It’s not uncommon to see the media reporting the mistakes of financial companies and advisors. These reports cast the financial sector in a less than flattering light, which breeds – or in some cases, reinforces – mistrust among the public. Mistrust is then passed on to the consumer.
This makes it difficult for financial companies to continue to develop healthy relationships with the public. After all, money is important. If your customers don’t trust you, your business will continuously struggle.
This industry-wide problem can be fixed, one brand at a time. Each financial company must build its brand so that consumers see them as transparent, helpful, empathetic, and caring.
Are you boring?
One of the biggest problems with the financial sector is, most brands have no personality. They simply post content and engage with customers. That is the purpose of social media engagement, but there is much more to it than that.
Customers connect with brands that have personalities like people. Have you ever wanted to stay in the same room as someone who was stuffy, old, and boring? Did you want to stay in that room?
Think of social media like a room full of people, and the customer is trying to find someone to talk to. Which one will you be? Obviously, if you’re the stuffy, old one, they aren’t going to choose to engage with you. But if you’re the funny one, or the positive one, they’re going to flock to you.
Become the customer
Many businesses spend a lot of time researching their customers, but not enough time finding out who they are. They know their statistics, but statistics don’t translate to a personality. That’s where many people go wrong at.
Who are your customers? If your answer is “predominantly male, ages 21-35” you’re thinking like a business. Businesses see people as statistics to be marketed to. They’re not. They have feelings, hobbies, and interests, just like you do. Find out what they are, and use that to connect to your customer.
In the 21-35 age bracket, their hobbies probably include video games, sports, and travel. These are easy ways to connect with your customer. You could have a post about how to save money on video games. You could have a contest for tickets to a big sporting event. You can even tell people where your staff is going on vacation.
As an example, which one do you think is more likely to get engagement?
- “Karen, our VP, is heading to the Bahamas next week! Do you have any tips for her? Let us know, and wish her luck!”
- “7 Ways You Can Save For Retirement Right Now.”
Customers can get the latter anywhere. But the former is an open door to directly engage with your company. If you extend that invitation, they’ll take it.
Be more transparent
Forbes reported that over 70% of customers will more than likely buy from a company if the CEO uses social media, while over 80% will trust the company more. People expect transparency online. It’s something that you shouldn’t shy away from, especially as a financial company.
Of course, you want to remain professional at all times, but consumers still want to see that the people who run this company are, in fact, people. Show them that they can talk to you and trust you, and you’ll be rewarded with positive public perception.
You may be afraid to put yourself out there, but in the interest of building your brand and customer trust, you should be engaging with people on social media. People are talking about what affects them on social media. You’ll see their concerns, their habits, and their hobbies. You can use this to initiate conversations and build a stronger public image.