ABA report examines banks’ use of social media

August 29, 2019

More than eight in 10 banks (84 percent) believe social media is important to their institution and 87 percent are very or somewhat active on their social media accounts, according to a new report released today by the American Bankers Association.

The State of Social Media in Banking 2019 highlights the results of an ABA survey of 430 banks of all sizes. The survey measures how banks are managing social media programs, what results they are getting, what they wish they could do better, and what opportunities and challenges are on the horizon.

“It’s remarkable how much bank social media engagement has evolved and matured since we first conducted this survey two years ago,” Jim Edrington, ABA’s chief member engagement officer, said. “Bankers overwhelmingly recognize the power of social media to increase visibility and humanize their brand as they connect directly with their customers on a personal level. Social media engagement is rewarding in so many ways, and can provide a big return on a modest investment.”

Banks’ use of social media has matured, with 40 percent of institutions saying their bank has used social media for five years or more – up from 25 percent two years ago. Only 6 percent do not currently use social media, with 3 percent indicating that they plan to begin social media engagement within the next one to two years. The most preferred platforms are Facebook (97 percent), LinkedIn (76 percent) and Twitter (59 percent), followed by Instagram (48 percent), YouTube (45 percent) and blogs (21 percent).

In addition, the survey found that more than half of respondents (52 percent) planned to increase spending on social media resources in 2019 while an additional 8 percent sought to significantly increase that budget. Nearly one-third (31 percent) were planning to hold the budget steady, and less than 1 percent planned to decrease social media budgets.

The report also identifies which social media platforms banks use for marketing purposes as well as profiles how different banks across the country are using social media to generate tangible results. It culminates with a list of 10 top takeaways for banks evaluating their use of social media.

You can download a copy of the report by clicking here.