Social Media in Financial Services: Survey Results
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1) The document discusses a study on how financial services companies are using social media for B2B marketing. It found that most see social media as a tool for customers rather than connecting different audiences. 2) Respondents also demonstrated a lack of education about social media and tended to only use platforms like Twitter and Facebook personally rather than for business value. 3) Financial marketers believed social media was only appropriate for audiences under 30 and not those over 50. However, the study aimed to understand current uses and identify opportunities to adapt marketing plans to digital tools.
Social Media in Financial Services: Survey Results
- 1. Making the Connection Social Media in B2B financial services marketing
- 2. You are here Social media is on the map Businesses and governments are using it. Successfully. But how are B2B marketers responding to it? And how does it work in B2B financial services?
- 3. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing In September 2010, Omobono partnered Three major themes emerged from the research: In short... with Legal & General to explore how, and if, the financial services industry was using social media in a B2B context. Were they using it to source information, form 1 Respondent businesses are struggling to move beyond the ‘broadcasting’ mentality and tend to see social media as a customer- Understanding the current social marketing landscape helps identify successful strategies and identify opportunities to adapt marketing plans to opinions of products and providers and for centric tool, rather than one that can connect the digital tools customers are already using. All their business. Did it yet form part of their different audiences, from building internal three themes that arose from the research own marketing strategies? networks to sharing information with peers. exemplify challenges marketers must overcome in order to use relevant tools in appropriate, The research was conducted in two parts. The initial qualitative stage encompassed a series of depth interviews with financial intermediaries, 2 The responding marketers are generally under educated about social media, with little to no experience using the tools to create effective ways. including mortgage brokers and wealth IFAs. In business value. Most understanding is based the second phase a quantitative online survey was on limited personal use which, in many cases, conducted with financial advisors, managers and creates a bias towards these platforms and brokers. preventing opportunities to use alternative spaces (ie: moving beyond Twitter and The findings are based on responses from 508 Facebook to find spaces relevant to the financial marketers and help paint a picture of the audience). current state of social media marketing not only in the heavily regulated world of financial services, but in B2B marketing in general. 3 Respondents see social media as a young person’s game. Most marketers think it is most appropriate for an under-30 audience and none find it fitting for a 50+ audience. 3
- 4. Our audience: (Thanks Legal & General)
- 5. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Number of Age Regulatory advisors in your status company < 25 (0.39%) AR (44.09%) 0-10 (75.79%) 25-30 (4.92%) IFA/DA (53.15%) 11-25 (8.27%) 31-40 (20.47%) 31-40 (2.76%) 26-50 (5.51%) 41-50 (34.84%) 51-100 (4.72%) > 50 (30.37%) > 100 (5.71%) 5
- 6. Making the Connection 75% of respondents think they know what How familiar are you with ‘social media’ is. the term ‘social media’? Which means that 1 in 4 people don’t! Not at all (7.5%) I’ve heard it, but don’t know what it is (16.77%) I’ve heard it and think I know what is (27.81%) I know what it is (47.93%) 6
- 7. How familiar with these sites or aspects of social media are you? Facebook Salesforce CityWire forums Twitter Yammer MoneyMarketing user comments LinkedIn Flickr Money Supermarket YouTube MySpace forum Ecademy Bebo Foursquare Slideshare Digg Facebook Places Xing Blogs
- 8. Making the Connection Never heard of it, Money don’t use it. Marketing MySpace user 7.14% comments 38.16% Xing 86.55% Flickr 45.04% Bebo Facebook Places Twitter 18.95% 57.27% 1.01% YouTube 0.61% CityWire forums Yammer 55.21% 91.31% Ecademy 82.25% Money Facebook Super- 1.15% market forums Blogs 26.62% 23.83% LinkedIn 26% Slideshare Salesforce 89.51% Digg 88.76% Foursquare 78.44% 80.31% 8
