Look, I get it. There’s nothing quite as fulfilling to a social media professional as seeing an incredible number of views, likes, shares, and comments on your Instagram posts.
We all want it. Sometimes, we have a post that really deserves extreme engagement–whether it actually happens or not.
But, does your bank or credit union really need social media engagement? Or, is there another marker of success that has nothing to do with likes and shares?
After years of working with financial institutions on their social media, and after more than a decade of analyzing posts that get varying degrees of engagement, I’m questioning if all that is even relevant.
In a quiet moment, ask yourself a few tough questions:
- Why are you posting to social media? What are you hoping to achieve?
- What do you see as a measure of success?
- Can you really expect your members or customers to get excited about your posts?
- When a member scrolls through Instagram to relax, do you think they want to learn about getting out of debt? Or why the latest update to your mobile app is so awesome?
Once you’ve given these questions some thought, you may reach the same conclusion I did: It’s fun to create posts that get a lot of engagement, but if you’re just posting solid content–even if it’s not getting much engagement–that’s okay.
In fact, it’s more than okay.
I’m making this audacious claim because, while engagement is wonderful and perhaps validating, it’s not the goal.
What you can, and if you’re doing it right, most likely will, achieve as a goal for social media is conveying a message of expertise.
Stability.
Consistency.
Even if your followers don’t react or respond to your posts. Even if there’s little to no engagement.
As a financial institution, no one expects your Instagram page to be filled with clever video clips and memes.
And it’s completely okay if none of your content goes viral.
But, when you post consistently and often, when your posts teach important concepts in bite-sized morsels, you establish yourself as an expert in a topic. You also highlight the fact that you’re up-to-date on what’s going on in the world. You’re relevant to them, to their lives, and to their finances.
On a certain level, you probably know you have permission to post solid, grammatically perfect content that DOESN’T go viral.
New members may not find you through Instagram, and that’s okay. It’s a well-known fact that consumers start their shopping online when looking for new goods and services. And for a relationship-driven business like financial services, they will certainly check out your social media channels once they start looking. You’ll want them to see your robust, informational, freshly updated online presence. That’s really what they need to see when your goal is establishing trust.
After all, you’re a financial institution, not a marketing agency.
Your members don’t need exciting stories, fancy soundtrack and celebrity status. They need to know that the FI they bank with is stable, and secure, values their financial wellness, and is trustworthy.
A simple and consistently updated social presence will establish exactly that.
