SOCIAL MEDIA IN BANKING 2012

Transcription

1 SOCIAL MEDIA IN BANKING 2012 Benchmarking of the Top-50 Global Banks Best Practices Strategies APRIL 2012 MYPRIVATEBANKING REPORT Extract Original Report with 233 pages plus full data appendix

2 CONTENTS 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SUMMARY RANKING TABLE METHODOLOGY SELECTION OF BANKS AND SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS 12 Qualitative Research to identify typical use cases EVALUATION PROCEDURE DETERMINING THE CRITERIA 14 Facebook presence (max. 17 points) 14 Twitter stream (max. 6 points) 15 LinkedIn profile (max. 4 points) 15 YouTube channel (max. 4 points) 16 Google Plus (max. 2 points) 16 Use of social media on a bank s website (max. 10 points) 16 Overall social media strategy (max. 4 points) 17 Best practice (max. 3 points) THE FUTURE: THE NETWORKED BANK SNOWBALLING GROWTH OF INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION BANK CUSTOMERS ARE ACTIVE USERS OF SOCIAL NETWORKS USING SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR CUSTOMER TARGETING AND INTERACTION 24 Data driven targeting of existing and potential customers 24 Customer interaction CASE EXAMPLES FROM THE CONSUMER GOODS INDUSTRY 26 H&M: Gathering important feedback via Facebook and other social media 26 Ford Motor: Launching the Ford Explorer via Facebook 27 Starbucks: How Facebook makes customers visit a Starbucks coffee shop IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY ELEMENTS OF A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY FOR BANKS 31 02

3 4.0 SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITIES: PROGRESS FOR A FEW, NEED OF IMPROVEMENT FOR MANY FACEBOOK: MORE AND UPDATED CONTENT NEEDED TWITTER: LITTLE ACTIVITY FEW FOLLOWERS LINKEDIN: BANKS NEED TO GO BEYOND STANDARD CONTENT YOUTUBE: GOOD RESULTS, BUT MORE FOCUS NEEDED GOOGLE PLUS: NOT A LOT TO SEE YET NOT ENOUGH ATTENTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA ON BANKS OWN WEBSITES OVERALL SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY AND BEST PRACTICES: MORE EFFORTS REQUIRED PROFILES ABN AMRO ANZ BANK BANCO BILBAO V.A BANK OF AMERICA BANK OF CHINA BARCLAYS BB&T BMO FINANCIAL GROUP (BANK OF MONTREAL) BNP PARIBAS BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON BRADESCO CAISSE D EPARGNE CIBC (CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE) CITIBANK COUTTS CRÉDIT AGRICOLE CREDIT SUISSE DANSKE BANK GROUP DBS DEUTSCHE BANK ERSTE BANK/SPARKASSE OESTERREICH GOLDMAN SACHS

4 5.23 HSBC HOLDINGS PLC ICICI BANK ING BANK INTESA SANPAOLO ITAÚ J.P. MORGAN BANK JULIUS BÄR LLOYDS BANKING GROUP MERRILL LYNCH MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP (ENGLISH SERVICE) MORGAN STANLEY NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK (NAB) NORDEA PICTET PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP RABOBANK GROUP ROYAL BANK OF CANADA ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND GROUP BANCO SANTANDER SEB SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE STANDARD CHARTERED SUNTRUST BANKS INC TORONTO DOMINION BANK GROUP UBS UNICREDIT US BANK WELLS FARGO BANK SOCIAL MEDIA BEST PRACTICES IN BANKING WEBSITES WITH A SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNEL TO MATCH 190 A way of using social media that will find favor with clients and non-clients alike (ANZ)

