With a heavy emphasis on automation, the Fintech business depends heavily on software such as AI and machine learning to implement and improve business transactions. This can include services like peer-to-peer payment services, online payment processing, and mobile banking.
Current reports indicate that fintech services and digital banking will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, adding to that the relatively new development of cryptocurrency and blockchain services and the industry is looking at substantial changes as it adopts decentralized and highly secure data encryption processes.
As a technology-powered business, it is crucial that fintech business command a strong online presence, this can be achieved using their website, apps, online portals, and social media. Keeping customers up to date and ahead of the latest development is more than needed, it is expected by fintech customers who demand to be kept informed.
Fintech organizations covering such a broad range of functions including –
- Stock trading
- Wealth management
- Digital banking
- Payment processing
- P2P services
- Ecommerce functions
With an extensive customer base that covers many sectors, maintaining positive and open dialogue is important for not only brand positioning, and customer contact, but to reach across new markets and attract users from other areas.
How to use social media for fintech ?
There are a high number of fintech companies that are utilizing social media for business exposure, and many of them are doing it wrong. Here are some ways that fintech organizations can leverage social media platforms to gain a strong presence.
Focus on engagement, not exposure
Exposure is great for gaining followers and likes, but it is engagement that really counts. Interacting with users and giving them a positive experience when interacting with your business can drive real business. Having 10k users looks good, but it is merely a vanity metric, and with no engagement on your posts it can leave other users wondering if there is a problem, or if your follower count is fake.
Use social accounts as a customer service tool
Keeping up to date with customer wants and questions is a fantastic way to show that your company is open to engaging with people directly. Social platforms allow great opportunities to share informations, rectify issues, and answer questions. If one customer is experiencing an issue, it is likely that other users are too.
Dealing with problems in a public forum using social media will help other customers to resolve the issue too, even if they don’t add their own comment. Even though its a metric that is unmeasurable, there will be a number of followers on your social accounts who ‘lurk’ and have minimal engagement, but remember, your information is helping them too.
Be engaging
Part of business branding that can often get overlooked is brand voice. Think about your fintech company values and the kind of image that you want to present. This will provide a basis for constructing social media posts and generate ideas for the kind of things you want to talk about or share. Being engaging can encourage more people to interact with your social platforms and the more interactions you have, the more chance of gaining more followers and leads, and showing users why you are the company they want to do business with.
Craft a customer persona
Knowing who you are marketing to as well as understanding their wants, needs, and motivation can help you design content to attract your ideal customer. Most companies have more than one customer persona with details of each person’s preferences and requirements. For example
Ethan is a 25-year-old who is interested in short-term investment and doesn’t mind taking high risks. He is single and enjoys football and high adrenaline sports.
Angela is a 43-year-old mid-career manager who wants to start her own business in the next 3 years. She is interested in low-risk financing with flexible repayment options. She has 2 dogs and enjoys the theater and swimming.
Having an in-depth understanding of your fintech customers means that they can be targeted across your social accounts and with the type of content you present to them.
Select your platform
Now you have your customer personas it can help you to determine the social platforms you will use. Different social media channels appeal to different users so depending on their age, demographics, and other criteria, the selection of the right social platforms will drive better success. Using the customer personas from above, Ethan may be more likely to use TikTok and Instagram, while Angela prefers Twitter and Facebook.
Having this kind of information on hand will help fintech companies not only craft appropriate content, but to target it to the right users across social channels. This can help to promote successful growth with a structured campaign rather than simply posting content and hoping for the best. A trap that many businesses fall into.
Limit the marketing
Many fintech companies fall into the trap of using their social media accounts simply for promotional purposes. While it can be good to share services that your company offers and highlight the benefits, no one wants to see post after post of ‘salesy’ content.
In fact, too many posts of this type can actually have a negative effect and cause you to lose followers, or be viewed as a business that is only concerned with gaining new business. Promotional content may be better reserved for other channels like paid advertising to keep social accounts free for real, genuine interactions with followers and potential customers.
Take a few risks
Sometimes the unexpected works well. Memes, funny posts or something uncommonly seen can make people sit up and capture their attention. Often presenting things from a new or spiky point of view can lead to throught provoking discussion, or a unique tone of voice can help set you apart from the thousands of other fintech social accounts. It is advisable to remain professional, and keep in line with compnay values or ethos, but posts that take a risk can yield big benefits.
