your Goals
When using social media, you need to review your overall marketing goals and determine how social media can help you achieve them. You may be looking to build brand awareness or generate leads. Each of these goals aligns with different strategies and messaging on social media. Pick one or two (no more!) goals to focus on and keep your message related to those goals. Keep this in mind as your 30,000 foot view for all tactics used in social media. They should all relate to the goals you’ve set – and thus be able to be measured against those goals.
- Plan Your Content in Advance
Once your goals are set, you can create content based on meeting those goals. If you are looking to provide education and information, you will want a mix of your own content (i.e. blog posts, articles you’ve written, white papers, tips and lists) as well as content from other thought leaders that complement your work.
Your content mix is posted strategically by using a social media editorial calendar. This calendar will help you to organize your content, specify the platforms and messaging to use on each and specify the frequency of posts. This tactic will save you time and allow your business to have a consistent presence on social media. For most platforms, you should be posting at least once a day – but you can decide what you want to post each day up to a month in advance.
- Schedule Your Content Postings
By using the social media editorial calendar, you can then post to the specific platforms using scheduling tools. If Monday afternoon is a slow time in your business (or whenever you have down time), you can schedule up to a month of posts all at once! If you are only using Facebook, you can use Facebook’s scheduling feature. If you are using multiple platforms, you can use one of the third party applications that will allow you to post to all of the platforms. Hootsuite, Buffer, Social Oomph and Sprout Social are a few of the many tools available to manage and schedule social media accounts. Some have free options, but all have paid features as well.
- Monitor and Follow Up
Putting most of your posts on auto pilot by using scheduling tools does not mean you “set it and forget it”. Social media has the word “social” in it, so you need to monitor and engage with your audience on the various platforms. One way to manage this is by setting your notifications properly in each platform. Many times we set up our accounts without looking at this feature. Notifications (either by email, text and/or on the platform page) allow you to monitor activity and respond and engage to comments and shares.
- Don’t Try To Do It Alone
While bank marketers need to understand the strategy and return on investment of social media, they don’t necessarily need to manage and implement the tactics for involvement. Bank marketers can set the goals, identify the target market, platforms and messages, and then delegate for plan implementation. You may ask a current employee to take on the job, add a new position for the job, or outsource the job to a consultant or agency.
It’s Not an Option Anymore
Including social media in the marketing mix for banks and credit unions is not an option anymore. Bank marketers can overcome time management issues with strategic planning and forward thinking.
About Lisa Kanda
Lisa Kanda is president and chief results officer at Elkay Corporate Advisors, LLC, an award winning consulting firm that specializes in strategic business and marketing plan development and implementation and social media training. She shares social media tips as a contributing author to the Bank Marketing & Strategy blog. She works with financial and professional services clients to help them create strategic marketing and social media plans that focus on results and return on investment. Learn more at http://elkayadvisors.com and http://www.linkedin.com/in/lisakanda.
Here’s another great article on “Old School Social Media”.