5 Picking the right social media channel for each task (Barclays) 191 Making a bank s web content more accessible through social media (Royal Bank of Canada) 192 Promoting financial education through an innovative new kind of bank branch that has its own Facebook page (DBS) CHANNEL EXCELLENCE 194 Making the most of the Google Plus, the new arrival in social media (Caisse d Epargne) 194 An all round successful YouTube channel (Citi) LINKING 196 Demonstrating good linking, an indispensable component of an effective social media strategy (Deutsche Bank) 196 A social media hub that truly takes the customer s point of view as its starting point (ABN AMRO) 197 One step further than a basic social media hub, a social media portal website (BBVA) 198 Media relations can be helped by providing directions to your social media (SEB) SOCIAL MEDIA BANKING 200 Incorporating social media into Internet financial services right from the start (Crédit Agricole) 200 Courageous and logical: integrating social media and online/mobile banking (ICICI) MAKING THE MOST OF GOOD CONTENT 202 Blog promotion by means of social media links (BNP Paribas) 202 Great video content for investors that s easy to find (Merrill Lynch) 203 Free advice by video with a thoughtful extra tool for viewers convenience 204 (Toronto Dominion s TD Waterhouse) SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CUSTOMER RELATIONS BUILDING 205 Provision of RSS feeds (Bank of America) 205 Friendly engagement by the social media team, an indispensable ingredient for Facebook chat (National Australia Bank - NAB) 206 Successfully combining social media with conventional advertising (Standard Chartered) 207 Pro-actively seeking out complaints and queries (SunTrust)

6 6.7 SOCIAL MEDIA PROMOTING A CORPORATE IMAGE 209 Success with social media is more than good design and lots of content (Itaú) APPENDIX: LINKS TO ALL SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCES DISCLAIMERS

7 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY «This analysis shows that a select group of banks with just a handful of others have managed to build an excellent social media presence reaching across all the important social networks and across global markets, and also includes their own websites. These social media leaders are able to reach millions of existing and potential new customers through new social media channels. This success is built on an integrated global social media strategy, in most cases executed by a global team of social media specialists.» 1.1 SUMMARY Citibank comes out on top of MyPrivateBanking Research s social media benchmarking with outstanding 47 points out of a maximum of 50 points. Runners up are BBVA of Spain and the National Australia Bank (NAB) with 44 points each, followed by Crédit Agricole and Deutsche Bank with 43 points. The analysis shows that this select group of banks with just a handful of others have managed to build an excellent social media presence reaching across all the important social networks and across global markets, and also includes their own websites. These social media leaders are able to reach millions of existing and potential new customers through new social media channels. This success is built on an integrated global social media strategy, in most cases executed by a global team of social media specialists. They might not all have a perfect social media strategy yet but they are leading the pack in a fast changing digital world where customer behavior and preferences are ever shifting in response to the stimulus of new technologies. Placed below this group of social media leaders are the social media discoverers. A group which includes about 40% of the analyzed banks and is defined according to MyPrivateBanking by their offers of some basic elements of social media, for instance a Facebook presence or a Twitter stream to communicate with their customers and the general public. But these banks have failed yet to build an integrated and strategic approach to social media. They are not able to harness the full power of social media yet. A disappointing third of the benchmarked global banking players still only attain half of the maximum points or even less. This substantial proportion of leading banks worldwide, labeled as social media laggards by MyPrivateBanking, miss out on leveraging the new opportunities provided by social media. They have mastered only the basics of social media, are not present on all social media and lack a social media strategy entirely. The critical weaknesses of the majority of banks that the MyPrivateBanking report identifies are: Most banks evaluated are still lacking an integrated and strategic approach to social media. For instance, only 16 banks have meaningful content on all the analyzed leading social networks. One half of the banks in the benchmarking do not have a social media hub on their website where they provide links to their presences on social networks. 07