Information sharing
One of the best uses for your social media accounts is information sharing. People are hungry for knowledge so educational posts can be interesting and helpful to you users. If the content that you are posting is good and fills a need, it will keep people coming back for more and they will be keep to engage, or at least remain as a follower on your account.
Financial practices can often be confusing so this is a great opportunity to provide clarification and explain how things work. How to guides, do’s and don’t or information around things like fees or taxes can all work well.
Create an open dialogue
Along the lines of information sharing, your fintech social media accounts can also be promoted as a safe space for users to ask questions. Q&A sessions or live posts can be leveraged to allow users to ask questions in real time. For those who are shy, encourage them to ask their question privately via DM or email.
Questions around banking, financing, and payment processing can all be addressed as you help users remove some of the mystery surrounding industry regulations or procedure. A higher level of understanding and business transparency can be highly appealing for those users looking to partner with a fintech company.
Can finch companies outsource social media management?
The simple answer is yes, and in fact, many fintech businesses do outsource their social media management to an external company. This provides many advantages in terms of time and creating professionally designed content while removing the need to hire and pay a full-time content creator or marketing manager. Small to mid-size businesses can really benefit as they don’t alway have the staff or resources to keep up with elegant and targeted social campaigns.
What can a social media management service provide?
There are many benefits to having social accounts managed offsite by an external service. Posts, content, and captions can be created that are on brand and reflect your company’s unique tone of voice. Leaving you free to monitor and respond to comments or focus energy on turning business leads into customers.
Most external social media providers have teams of professional designers who understand the concepts that may posts eye-catching and appealing. Content generated can be attractive, scroll-stopping post that creates a higher level of engagement among social media users.
How do I find a good social media management service?
As with most things, a bit of research will stand you in good stead. When seeking a social media partner, most fintech businesses will first look online. Finding a provider is not hard, search results will return listings for dozens of social media management companies. However, that doesn’t always mean that everyone with a website is a good or professional social media company.
Ask for work samples
There are many factors to consider, but one of the key points is to ensure that whichever company you choose, they are able to provide examples of their work, or demonstrate their success with similar business accounts. Ask for work samples and carefully examine the content. It should look well designed, eye-catching, and professional. Poor quality posts will do nothing for your social presence so any company that has subpar work should be immediately eliminated from your list of candidates.
Check for the contract length
You may need to run social media campaigns at certain times of the year, or require posting periodically. Therefore, you will need to find a social media management provider that will fit your needs. Check for contract length or minimum commitment periods. If the business you are considering has a minimum term or is inflexible on contract length, it may not be the company for you.
Many social media management companies will offer a month-to-month payment scheme which can be very helpful for smaller businesses or those with sporadic needs. Flexibility can be important depending on how active you want to be across social accounts and the kind of campaigns you want to run.
Read reviews and testimonials
One of the strongest indicators of a company’s ability to perform good social media services is by checking the reviews and feedback provided by other customers. Look for reviews online and check places like Google My Business to see if the company has a page.
Users and previous customers can easily leave reviews and there are frequently indicative of the kind of service you can expect. If the social media provider in question has a 1 or 2-star rating, it is probably best to leave them alone and look elsewhere.
Customer service
Good customer service is essential for any business, it can be the one thing that makes a big difference in customer retention and satisfaction. No business ever succeeded with poor customer service so this will be an important factor when choosing a social media management partner for your fintech business. Check communications channels and staffing hours.
Is there a 24-hour service? Can you expect a fast response to any questions or inquiries? And what kind of communication options are open to you?
Some businesses provide an online portal with a helpdesk and ticketing system to track requests which can be useful to monitor progress. Some offer email responses or provide direct online chat which is helpful if the request is urgent. If the business is located in another country, which is common, you will want to make sure that customer service or helpdesk staffing is manned at times that align with your own hours of operation.
Final words
Using an outsourced social media management service can be an effective method of gaining account growth and driving customer engagement. With the services provided, many fintech companies are freed up from the obligation of keeping social feeds full and active and can focus energy on areas like client acquisition or management.
For a nominal outlay, the process of post creation and caption writing can be handled by a professional team of writers and graphic designers to keep accounts engaging and appealing to users and potential customers.
Get professional outsourced social media management for your fintech company at Smarcomms.