Harnessing the Power of Social Media

In his article, "How Banks Can Harness the Power of Social Media," Tom Bukacek, CEO of Black Box Social Media LLC summarizes nicely the best way community banks should use social media.

According to Bukacek, banks have been slow to adopt social media in recent years due to factors such as ROI, risks and understanding how to best use social networks.  But this is changing every day.

Bukacek makes a strong point:  "CONSUMER INTERACTION CAN  ONLY OCCUR AT THE SMALLER COMMUNITY LEVEL."  

BINGO!!!!!!

Bukacek goes on to explain that the "sharing of experiences and stories brings the banks closer to customers and also ends up becoming a valuable source of information about consumer preferences."  He also addresses the issue of "negative feedback" by stating that a well handled social media crisis can result in a very positive outcome.

These are all simple but important rules when using social media in a community bank setting.  Forget the big and expensive national campaigns of the multinational banks.  Instead focus on micro-marketing through social media.  Win over new customers and turn existing customers into brand ambassadors and evangelists for your brand.

Social Media Policies Everywhere in Among Investment Advisors

The Investment Adviser Association, ACA Compliance Group and Old Mutual Asset Management released the 2012 Investment Management Compliance Testing Survey Report.  The report found that among the investment advisers surveyed:

• 80% maintained formal written social media policies in 2012
• 64%  maintained formal written social media policies in 2011
• 43%  maintained formal written social media policies in 2012

The survey also found that in 2012, 54% of investment advisers prohibit personal social media sites such as Facebook to be used for business purposes.  Further, in 2012, 54% of investment adviser firms audit for compliance with social media policies.

This data suggests that the regulated financial services industries have realized the ubiquity of social media - not only in the personal lives of employees and clients, but in the financial services industries.

With so few investment advisers maintaining formal written social media policies, the regulatory expectation, AKA Best Practice, will be for every regulated firm to not only maintain such policies but also test for compliance with the policies.