Hi,
Who’d a thunk it, right? But that’s what I was talking about this afternoon.
With David Miller – no, not the mayor of Toronto – he’s the VP of a bank here in Illinois.
You can imagine how hard it is for a banker to interact on social media…No, it isn’t because banking’s boring. It’s becuase banking is like writing health copy – you have to be very careful about what you say.
The good thing about that is everyone already knows somebody like David has to pay attention to all the government rules.
That means David can participate in LinkedIn forums and just answer questions as completely as he can.
We actually spent about 90 minutes talking about social networking and how a banker can make good use of it. Of course, we also related it to how his customers – business owners – can make good use of social networking, too.
I wish I had a recording of that conversation.
Here’s the one thing that stuck out in my mind: David was a little stuck on the idea that he can only work with people who can actually meet with him. You know, in person. But that just isn’t true.
Think about it for a second…Do you really need a physical meeting to answer someone’s questions and give them advice? Oh, I know it feels good, and we’d all like to have that personal contact…
But this is the Digital Age. We have to be prepared to work with customers we might never physically meet.
That’s what makes the internet such a great place. It works for folks like doctors and plumbers – who really do need to have local customers in addition to long-distance customers – and it works for copywriters and programmers. The service providers who don’t ever need to meet with a customer.
I’ll write more about this tomorrow. For now, look around your town…how many customers are you overlooking because you think their business won’t “work” on the internet?
Here’s a news flash: every business uses information to market itself. From business cards to space ads to brochures, and the internet is information dependent.
Every business belongs on the internet – responsibly, ethically and reliably.
Conrad
Conrad,
I’m seeing more and more banks develop some form of social media program. Mostly through Twitter but on other platforms as well.
A couple handy resources for bankers are:
Social Media and Banking Blog: socialmediabanking.blogspot.com
Community Banker’s Guide to Social Network Marketing: http://www.tinyurl.com/cbgsnm
Hi Jesse,
Thank you for the resources.
Social media is here to stay. Now the important thing is to understand how to use it.
Thanks again for posting the resources. I appreciate it.
Conrad