Since the economic crisis of 2008, the financial services industry has struggled with low levels of customer trust. And yet, technology now provides SME lenders new and innovative communication channels, to establish trust and cultivate the loyalty that was lost on traditional lending services.
Social media marketing for SME lenders plays a significant role in building relationships with customers, and ultimately driving funding requests. Via social media, SME lenders can deliver easily digestible information regarding the lending process, right to the screens of their target audience.
Today we’ll discuss the advantages of social media marketing for SME lenders, as well as review five best practices you can deploy in your social media interactions.
Benefits of Social Media Marketing for SME Lenders
Social media marketing hasn’t been around very long. But since the early 2000s, it has become an essential touchpoint in the sales process for brands. After all, more than half the world uses social media, with daily use reaching nearly 2.5 hours on average.
Because financial services (in this case, lending) is an industry rooted in traditional marketing, it’s been a bit slow to adopt the use of social media.
However, modern fintechs, including SME lending businesses, need to find creative ways to incorporate social media wisely and safely. You can use social media marketing to:
- Understand customer preferences: by analyzing your audience’s interactions on social media, you can inform your SME lending process right from the very first engagement.
- Increase brand exposure: get the audience to become aware of your brand. 91% of marketers say their social media marketing had a notorious positive impact on their brand exposure.
- Build trust: borrowers must first trust your brand before they share personal financial details. 64% of marketers invest in building social media communities, where it’s easier to establish rapport with their audience.
- Generate leads: SMEs are actively looking for financing options to weather the economic turmoil. Social media is a huge opportunity for lenders to truly connect with audience segments.
And it’s not just limited to marketing: social media is such a powerful tool that some of the most innovative SME lenders are even incorporating social media into their credit scoring models.
Top Social Media Platforms for SME Lenders
With so many different social media platforms, where should SME lenders spend their time and resources?
To reap the benefits of social media, you don’t need to be on every platform. Choose a few that align with your audience and start by building a meaningful connection with potential prospects and current borrowers.
The main social media platforms lenders should consider include:
- TikTok
- YouTube
Check out this handy HubSpot guide to better understand how each platform works, the pros and cons, and how they can help your alternative lending business.
5 Social Media Marketing Best Practices for SME Lenders
The expectations of your prospects and borrowers are continually evolving, and you have to let them know that you’re up to speed. Social media is where your audience can engage with your brand, get to know you, and find out why they should do business with you.
Here are five social media marketing best practices for SME lenders.
1. Know (and Understand) Your Audience
At the heart of any social media strategy is a clearly defined audience. Don’t assume anything, especially when you have data at your fingertips that can give you the truth.
- Where are your ideal borrowers hanging out online?
- What are their challenges?
- How do they like to engage?
- What do they care about?
By crafting a tailored strategy for each audience on each platform, you’ll be able to hit your target with every piece of content you publish. Over 30% of B2B professionals say that social media has allowed them to build deeper relationships with customers.
Take it deeper by identifying unique audience pain points and how your lending solution addresses those challenges.
2. Research Your Competitors
If you know what your competitors are doing, you can do it better.
Find out the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, and use this intel to improve your own performance. Take a look at how many followers they have, what kind of content they’re producing (and how their followers engage), and even how often/when they post.
There are many analytics tools available that can track your top competitors and deliver valuable insights.
3. Set Clear and Measurable KPIs
Your social media efforts need a clear content strategy with defined goals. What do you want to accomplish, specifically?
Yes, social offers you the opportunity to expand your reach with respect to new followers and views. However, consider shifting your focus to engagement (as positive engagement leads to more leads), and decide how you will track your progress.
Be strategic with every action—social media goals should align with your business goals.
4. Create an Experience Your Customers Will Love
As SME lenders, there are some predictable questions your customers will have along the borrowing journey.
You can use social media content to provide answers and let your potential borrowers know what they can expect when engaging with you for funding. Think outside the box when it comes to your content, by anticipating these questions and then answering them in a way your audience understands.
How you engage and personalize your interactions on social media contributes to the overall SME lending customer experience.
Social media can be a big part of your customer service efforts, so ensure you are engaging with every comment and message in a timely manner. Remember, nearly 80% of customers expect a response within a day of reaching out on social media.
5. Embrace Social Listening
Your reputation will evolve as you open up additional channels for your business.
Monitoring what your customers are saying about you can help you understand and make adjustments to your strategy. Watch for brand mentions across social media channels and pay attention to hashtags users are incorporating into their posts.
Don’t be afraid to come right out and ask your audience for their opinion. Is there a feature they want? Something about your lending process they find confusing? Set up a simple survey or make it a point to include Q&A in your social strategy.
Social Media Marketing Resources
Like many worthwhile endeavors, social media marketing requires a bit of learning, strategy, and time. Thankfully, there are many helpful online guides and tools to make your strategy effective and efficient.
These are a few of our favorites:
- HubSpot: If you’re looking for step-by-step guides, templates, and resources for every social platform out there, HubSpot’s library is the place to go. They even have educational courses for refining your social media skills.
- Sprout Social: Analytics, publishing and scheduling posts, social listening… Sprout Social can do it all. With affordable options starting at $250 per month, this platform is like having a team of social media experts working with you to ensure your strategy is sound. Hootsuite: This social media management platform makes it easy for brands to create content, schedule posts, and track everything about their social followers. Even if you choose not to utilize their paid scheduling tools, take advantage of all the free guides and templates for everything from strategy to reporting.
Have a question or concern not addressed in the materials above? Feel free to reach out for some additional support/guidance!
Start With Social, Finish With Onyx IQ
With the best practices and resources discussed above, you’re ready to get more out of your social media marketing. Remember, your target audience, small business owners, are on social media. They want to engage with you, learn about your brand, and build an authentic connection.
It’s an audience ready and waiting for you.
Once prospects become borrowers, use an alternative lending platform like Onyx IQ. With the ability to streamline your lending workflows through best-in-class automation and advanced lending collaboration, Onyx IQ is the platform you need to provide all lending stakeholders (especially SMEs) with a modern lending experience.
Schedule a demo today or email us at info@onyxiq.com to learn more.
