Simply social

Mandy de Waal speaks to The Internet & Social Media Guy, Andy Hadfield about online banking trends.

What’s the biggest challenge facing banks in this country and the world over? Simplicity.

As the world and the internet become more complex, banks need to make life easier for consumers. They also need to understand social media and cut through the buzz to get to the business value, says Andy Hadfield, the Internet & Social Media Guy (yes that’s his title) for Personal Banking at FNB.

“Simplicity, transparency and access to services are worldwide trends in the digital space,” says Hadfield, who adds that trust remains the biggest local obstacle to be overcome. “SA is still in its infancy in terms of online maturity and you’re pretty stuck if half the online audience doesn’t trust online purchases. But that’s changing — quickly. I think it’s more about fear now. Fear of that customer complaint that goes viral. Fear of sticking your neck out for a channel which is so new and ‘gung-ho’. Fear of a medium that is much talked about, but less understood. At the end of the day, cost and process efficiencies should win out against fear of the unknown. The mantra we take forward in our digital team at FNB is: think BIG, pilot small. It’s the best way to overcome any challenges that digital may throw at us.”

Social media presents significant opportunities for banking and Hadfield maintains that social media presents a training ground where business can learn how to handle public conversations with customers. “The expression ‘fly on the wall’ has never been more apt. Online conversation is growing at a rapid rate — the trick lies in what conversation to listen to, what to respond to, how to respond and how quickly.” Social media also offers opportunity for market intelligence that business needs to be attuned to. “Good and bad conversations about brands used to happen around the braai on a Sunday, with closed, small groups of people. Yes, bad news would still spread, but never at the speed we see today. By building, maintaining and servicing social communities you really are building the future of your market intelligence department.”

I spoke to Andy about social networking and marketing in the financial industry, the next big thing and what business books he reads when he has the time.

Mandy de Waal: What companies are using social networking in an innovative manner?
Andy Hadfield: We are. In small, guarded steps. But there are plenty of shining examples out there. Social networking is too much of a buzzword and I fear sometimes that the real business value gets lost in the hype curve. It’s not about pokes, vampire bites and sharing pictures — the business application of social networking is about building relevant and valuable services and information around a community.

Let me go out on a limb here and say: now is not the time to be looking at successful social media case studies. The true success stories will come from the campaigns and communities that are still around a year from now. It’s pretty easy to be viral. It’s pretty easy to get yourself on Facebook. It’s a lot harder to maintain a very brand-fickle public’s interest in your products.

MdW: Are there any rules for social media marketing?
AH: Plenty. But most are trumped-up blog posts looking for a little Google traffic. My favourites come from Guy Kawasaki…

1. Community before commerce;
2. Communication comes next;
3. Place the community’s interests above your own;
4. Tolerate criticism; and
5. Encourage “personalities”.

Then I’ve added one to this set, taught to me by an old mentor.

6. What’s in it for me?

Pretend you’re a customer, ask yourself Rule 6 before you attempt any communication and you’re well down the way to relevance.

MdW: Is banking a commoditised service? If so how can banks use the digital channel to differentiate?
AH: Most services are these days, aren’t they? Remember those four, five or six P’s (I forget, they change)? I personally don’t feel that, in a world of a million messages, there’s much left to differentiate on except relationships. That’s where social methodologies come in. If you build communities around relevant and valuable services/information, you’re fostering a relationship with people. That bond will last long after your price is bettered by the next guy.

MdW: How big is mobile banking?
AH: Big. Big enough to really watch what happens in this space. Although what’s interesting is the rate at which the cellphone and the laptop are blurring lines. Eventually we’ll all be doing mobile banking on some form of internet device. Mobile will become the de facto standard as opposed to referring to cellphones.

MdW: What opportunities are presented by marketing in the mobile channel?
AH: Reach and measurement. Look, I’d never take traditional above the line media (TV, radio, print) off the table — but digital channels are providing a level of measurement that has never been seen before.

You invest x. You get x out. ROI = x. It’s becoming part science, part art. You can reach most South Africans through mobile channels, and usually measure their response to these campaigns. You’ve got a lot of arrows in the quiver — from the standard SMS to USSD question-answer campaigns to Java applications. And most of all, when these communications are received on an opt-in basis (trade value for value and this is easier than you may think) they arrive and travel in the personal space of your target. There is currently no better way to get a message really close to a customer. One day, we broadcast this stuff onto the inside of your spectacles. Until then — mobile!

MdW: Given advertising inflation and the recessionary environment, will banks look to the digital channel to extract greater value from marketing?
AH: Of course — and this again has to do with measurement. Yes, digital as a channel is more cost-effective, but I highly expect this to change in the near future as more and more success stories are told. It’s that ability to walk into a company Exco and say: “Ladies and gents — we spent R100k on our latest Adwords campaign. We received 1 000 leads. Those 1 000 leads turned into 500 customers. That’s a total cost of R200 per customer. How many more customers would you like?” That’s a powerful proposition to any company.

MdW: What business books are you reading at the moment?
AH: Just finished The Google Story which was great. Funnily enough, I try to keep my non-digital reading to those read-before-you-die lists. I get plenty of business/tech consumption from a ridiculously sized list of RSS subscriptions. I recently discovered SmartBrief and recommend that to anyone who wants to stay in touch with the global technology market.

MdW: What’s your favourite gadget and why?
AH: Apple MacBook Pro. You can haul out the “fan boy” argument till the digital cows come home. I have never, ever experienced a technology platform that just works. Apple may develop inside walled gardens — but it’s sexy, robust and does everything I want it too while looking oh-so-good.

MdW: What social media do you use in your work life and how?
AH: Facebook — Brilliant for pre-scanning meeting attendees, prospective employees and current employees.

Twitter — The best instant research tool that I’ve come across. The numbers in SA are low but they’re mostly influential techies or journalists and thus pretty useful to gauge opinion or do a bit of quick research.

Yammer — We run a Yammer stream in Personal Banking to keep groups of geographically spread people in touch with what’s going on. It’s a great little pilot — if you can’t make it work inside your company, why on earth would you consider using social media to engage with customers?

MdW: What’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?
AH: Make heroes, don’t be one.

MdW: What’s the next big thing in social media?
AH: Trying to figure out how to measure the social conversation. There is a lot of chatter out there — some good, some bad, mostly trivial. But, deciphering how that chatter affects sales, reputation and brand is a tantalising project.