We Play in Traffic

A friend is the head of marketing at a Chicago bank.  She reminded me that banks are retailers, too.  That got me to thinking about how banks are using social media.  So I looked.

I gathered a selection of major banks, plus a handful of local banks – 21 in total (see list at bottom) – and looked at Facebook fan pages and Twitter.

OMG.  WTF.

Facebook.  8 of the 21 banks have Facebook fan pages.  Of those 8, only 4 have posted anything: Citibank, Fifth Third, MB Financial and US Bank. The last post for US Bank was six months ago.  The last post for Fifth Third was four months ago (and they forgot to put their logo on the Facebook listing so there is a big question mark icon on their fan page).  And Citibank’s one post (also 6 months old) is their logo.  Nice work guys.

Probably doesn’t matter because most of these banks have fewer Facebook fans than a local dry cleaner. 243, 60, 284, 45, 6 are some of the fan base numbers.  No wonder there are no posts.  Wells Fargo has 1,643 Facebook fans but zero posts, from either Wells Fargo, or their “fans.”

Twitter.  There are actually more sponsors of Twitter posts with names like “Chase Sucks” and “FU WAMU” and “BofA_F***Y**” than there are banks playing in this sandbox. Here’s who’s on Twitter: Wells Fargo and Wachovia (owned by Wells Fargo).  What they are doing on Twitter is actually pretty interesting.  They are using Twitter as a customer service center. As their Twitter pages say:  “Do you have a question about your Checking, Savings, or Online Banking account? Ask us! We’re here to help: M–F, 9-5 EST.”  And there are strings of posts answering questions throughout each day.  It is the true conversation that social media intends to be.

Here’s why the lack of social media usage by banks is a problem: young people don’t have strong relationships with banks. They use fewer banking services than their parents did at the same age.  It’s a problem banks know about.  Many have an average customer age of 50 or more.  So, banks need to communicate with younger people.  And do so in the media that younger people use.  Social media being one of those.

I have a lot of respect for bank marketing people; I’ve worked with banks for over 20 years and it’s a tough, dog-eat-dog world.  I also know that staffs have been cut and everyone at these banks is running around crazily.  But you know what, so are the marketing staffs at other businesses.

Someone in my office suggested maybe there is a regulatory issue.  Maybe.  But I think there is more an issue of the conservative nature of banks causing them to be the last to new marketing ideas.

As I told my friend at the Chicago bank who fretted over when she or someone would ever find the time to do any of this, content on a Facebook can come from outside the bank: redirects of articles, blogs about finance, articles from local media, government reports, etc.  And they don’t have to post something every day.  And Tweets can come from those Facebook postings.  But they really ought to get in the game (especially if they want to build relationships with younger customers).

I’m wondering if she’s sorry she reminded me that banks are retailers, too.

Banks surveyed:  Amcore Bank, Associated Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Charter One Bank, Chase Bank, Cole Taylor Bank, Fifth Third, First Midwest Bank, Harris Bank, MB Financial, National City, The Northern Trust, Parkway Bank, The Private Bank, Pulaski Savings, US Bank, Wachovia, WaMu, Wells Fargo, Wintrust.