Financial services companies are much better informed about social media than they were a year ago, and their plans for future use of such media are becoming more ambitious, refined and targeted.
That's according to LIMRA, which in 2013 asked the firms about their plans for social media. Answers a year ago were pretty much focused on growing their community on various social media networks and also learning what kinds of opportunities were offered by the different networks.
This year, that's changed. The 2014 survey of 54 financial services companies found that respondents overall have an active presence on an average of four social media networks and have considerably more specific goals for each of the networks in which they participate.
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A third of companies said that they regarded LinkedIn not just as an effective recruiting tool, but also as an opportunity to promote "thought leadership."
Better targeting appears to be the objective with Facebook, as companies also said that they intend to refine the content they upload there to be more helpful and engaging. As one respondent termed it, the goal is to "become conversational versus broadcasting."
Companies are also looking to provide more "edutainment-style" content for YouTube. They also plan to expand their presence there, and to target not just potential customers with the videos they post, but also sales agents.
It's probably not too surprising that Twitter looks to be a future route to social customer service, with companies citing that as one of their potential uses for the network.
And while Google+ might be a newcomer to the field, only Facebook scored higher among financial services firms for the place where they want to build a community. Forty-one percent of respondents cited this as one of their top objectives for this particular network.
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