Today’s consumers want to engage in a new way with the companies from which they buy goods and services. Although some UK financial services organisations are leading the way in terms of their use of social media, on the whole, engagement in social media by UK financial services firms is still relatively limited. This is particularly evident when compared against activity in other sectors and when compared against the level of social media engagement by U.S. and Asian firms. Are legal & regulatory concerns to blame?

CURRENT STATE OF MARKET -

How financial services (“FS”) organisations engage with social media can help differentiate them from their peers. Particularly when dealing with younger consumers such as the student market, FS organisations need to engage with consumers in the most effective way, which could be by placing a topical blog on Pinterest, a fun video on YouTube or interacting with consumers via Twitter or Facebook (rather than running a traditional print or broadcast campaign). Simply having a Twitter account or Facebook page which pushes out information is no longer enough. Genuine interactive engagement is what consumers are looking for and is the key to the most successful social media strategy.