Don’t be so quick to head to Facebook.
According to Corporate Insight, a strategic marketing and consulting firm, Twitter now has the distinction of being the most popular third-party network employed by financial service companies.
“In our opinion, Facebook is more of a relationship-driven community whereas Twitter is more content-driven,” said Alan Maginn, senior analyst at Corporate Insight. “Facebook is a more challenging environment for businesses because, in order to be successful, they must foster a relationship with their fans. With Twitter, they can concentrate more on the value of the content they produce.”
As of Aug. 1, 67% of the firms tracked by the firm now have a presence on Twitter, representing a 10% increase in 10 months. During the same time, the percentage of financial services firms with Facebook pages increased by 3% to 59%.
Since it began tracking social media use in 2008, the few banks, credit card issuers and self-directed brokerages that did utilize social media mainly focused their efforts on Facebook, the most popular online community at the time. According to the firm, there has been a steady increase in the number of financial services firms using social media over the last two years. As it grew in popularity, usage has spread to other areas of the financial services industry, including full-service brokerages, mutual fund companies and annuity providers.