8 Many banks are neglecting social media on their own homepages. Only 13 out of the 50 banks evaluated have a variety of blogs, podcasts, videocasts or other social media on their website. In many cases, social media are not up-to-date. For instance, social media on bank websites are only in seven out of 50 cases fully up-to-date, defined as the latest content on blogs or videocasts etc being no older than 1 week. Facebook, as the most important social network, is still the weakest link for most banks. On average, banks reach only 60% of the maximum possible points for their Facebook presence. Only Google Plus shows a weaker average performance level by banks. In order to catch up with the leaders in social media development the following strategic steps are required for most banks: Top Management must open up to social media. Top management of every important global bank should get involved in determining the right strategy and take the critical decisions to determine exactly how the firm should position itself towards existing and potential bank clients in terms of social media. Have a dedicated social media strategy and team. Not much better than having no social media presence at all, is sending conflicting messages across various channels or showing no activity for weeks. Mistakes like these can easily be avoided by establishing a clearly defined strategy executed by a dedicated social media team that ensures the message the company wants to send is communicated in a effective way across all channels and markets. Focus on the general, broadly popular platforms and a few niche communities. Over the last few years only a small number of platforms have made it to become global leaders in the world of online communities. Every bank should be present in these important social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Google Plus). In addition, a limited number of smaller niche communities should be targeted. Be original. Be engaged. Be authentic. Social media prosper when updates are frequent. But don t just put your standard press release on Facebook; that won t work. You may even be ridiculed for such typical corporate behavior. What is required are original contributions and authentic content. What s attractive are lively comments, videos, photos and other content that can captivate the user. In addition, increasingly users expect direct customer support through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, where they re posting questions and complaints and expecting timely responses. 08

9 Taken as a whole, our analysis demonstrates a clear overall improvement in social media usage by banks compared to previous MyPrivateBanking surveys. Nevertheless, for the vast majority of banks room for improvement is still vast and the quality of online presences fails by a wide margin to match the importance of social media as a communication tool. The good news for banks is that, in social media, changes requiring relatively little effort can achieve big improvements. The strengths and weaknesses of the social media presences analyzed for this report together with the best practices identified here will provide both the required framework and detailed recommendations for a start to be made on improvements today. 09

10 1.2 RANKING TABLE Banks Total (max.50 points) Facebook (17) Twitter (6) LinkedIn (4) YouTube (4) Google Plus (2) Social Media on Website (10) Overall Social Media Strategy (4) Best practices (3) 1 CITI Bank 47 2 Banco Bilbao V.A National Austr. Bank 44 4 Crédit Agricole 43 4 Deutsche Bank 43 6 ING Bank 42 6 Rabobank Group 42 6 Standard Chartered 42 6 Wells Fargo BNP Paribas (continued on next page rank 32-49) 10

11 Banks Total (max.50 points) Facebook (17) Twitter (6) LinkedIn (4) YouTube (4) Google Plus (2) Social Media on Website (10) Overall Social Media Strategy (4) Best practices (3) All evaluated banks: ABN AMRO, ANZ Bank, Banco Bilbao V.A., Bank of America, Bank of China, Bank of Montreal, Barclays, BB&T, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Bradesco, Caisse d`epargne, CIBC, CITIBank, Coutts Private Bank, Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse, Danske Bank Group, DBS Bank, Deutsche Bank, Erste Bank/Sparkasse Österreich, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, ICICI, ING Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Itaú Bank, J.P. Morgan, Julius Bär, Lloyds Banking Group, Merrill Lynch, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (English Service), Morgan Stanley, National Australia Bank, Nordea, Pictet, PNC Financial Services Group, Rabobank Group, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, SEB Bank, Société Générale, Standard Chartered, Suntrust, Toronto Dominion, UBS, Unicredit, US Bank, Wells Fargo 11

12 2.0 METHODOLOGY 2.1 SELECTION OF BANKS AND SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS For this research into banks use of social media, fifty of the world s leading banks with retail or wealth management operations have been selected. Of these, the first 40 selected have been chosen on the basis of having the highest total assets worldwide. The remaining 10 banks have been selected to ensure the widest possible geographical coverage for MyPrivateBanking Research s analysis. Analysis is focused on the banks presences/profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus. In addition, the banks websites are scored in relation to their use of both social media tools (like RSS feeds and comment boxes) and content, such as blogs, podcasts or social bookmarking. Finally evidence for each bank s social media strategy has been researched and scored. Only the public facing social media activities of the banks is within the scope of this report; no password-protected or internal social media is included in the evaluation. As most of the banks covered by this report are large financial conglomerates with multiple business activities serving different client segments together with many local business activities, often in more than one country, our choice of the most relevant presences for our analysis is based on the following criteria: Each social media presence analyzed must clearly relate to retail banking or wealth management and not to areas such as business banking, investment banking or pure sponsorship presences In cases where a bank has more than one presence within a particular channel (Facebook, Twitter etc.), the presence with greatest number of likes/followers has been selected (in the case of YouTube the criterion is uploads) and, in consequence, the analyzed presence is not always that of the bank s home country or of the group. 12

