Almost every financial brand prioritizes community engagement.
How exactly is this achieved?
What strategies, solutions, and methods must be employed to gain traction with your audience? Better yet, how can it be done in a way that complies with regulations and still drives engagement? While every community is different, there are a few building blocks that consistently play a prominent role.
Community can exist both on and offline. We previously examined how financial brands can build community on social media. Here, we’re reviewing the basics of success for this strategy and how your brand can leverage it in your marketing communications. For more information on how you can empower, ignite, and enable your brand to be remarkable, be sure to subscribe to Social Assurance.
Create a Unified Strategy
What is your brand known for? How does your brand stand out? Understanding what makes you different is a crucial marketing advantage in an industry of heavy regulations (and similar-sounding competitors). If you’re struggling to identify where your financial brand can begin to make its community impact, look to your market niches.
Maybe you’re known for helping small businesses in specific industries or that you have employees that frequently volunteer at a local non-profit. A unified strategy comprises actions you or fellow members are already doing with where you want to grow as a brand. Solicit ideas from employees or hold a contest to see where you should begin and garner buy-in from others.
Pro Tip
Try testing multiple ideas to see what garners the most interest among your employees and target market. Don’t be afraid to try something new if you do not see the results you want.
Meet CRA Needs
Federal regulations pose a unique challenge for financial brand marketers. Service activities are more likely to generate buy-in from senior leadership when they also qualify for CRA credit. Depending on how you look at the Community Reinvestment Act, it can either be a burden or a compass to help you guide your efforts. In recent years, specific regulatory agencies like the Office of the Comptroller of Currency have updated their regulations. Most notably, illustrative examples have been created to help financial brands understand which activities could qualify for CRA credit.
Pro Tip
Use a software solution to help you streamline your CRA tracking, auditing, and reporting processes. With a resource like Social Assurance’s Community Spark, you can ignite your financial brand and help promote social good. Click the button to learn more.
Ignite Your Community with Social Assurance’s Community Spark. Learn more.
Communicate Impact
Financial brands do a lot of great work in the community – but does your community know all that you do? Better yet, do your employees know all that you do? If you’re not sure about the answer to either, then it’s time to re-examine your communication strategy.
We know that social media preferences are changing over time – with Generation Z entirely financial marketing. If you aren’t updating your content strategy to meet these changes, your brand will struggle to connect with its target market. If you’re looking for ideas on better communicating your impact to your community, learn how you can leverage content to build relationships here.
Pro Tip
Use paid social media strategies to increase the visibility of your content. Organic post performance is decreasing, so be sure to invest more in your marketing budget in social to continue to see results.
Community is the fabric that holds us together. Community financial institutions play a critical role in sowing these connections together. From meeting compliance requirements to communicating your strategy, make sure your customer engagement strategy contains these three building blocks to ensure success.