- 9. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Heard of it, don’t use it. Facebook 45.96% LinkedIn 40.67% Twitter Money 83.77% Marketing user forums 48.46% YouTube Slideshare Salesforce 42.71% 10.04% 10.56% Flickr 50.22% Ecademy Xing Yammer Facebook 16.4% 12.78% 8.69% Places 88.24% MySpace 88.24% Bebo 79.79% Blogs Digg CityWire 66.6% forums 34.47% 21.11% Money Supermarket Four forums Square 60.39% 19.03% 9
- 10. Making the Connection Heard of it, use it personally. Top sites used personally: Ecademy 0.22% YouTube Digg 1.26% Facebook Salesforce LinkedIn 0.45% Bebo 1.26% YouTube CityWire 55.47% forums MySpace MoneyMarketing 4.88% 4.62% user forums Blogs LinkedIn Slideshare 5.7% 6.17% 10.9% 0.45% Flickr Xing Foursquare 4.74% 0.22% 0.66% Facebook Twitter Places 9.33% 1.98% Facebook 44.42% Money Supermarket 0% forums 8.87% Yammer 10
- 11. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Heard of it, CityWire forums use it professionally. 5.54% LinkedIn Ecademy 22.43% Top sites used professionally: 1.12% LinkedIn MoneyMarketing Facebook user comments 7.68% Industry Forums: • Money Marketing • CityWire Xing • MoneySupermarket 0.45% • IFALife Facebook 8.46% YouTube Twitter 1.21% 5.88% 0% Bebo Blogs 3.4% Digg Salesforce Flickr 0.22% Foursquare MySpace Slideshare Money Supermarket Facebook forum Yammer Places 4.11% 0.66% 11
- 12. Making the Connection How often do you use social media for... Just reading Updating Commenting content & observing Includes forums, blog posts, profiles etc. Includes social profiles, blog posts etc. Never (25.1%) Never (45.53%) Never (46.35%) When I remember (16.46%) When I remember (12.47%) When I remember (20.46%) Once a month (7.82%) Once a month (9.15%) Once a month (8.14%) Once a week (18.52%) Once a week (18.09%) Once a week (14.41%) Once a day (18.52%) Once a day (8.73%) Once a day (6.26%) More than once a day (13.58%) More than once a day (6.03%) More than once a day (4.38%) 12
- 13. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Chart scale relates to the amount of activity - a larger chart denoting more activity. Uploading & downloading 24.59% Includes whitepapers, videos, photos, podcasts etc. % 2.8 .93 7% 38 ...& for how long ? 27 .66 % 4% 5.9 Never (48.95%) When I remember (17.36%) Once a month (15.27%) Once a week (12.13%) Once a day (3.35%) More than once a day (2.93%) In hours per week. 13
- 14. Making the Connection What are your primary intents for using social media? Personal Keeping in touch with friends Personal General Presence knowledge General news (226) (173) (81) (115) 14
- 15. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Respondents specified 3 intents each. Professional ) (11 ip 1) (33 nsh nd s (5 nes s are nes bra ent tio ) Aw usi em Rela a nd g B ith w nag er Bra ildin Ma stom ng cti Bu Cu era Build a Int Industry Lead knowledge Industry news network of Generation (114) (170) contacts (97) (67) 15
- 16. Making the Connection Social media is seen as a young person’s game: 18-25 26-30 31-40 41-50 50+ 30.48% 46.14% 22.34% 1.04% 0% What client age bracket do you think is most suited to interacting with a business on social media? 16
- 17. Access & usage. Do you have access to social media sites on your business computer? NO 16.08% YES ! 83.92% if so...
- 18. Making the Connection ...how often do you... Watch videos Read the online news online Read a blog Daily Weekly Monthly Sometimes Never 18
- 19. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Comment on Comment in Comment a blog a forum on Twitter Update your Share Facebook Update your interesting page LinkedIn profile content 19
- 20. Making the Connection How do you typically share news and information with friends? Respondents could specify multiple preferences phone 20 I don’t social 300 media sites 101 e-mail 377 in person 288 20
- 21. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing ...and with colleagues? phone Social e-mail media sites 262 22 418 20 I don’t in person 251 21
- 22. Making the Connection How reliable do you find news and information from social media sites? Not at all (25.05%) Somewhat (67.43%) Very (7.52%) 22
- 23. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Please rank your preferred method 3. 3. of business communication. 4. 4. 2. 2. 5. 5. el. Soc nn ial ha me dia nsc is no tio t per nica ceive d as a professional commu 1. 1.
