Banking on Social Media
by Sarah on March 31st, 2009
“You manage online marketing and social media for a bank?” You may be surprised that any organization in as traditional an industry as banking would ever enter the untraditional arena of social media. But I’m not. Social media is about building community regardless of whether it is online or offline. I believe that it is only logical then that a community development bank, like ShoreBank, would start to engage in social media to develop online communities.
I am consistently surprised by how grounded the online community is in meeting in physical locations. At social media club events, the speakers are often drowned out by attendees’ passionate discussions about their favorite causes. People are no longer ‘Tweeting’ or ’Facebooking’ merely to stay connected with their existing friends. Instead they are implementing social media to find and make new like-minded friends and to invite them to join the conversation. That online conversation often fuels a desire for an action that rallies the most unlikely of allies to a particular location. The impact social media can have on building a crowd is phenomenal.
Take the success of Twestival. On January 8, a ‘tweet’ (or online message sent using Twitter.com) went out asking cities to join in hosting a Twestival on February 12 with the goal of bringing local Twitter communities together both online and offline to kickoff a fundraiser for charity: water. I did not think twice about going. So, with $10 in hand for my donation, I joined the more than 10,000 people across 200 worldwide cities, which raised over $250,000. And almost every person I spoke with at Chicago’s Twestival said, “You manage online marketing and social media for ShoreBank? That is so cool.”
They recognized that ShoreBank’s mission is one about which many people are passionate. We build relationships to develop neighborhoods. Why would we not engage in social media to invite like minded friends to join our conversation? We look forward to building our community with you, your passion, and your ideas.
And we want your ideas to help us turn this blog green in April! David, Joel, and Michelle will blog on environmentally friendly practices that can save valuable financial and natural resources. From economic analysis to green design, there is much that a financial institution can do to positively change behaviors to protect the planet. And no one has a monopoly on good ideas which is why we are inviting you to build a blog post around your input!
Please tell us how are you using the internet and online social networks to help save money and protect the environment.
Comment to this thread or contact me independently and let’s see what impact we can make through our online community.
Tags: community development, green banking, ShoreBank Direct, social media, triple bottom line, Twestival
Sarah,
I should be of little surprise that the Web 2.0 generation is so passionate about causes. Remember, social media was born out the the melding of social marketing with Internet-based tools.
Back in December I released an ebook on the subject of community banking and social media called The Community Banker’s Guide to Social Network Marketing. The ebook speaks to banks’ need to utilize traditional social marketing campaigns with Web 2.0.
The ebook can be downloaded for free at http://www.tinyurl.com/cbgsnm. Let me know what you think.
Jesse Torres
Hi Jesse,
It is so great to read an article on social media marketing strategy, implementation, and measurement specifically for a community development bank. I especially enjoyed the marketing funnel image you included on page 23. You only briefly mentioned Facebook Causes and its role within the Community Reinvestment Act though. What are your thoughts on how online communities can ‘own’ Facebook Causes to impact the environmental community?
Sarah