Social Media Websites: The Big Four and More

Transcription

1 Social Media Websites: The Big Four and More November 2012 Federal Reserve Plaza 600 Atlantic Ave, FL 30 Boston, MA

2 Introduction.. 3 Social Media Websites: The Big Best Practices 5 Facebook. 7 Page Designs. 7 Enagaging Customers.. 8 Facebook Metrics. 10 Best Practices. 11 Twitter 12 Page Designs..12 Customer Service. 13 Linkedin. 17 Company Profiles. 18 Linkedin Demographics. 19 Groups 19 Youtube. 21 Page Designs.. 22 The More 23 Google+ 23 Pinterest 25 Tumblr 26 Conclusion 27 Page 2

3 Introduction Social media has been one of the fastest growing phenomena on the Internet over the past decade and shows no signs of slowing down. Social media is presenting individuals with new ways of sharing and viewing information and in many cases, social media channels are becoming a preferred way to obtain the most current information. Users are typically on social media websites and blogs more frequently, with Americans spending 23 percent of their time online on social media websites 1, while social media sites, like Twitter, are becoming heavily relied on by readers and news producers for breaking news stories. From a company perspective, social media presents new and varied options for connecting with clients while at the same time building a company s brand and image. The intrinsic features of social media allow companies exponential reach by weaving themselves into their fans timelines, feeds and profiles. Users gain from connecting with their favorite brands by staying up to date on the latest company news, promotions, special offers and a wide range of contests and social-specific content that is delivered through social media. Financial service firms are well poised to also benefit from connecting and engaging with individuals through social media, whether utilizing established social media websites, creating online forums, or simply bringing social media sharing options to their public websites. However, the financial services industry falls under a suite of regulations that inhibit using some of social media s features while trepidation about potential issues that can arise through free flowing interactions on social media limit firms usage. Despite these hurdles, financial firms are joining social media websites and leveraging more social features in order to connect and engage individuals while gaining valuable feedback on their own products and services. This report examines the four most popular social media websites, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, and how financial service firms and companies outside the industry are looking to fully leverage these sites. With hundreds of social media sites to choose from, and the potential for smaller social media sites to quickly skyrocket into prominence, this report helps illustrate: Ways financial service firms are currently using social media websites Best practices for using the most popular social media sites Special features and nuances of each social media site Suggestions on how to leverage social media sites for financial services 1 Nielsen Social Media Report Q Page 3

4 Social Media Websites: The Big Four Social media websites come in all shapes and sizes, with many serving a specific purpose, catering to a specific demographic, or constructed around sharing a specific type of information. Clearly, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube dominate the social media scene but a few others, like Google+, Tumblr and Pinterest are gaining notoriety and users, leading many financial firms to consider branching out. The table below outlines current site usage by both mutual fund and life insurance and annuity firms: Website Mutual Fund Firms Life Insurance & Annuity Firms Facebook 57.35% 73.47% Twitter 61.76% 57.14% LinkedIn 72.06% 71.43% YouTube 45.59% 57.14% Google+ 5.88% 20.14% Other 7.35% 18.37% Differences between the two channels have been observed and in most cases, these differences are aligned with the type of services and products each channel offers. For example, overall social media usage is higher within the life insurance and annuity companies than mutual fund firms (89.8% compared to 85.3%) for the main reason that many of the life and annuity firms surveyed offer additional product lines that are not as highly regulated, including automotive and property and casualty insurance, and easier to promote through social media. While examining overall usage, vast differences can be seen amongst the type of content and information being pushed through social media, which in turn will impact what media are used. Mutual fund firms are more likely to push information, specifically commentary and market news, which is handled well by Twitter due to the timeliness of the content. Content Mutual Fund Firms Life Insurance & Annuity Firms Company News 58.82% 55.10% Economic Commentary 57.35% 14.29% Educational Articles 57.35% 59.18% Human Interest Stories 44.12% 59.18% Sponsorships 27.94% 30.61% Page 4

5 Some of these preferences in specific uses are quite obvious, such as economic commentary being more commonly posted by mutual fund firms as compared to life insurance and annuity firms. In fact, economic commentary and market perspectives are a driving force behind many mutual fund firms social media strategies, where as only life insurance and annuity firms actively focused on their variable products tend to leverage social media for commentary. Conversely, human interest stories appear more frequently within life insurance and annuity firms feeds and timelines with the main explanation being that many of the human interest stories underscore the need for and help generate interest in life, disability and property and casualty insurance. Many life insurance firms rely on real life and personal stories as well as case studies to positively promote their products, and the ability for individuals to post their own positive stories is a benefit firms reap from this kind of exposure. Page 5