13 Qualitative Research to identify typical use cases Prior to the analysis of the social media activities, MyPrivateBanking Research conducted 20 qualitative, in-depth interviews with bank customers regarding their social media activities. Based on these interviews five core types of use were identified. In this study, the different uses are typical scenarios of how and why certain user groups use social media specifically with respect to managing theirfinances. We have derived our detailed evaluation criteria and their weightings directly from these use categories: Social Media Use Categories User Group Objective Paving the way for a customer relationship Potential new clients Creating an overview of the brand, services, products and trustworthiness of a bank by scanning the feedback and opinions others have given or are able to give in real-time in various social networks Giving feedback on various aspects of a bank relationship Existing clients Expressing positive or negative feelings, encounters, and stories clients experienced with a company or an employee through feedback mechanisms on the website and in various external social media Discussions regarding the general perception of a bank in society, its political and social environment Getting the latest news, rumors and updates about a bank or its representatives Entertainment Potential new clients, existing clients, general public, journalists, job applicants, suppliers Potential new clients, existing clients, general public, journalists, job applicants, suppliers Potential new clients, existing clients, general public Expressing positive or negative views about a corporation, for instance with regard to charity activities, broader role in society etc. on various social media platforms Receiving real-time feeds of information about an institution and its employees for instance through Twitter or blogs Having fun, entertaining and educating themselves through games, videos, photos and other easily consumable content on mobile devices or on various social networks 13

14 2.2 EVALUATION PROCEDURE The research into the social media activities of the selected banks began with an analysis of each bank s social media channels and content and the evidence for a coherent social media strategy, according to the criteria set out below. The results of this analysis of the individual banks were then independently checked by another analyst who was fully conversant with the research criteria of the study. Lastly, further checks were carried out before each of the Bank Social Media Profiles were written to make sure that none of the research findings had become out-of-date. 2.3 DETERMINING THE CRITERIA Overall, a score of 50 points was the maximum. The banks surveyed could score points in the following areas: Facebook presence (max 17 points) Twitter stream (max 6 points) LinkedIn profile (max 4 points) YouTube channel (max 4 points) Google Plus presence (max 2 points) Use of social media on own website (max 10 points) Overall social media strategy (max 4 points) Bonus points for best practices (max 3 points) TOTAL: max 50 points Facebook presence (max. 17 points) With its membership currently running at more than 850 million active users worldwide, Facebook has maintained its position as the pre-eminent social media channel. The network s leading role is reflected in the high number of potential points over one third of the total - allocated to Facebook in our scoring regime. With its popularity with the public and the flexibility that it offers to members, Facebook gives corporations scope for using it as a means of integrating other social media. For example, a bank s YouTube channel could be provided with its own section on its Facebook presence or, alternatively, its YouTube content might be posted directly onto to the Facebook Wall. Even more importantly, this flexibility and worldwide acceptance mean that a Facebook presence can now rival a group website as a bank s flagship presence on the Internet. Official Facebook presence (max. 2 points): If the bank has a group or centralized Facebook presence, it scores 1 point. This can be a Facebook presence for another important market of the bank (not necessarily the home market). A further 1 point is awarded to banks that have a Facebook presence for a specific segment such as wealthy clients or university students. Content on Facebook (max. 5 points): A bank Facebook presence will score 1 point for each of the following: a full bank profile, a track record of answering customer queries or complaints that appear as posts or comments on the Facebook Wall, video content, extra activities (such as competitions, offers, quizzes, polls), rules of conduct (privacy policy, house rules, user guidelines). 14

