South African Banks on Facebook
The Facebook adoption by the big four SA banks is , in some cases rather interesting:
It would seem that ABSA has a clear lead when it comes to using Facebook to interact and communicate to it's customers. The beauty of this platform, if they do this right, is the positive image the bank can portray to their customers, as well as those who are customers of other banking institutions, as they react timeously to queries, suggestions etc posted on the fan page wall . The public display of helpfulness is priceless PR. Of course, the opposite can also be true as they leave themselves open to public displays of unhappiness.
It's going to be interesting to see how corporate South Africa use Facebook and it's online social media competitors to connect to their clients.
- ABSA have one fan page on Facebook with 2488 fans.
Although an ABSA fan page, this has been geared more around the Currie Cup than actual banking. It's heavily branded with Currie Cup information, photo's and videos of their Currie Cup TV commercials. However they do seem to respond to wall posts made by their customers, even posting a TV ad script when requested.
- FNB have one fan page aimed at the their Premier Bankers with 73 fans.
It's a very informative, has upcoming events, weekly economic updates from their chief economist and some interactive tools. They also appear to respond to posts, albeit they have only had two. I do find it odd that FNB have chosen this market (those earning R350k to R1mill a year) to target on Facebook though. If they are looking to keep things managable and niche, perhaps the student market would make more sense? They have made good use of Facebook for the various events they are naming sponsors for namely the FNB Classic Clashes, The Varsity Cup and Whiskey Live Festival
- Nedbank has no banking consumer orientated Facebook presence. They do have a page dedicated to the Nedbank Local Heroes, where you can nominate a worthy cause or person for a R10 000.00 prize. A touch I like is the videos they have included of the nominated heroes.
- I couldn't find any evidence of Standard Bank having any official presence on Facebook other than someone who has setup up a persona with a Standard Bank logo.
It would seem that ABSA has a clear lead when it comes to using Facebook to interact and communicate to it's customers. The beauty of this platform, if they do this right, is the positive image the bank can portray to their customers, as well as those who are customers of other banking institutions, as they react timeously to queries, suggestions etc posted on the fan page wall . The public display of helpfulness is priceless PR. Of course, the opposite can also be true as they leave themselves open to public displays of unhappiness.
It's going to be interesting to see how corporate South Africa use Facebook and it's online social media competitors to connect to their clients.
Labels: absa, banks, facebook, fnb, nedbank, south africa, standard bank
@eishman - Great post! The use of social media is still in its infancy in South Africa. I will follow these developments with interest.
An observation - it also seems that most of the Big 4 banks seem to think that naming rights on sports events is good enough PR!
Posted by
Arthur |
November 30, 2008 at 2:23 PM