Social Media In Finance Event Research Report Reveals Best Banks on Social Media

A new report compiled by the Social Media in Finance (SMIF) event in London has revealed the results of its research into banks and social media. Standard Chartered Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Aon, and Bennetts have all been recognised as the best performing banks, insurers, and credit unions online, becoming the clear winners of the financial social battleground for 2019.

Researchers analysed the social media statistics for all UK banks, insurance firms, and credit unions in the April 2018 – April 2019 period. The study found that the best performing bank for B2B communications was Standard Chartered Bank, while the Guaranty Trust Bank performed best for consumer communications on social media.

In the world of insurance, Aon was found to be the best for B2B communications, with Bennetts being recognised for its consumer communications. The results come on the back of the 2018 SMIF conference, which focused on the growing importance of B2B social media in the finance sector, and on the eve of the 2019 event.

“It is fantastic to see how far the financial services industry has embraced social media as a mechanism for communication. For both businesses and consumers – we have seen an incredible push to increase the scope of these interactions on social media over the last year,” says James Saward-Anderson, event director of Social Media In Finance 2019.

“At Social Media In Finance 2019 one of the big focuses is the maturing of social media usage in this market. However, producing content is easy, producing highly personalised, very relevant engaging content campaigns is far more challenging. This must come alongside a greater importance placed on social media analytics and advanced data science techniques by brands, just as they would do with their websites.”

According to Saward-Anderson, the rising of advanced technologies and open banking is directly responsible for this shift to social media. These systems have allowed financial institutions to incorporate social elements such as Facebook Messenger into their applications, streamline their pricing models, and automate aspects of day-to-day operations to provide a better service for customers.

He added: “Challenger banking disruptors such as Monzo and Starling along with peer-to-peer lender and chatbot savings apps such as Plum are all taking charge of this space so the more established banks must move into it more frequently if they are to capture the growing market of younger people looking to put aside whatever they can afford for their futures – either to save for buying a home or to put into a pension.

“The finance sector has traditionally struggled with its public appearance. With interactions often being largely transactional, the public hasn’t formed close bonds with their banks like the generations did before when they were at the heart of a high street and a community. Social media platforms allow financial institutions to go back to that idea of having conversations on a more personal level and this conference is designed to move everyone forward by learning from each other’s successes as well as their failures.”

The 2019 Social Media in Finance 2019 event is scheduled to take place in London at the Grange Hotel, Tower Bridge, on 12th June. 30 expert speakers from some of the UK’s biggest banks, investment banks, insurance agencies, and fintech companies will be in attendance, including representatives from Barclaycard, Santander, LinkedIn, and the London Stock Exchange Group. Passes to the event can be purchased online by registering at https://smif19.co.uk/register-now.

To find out more about The Social Media in Finance event, visit https://smif19.co.uk