15 Being up-to-date (max. 6 points): The appeal of a social network presence is largely based on the frequency and timeliness of the posted content. Nobody cares about yesterday s post! Points are awarded on the following basis: Recent entries on the wall: 2 points for latest post not older than 3 days, 1 point for latest post not older than 1 week Other recent content such as pictures, news, discussions etc. (1 point) Comments by users within the last 3 days (1 point), Response time to comments on Wall: within 24 hours scores 2 points, 1 point for more than 1 day Number of fans (max. 2 points): The number of fans (users who like a Facebook presence) is usually a good indicator of the quality of a Facebook presence: 1 point for more than 2,000 fans, 2 points for more than 10,000 fans. Contact message response time (max 2 points): Responsiveness is key. Provided the presence included a contact message facility, we used it to contact the bank. For responses received within 24 hours 2 points were given, for response times of more than 1 day but less than 3 days 1 point was awarded. Twitter stream (max. 6 points) With 140 million users in 2011 making it the global leader in microblogging services and a largely adult demographic profile, Twitter clearly has enormous potential for banks both for purposes of informing customers and potential customers about what products and services they have to offer and as a way of providing customer service. Official Twitter stream: If a bank has a corporate or centralized Twitter stream 1 point is awarded. This can be a Twitter stream for another important market of the bank (not necessarily the home market). A further 1 point is available to be awarded if a bank has one or more segment or function specific twitter streams such as a customer service stream, a stream with tweets on newly published investment analysis or one for a sports event sponsored by the bank. Channel description: The existence of an accurate description of the purpose of the Twitter stream analyzed is worth 1 point. Daily Tweets: If a bank tweets more than once each working day, 2 points, for an average 1 tweet each, 1 point. Followers: The number of followers on Twitter is a good approximation of the quality and activity of a Twitter stream. More than 5,000 followers on the analyzed stream scores 1 point. LinkedIn profile (max. 4 points) LinkedIn is the leading network for business professionals worldwide. At a conservative estimate, more than 135 million members in over 200 countries are part of LinkedIn, and 14 million of them are college students or recent graduates. For banks, with their need for high quality personnel, LinkedIn is especially important both as a recruiting ground and as networking tool for existing staff. Overall a bank could reach 4 points for its LinkedIn profile: 15

16 Official LinkedIn profile: 1 point is scored for an official LinkedIn presence. Company profile on LinkedIn: A recent and complete company profile scored 1 point. Products and services, careers content: A LinkedIn section on products and services and/or a section on careers earned 1 point in total. Followers: For more than 1,000 followers (a very low benchmark in order not to put smaller banks with fewer job openings at a disadvantage) 1 point is awarded. YouTube channel (max. 4 points) Being the biggest social video network worldwide, every bank should broadcast itself via YouTube to profit from the network effects of this platform. The importance of video content as a medium has come about only over the last few years. Despite the examples of the powerful effect of some YouTube videos on the images of corporations, some banks still seem very reluctant to embrace this medium. Videos can communicate extremely effectively with certain target groups, although it is important to realize that the most effective content is entertaining and that, with a variety of content, a bank can ensure that it appeals to different audience segments. Content up-to-date: If the latest video is not over one month old, the bank scores a further point. Variety of content: If there is a minimum of 10 relevant videos posted on the YouTube channel, a further 1 point is awarded. Google Plus (max. 2 points) The current social media report marks the first time that MyPrivateBanking Research has evaluated banks use of Google Plus. Although this relatively new social networking tool has a number of important strengths, including simplicity and versatility, it is still in the process of gaining acceptance in the corporate world. At this stage, a bank s decision to invest in providing content for their Google Plus presence is a helpful indicator of their level of determination to communicate with their customers and the public at large. Google Plus is not yet on the same level with older, more established social networks like Facebook or Twitter. Therefore, the maximum possible number of points is only 2. But if, in the future, Google Plus turns out to have become more important, its share of points will go up in following editions of this report. Presence on Google Plus: 1point is awarded for a Google Plus presence. Content on Google Plus: a further 1 point is awarded Use of social media on a bank s website (max. 10 points) A bank s website is still the first port of call for many (potential) clients, making it all the more important that banks should use social media on their websites. There are two sides to ensuring that a website is successful in social media terms; firstly, making available content such as blogs, podcasts and videos and, secondly, linking to and integrating with social media outside of the website. Both these components are measured in the ranking: Presence of social media on website (max. 4 points): For every blog, podcast, videocast on the main group website 1 point (max. 2 points) and for every blog, podcast, videocast etc. on a segmentspecific website 1 point (max. 2 points) 16