- 24. Making the Connection Social mobility. Do you use social What kind media on of device do your mobile you use? device? Yes (27.94%) Blackberry (9.17%) No (72.06%) iPhone (13.75%) Android (32.92%) Other Smartphone (32.08%) Other mobile phone (12.08%) 24
- 25. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing How important 100% does social media rank in your overall marketing 75% strategy? 50% Very Moderately Slightly Not at all 3.36% 14.92% 19.96% 61.76% 25%
- 26. Making the Connection Only 3.5% of respondents have a Do you have a formal social formal social media media strategy for your strategy for their business? business in place. No (82.05%) An informal one (14.42%) Yes (3.53%) 26
- 27. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing How How many confident are people are you in your responsible for the interaction and understanding update of your of social business’ social media? media? Not at all (45.71%) None (54.55%) Somewhat (47.14%) 1-3 (41.96%) Very (7.14%) 4-10 (3.5%) 10+ (0%) 27
- 28. Making the Connection 80% of respondents How much potential value see value in using social do you see in using social media for business. media? None (20.7%) A little, I’m still testing (24.59%) Some value, I see potential (43.24%) A lot (11.48%) 28
- 29. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing 22% In the next 3 years 60% will be active 25% on social media for their business. 40% How do you see your business brand using 13% social media in the next 3 years? 29
- 30. Making the Connection Barriers to using social media within financial services. What are Would the barriers removing a for social barrier increase media within your business financial use of social services? media? Not an appropriate marketing tool (133) No (9.17%) Customer privacy concerns (266) Unlikely (13.75%) Regulatory restrictions (351) Unsure (32.92%) Unclear understanding of how to use it (196) Likely (32.08%) Resource (staff & time) (143) Definitely (12.08%) None (18) 30
- 31. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing 35% of respondents know their competitors use social media: Unsure (56.13%) Do your No (9.56%) A few (29.11%) competitors Yes, a lot (5.2%) Competitors use social media for business? And do your customers Customers use social media? Unsure (26.15%) No (2.51%) A few (42.26%) Yes, a lot (29.08%) 31
- 32. Making the Connection What specific business benefits have you seen from your use of social media? Improve Increased Monetary Search Media Customer Gain Presence Relationship Lead Generation Results (21) (37) (18) (18) Management (28) 32
- 33. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Chart scale relates to popularity of responses - a larger circle denoting greater popularity. Growth of Network None Brand Awareness of Contacts (40) (42) (39) 33
- 34. Making the Connection Would you use a social media site if it enabled you to... Collaborate Filter content with colleagues Receive custom received and partners instant alerts Definitely Likely Unsure Unlikely No 34
- 35. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing Integrate Integrate it across Track into your your current marketing website digital results easily presence Create Research Create a private, competitors tailored custom comprehen- network of networks sively contacts 35
- 36. Making the Connection What could a social media site do to make your job easier? “Enable real-time contact for customer relations” “Are you kidding, there is no use for social media in financial services” “Reduce the amount of time spent on marketing initiatives” “Allow people to “Improve PR share experiences of and marketing” good service” 36
- 37. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing “Improve communications “Don’t know” with clients” “Nothing much, I think it is a very unprofessional method “Lead generation” of communicating” “Positively vet the ID of clients” “Bring in contacts, update our brand awareness, increase business in a time efficient manner” 37
- 38. Making the Connection Do you know of any other business brands who are using social media in a way that you admire? “BBC” “Mary Portas” “Moneysupermarket” “Not in financial services” “The media generally - BBC, “No - but I realise it will need to be Guardian, Telegraph, Evening part of future strategy” Standard...” “Yes - a lot of companies advertise on sites like Facebook. I think the use of “Record labels and musicians” these sites for marketing will grow significantly over the next few years” 38
- 39. Social Media in B2B financial services marketing “Ocean Finance “Virgin Atlantic” Martins Money Tips “Ifa Life” Money Supermarket” “Manchester United” “NJM Solutions” “Action Coach” “Not really looked” “All the high street shops, banks and Google” “ipatter is a developing site which offers scope for IFA’s - the character space per post is “Apple & Microsoft” sufficient to include risk warnings and regulatory information as applicable” “Tesco” “Coke, Prezzo, Sandals” “Starbucks” 39
- 40. To find out more about using social media for business, please call Ben Dansie on 01223 307000 or email ben@omobono.co.uk www.omobono.com 40 40