Social media marketing is continuously evolving. It can be challenging to stay on top of the latest trends and know how to connect with your audience across these social channels.

That said, when implemented well, social media marketing can drive more traffic, increase search rankings, and boost conversions.

With plenty of options to choose from, how do you know which platforms will give you the greatest return?

We’ve put together some helpful tips to best find the right social media platforms for your financial brand.

Tip 1: Know your audience

It is important to really understand who your audience is and what is important to them. What are their demographics and pyschographics? What are their values? How do they normally prefer to be communicated with?

To complicate things, you will likely have multiple audiences with varying interests, values and priorities. Be sure to know the answers of the above questions for each of their segments.

To get started, you can cluster your audience by age and stage of life to know what they are likely prioritizing.

Teenagers may be just starting their first job or are getting ready for college. Retirees may be ready to downsize or are looking to refinance their homes.

Tip 2: Understand where your audience spends their time

Once you have defined your audience (or audience segments), do a bit of research into what channels they’ll most likely be using.

Note: Part of Tip 3 in this blog will be understanding what purpose each of these channels serve for these audiences.

Interestingly, Facebook still remains the most widely used social media platform according to Hootsuite, with 2.49 billion monthly active users.

YouTube is next, followed by Whatsapp. Instagram is closely behind, and newcomer TikTok is closely on Instagram’s heels.

As younger demographics are typically earlier adopters to new technologies, you are more likely to find millennials and Gen Z on the newer channels like TikTok and Snapchat.

Baby boomers and Gen X are likely to be found on Facebook and Instagram.

Tip 3: Know the purpose of each channel

Across all of your target audiences, they are likely to use different preferred social media channels to serve different purposes. For example, Twitter is most often used for easily consumable facts and information. Facebook and Instagram are more likely used for connecting with friends and family, as well as keeping up with the latest trends of the brands they follow.

According to GlobalWebIndex’s social media trends 2020 report, social media can play an important part of the buying journey (see below). Each audience segment of yours will use these social channels at different stages of their buying journey.

This does not mean you need to leverage all channels. Digital Marketer recently published an article entitled Trending Social Platforms in 2020: Which Ones are Worth Your Time. The post not only explains that a business does not need to be on EVERY platform but it highlights some platforms to consider as well as statistics that will help you decide whether or not your audience would be inclined to use them.

An interesting example is TikTok. Similar to Snapchat, this platform is more popular among Generation Z. However, it is actually an effective way to reach unexpected demographics, such as new mothers. A number of well-known brands already advertising on TikTok include Nike, Fenty Beauty, and Apple Music. 

Tip 4: Test and learn

When it comes to advertising on social media, it is important to test and measure your results. Understand the market landscape and where there are opportunities to connect with your audience that may not have been explored by your competitors.

As an example, Robin Kiera is a renowned insurance and insurtech expert. He believes that Tiktok can be the next big thing after Youtube, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for the insurance space.

In his article, Tiktok: Chance of a Lifetime for Insurers, he explains that he has achieved over 74,000 likes and over 1.8 million views with 2,400 followers within three months. Kiera gives insights into what has worked and what has not through testing different angles.

For example, his videos about his business trips performed well from an engagement standpoint. When he tested insurance-specific topics like “The 5 Biggest Insurance Losses,” they did not work as well.

Key takeaways

Overall, when used correctly, social media channels can have a powerful impact on your business.

There are a number of resources out there to help you stay on top the latest social trends, as new ones are arising every day.

Know who your audiences are, where they are most likely to be found, and how they use each of the channels depending on their goals.

If you’re a bank or fintech and want to know more about social media, and how affiliate marketing can complement your marketing efforts, contact us here – we’d love to hear from you!