17 Up-to-date social media: Frequent and regular updating of all social media on the website is important for its usefulness to website visitors. Where all existing social media is up-to-date (latest entry not older than 1 week) 2 points were scored. Where only parts of the website s social media content are up-to-date 1 point is scored. Content that s undated is treated as if it is out of date. Feedback: Giving feedback, initiating discussions and commenting is central to social media. Where simple feedback, such as rating or like/not like functionality, is catered for, 1 point is awarded. Making it possible to leave public comments is rewarded with 2 points. Links to other social media channels: Links from any bank website to any other social media presences (except another website) score 1 point. RSS feeds: RSS feeds are important to users of social media content for their convenience, allowing users to subscribe to the source rather than making repeat visits. For providing at least one RSS feed on a bank website, 1 point is awarded. Overall social media strategy (max. 4 points) Banks have opportunities to connect with their customers and the wider public through multiple channels and take up by an individual bank of any particular presence could be merely following the herd or trying out a new medium just because it s there. However, the advent of social media marks a revolution in the relationship between corporations and their stakeholders. Consequently, involvement with social media works best when companies understand how social media has empowered customers, would-be customers and the public at large and where it has developed a coherent strategy to achieve the best outcomes possible from these relatively new tools: hence, the inclusion of tests to identify the presence of an overall social media strategy. Efforts towards the integration of social media: Evidence of integration, such as Twitter announcements also appearing on Facebook scores 1 point. Fuller integration of social media messages: In cases where a bank has achieved a coordinated delivery of corporate messages across all or most of its social media scores a further 1 point. Presence of a social media hub: A web page signposting all of a bank s social media provision is a benefit to site visitors and a clear sign that the bank in question sees social media strategy as a priority. The presence of such a hub scores a further 1 point. A formulated social media strategy: This may be either a strategy for the bank with clear social media objectives published on the website, or clear statements and explanations of social media objectives made available publicly such as in interviews, or evidence that a team for the deployment of social media is in place. Any of these scores a further 1 point. Best practice (max. 3 points) Employing social media in a manner that not only takes a particular channel or kind of content beyond the merely adequate but changes people s perceptions of what is possible with social media points to a bank having both an understanding of the potential of social media and staff who have given careful consideration to social media implementation, prerequisites for achieving success through social media. For every outstanding application of social media 1 point is scored (up to a maximum of three cases per bank). 17

18 3.0 THE FUTURE: THE NETWORKED BANK (.) 18

19 DISCLAIMERS No Investment Advice This report is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal. This report is distributed for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice or a recommendation to sell or buy any security or other investment, or undertake any investment strategy. It does not constitute a general or personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual investors. The price and value of securities referred to in this report will fluctuate. Past performance is not a guide to future performance, future returns are not guaranteed, and a loss of all of the original capital invested in a security discussed in this report may occur. Certain transactions, including those involving futures, options, and other derivatives, give rise to substantial risk and are not suitable for all investors. Disclaimers There are no warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or results obtained from any information set forth in this report. MyPrivateBanking GmbH will not be liable to you or anyone else for any loss or injury resulting directly or indirectly from the use of the information contained in this report, caused in whole or in part by its negligence in compiling, interpreting, reporting or delivering the content in this report. Copyright MyPrivateBanking GmbH s Products are the property of MyPrivateBanking GmbH, Switzerland, and are protected by Swiss and international copyright law and other intellectual property laws. Customers are prohibited to copy, forward or store MyPrivateBanking Products outside of the legal entity that has made the purchase. MyPrivateBanking GmbH All rights reserved. 19