For modern brands, having a robust social media strategy is one of the most critical aspects for standing out to existing and potential customers. But what happens when your brand is a bank?
Banks are located on that fine line between commercial service providers and trusted, savvy financial consultants; and this tightrope should be trodden carefully in their social media strategies too.
US-based M&T Bank is a noteworthy example of a bank tackling this complexity artfully. Supported by Sprinklr‘s customer experience management platform, M&T turned their social media strategy into a significant customer experience pillar, optimally reflecting the bank’s DNA. Here’s their story.
Social Media for Banks: A Different Kind of Challenge
Shannon Truax, Senior Vice President of Social Media at M&T Bank, testifies to the unique complexity that banks face when budling their social media strategies:
“Banks want to engage customers, but they don’t want to sound like Wendy’s,” she says. “They want to be authentic to who they are while giving someone a reason to follow their content.”
Banks also deal with specific, strict governance and compliance requirements that need to be followed in their social media strategy as well.
“Banks have to be extra careful about what is posted and what information they receive from customers on social media,” Truax explains.
“They need to have the right approvals in place so that only the appropriate people have access to social media accounts.”
With a presence in 12 states and over 700 branches across the eastern US, M&T Bank owes a great deal of its success to its relationships with customers. When Truax joined the bank at the end of 2020, she set her sights on crafting a social media strategy that would reflect just that. To succeed, she needed the right technology solution. Enter Sprinklr.
Transforming M&T’s Social Strategy with Sprinklr
When Truax arrived at M&T, the bank was already active on social media and leveraging Sprinklr Social for social publishing and engagement. But Truax saw an opportunity to create a more systematic approach, utilizing both Sprinklr Social and Sprinklr Insights. The new approach would drive good storytelling and authentic engagement across LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and YouTube — as well as on Instagram, which she launched for the bank.
“People often skip over ads on social, so the new approach involved a strategic repositioning of our content to align with our key pillars, alongside inspiring storytelling,” she says.
“With Sprinklr, we can easily manage and monitor our social content, use it for reporting, and respond to all social media messages within a unified platform,” she adds.
Sprinklr also helps M&T Bank navigate the complexities of using social media in a heavily regulated industry.
“The thorough approval process ensures compliance with industry regulations, enhances our bank’s security, and helps catch any errors before content goes live,” Truax says.
Brand Amplification with Employee Advocacy
Knowing that employees could authentically represent M&T in a way that corporate social accounts cannot, Truax’s next step was tackling the bank’s employee advocacy program.
Among other things, she set up tagging in Sprinklr to help organize content, make it simpler for employees to find and share, and deliver regular training sessions for them.
“Sprinklr Advocacy is absolutely crucial for us as a brand focusing on relationships with customers,” Truax says.
“Over the last year, we’ve come to a point where our employees are driving more engagement on LinkedIn than our corporate social channels.”
Tuning into the Marketplace with Social Listening
Truax’s third step was to set up social listening dashboards within Sprinklr. The goal: ensure that the bank is always attuned to both cultural trends and the fluctuating dynamics of the financial industry.
“Sprinklr’s Social Listening capabilities are extremely helpful in this context,” Truax shares.
“By truly listening to the marketplace, they help us understand the right way to react and make smart decisions regarding the content we post.”
Other than driving content decisions, social listening also allows M&T to respond quickly to current discussions. Using Sprinklr’s capabilities, Truax has set up an AI-powered system detecting industry-related conversations in real-time, 24/7.
“This means we’re able to take immediate, informed actions, like issuing press releases or promoting executives’ media appearances to respond to stakeholder questions,” she explains.
According to Truax, M&T is only beginning to tap into the rich potential of Sprinklr’s solutions.
“This remarkable evolution of our social media strategy could not have been possible without everything that Sprinklr provides,” she notes.
“We consider our continuous collaboration a true win, and there are plenty of other exciting social media milestones to tackle.”
To learn more about Sprinklr, visit their website.
