Social Media Trends for Financial Services and Insurance 2019

In this report, Hootsuite examine new ways that organizations in the financial services and insurance sectors can use social media to drive revenue, decrease costs, and mitigate risk in 2019.
From awareness to advocacy, social is now integral at every step of the customer journey. We provide best-in-class strategies for expanding social beyond the marketing department, offering practical ways to use social to reach clients at every touchpoint and advance your organization’s digital evolution.
Hootsuite’s third annual Social Trends for Financial Services and Insurance report is based on internal benchmarking data for 100+ financial services and insurance organizations, a survey of 320+ industry marketers, and interviews with 25 industry experts.
1. Recalibrate your ROI metrics. Elevate the strategic role of social in your organization by mirroring the strategies and metrics of high-performing revenue channels in your organization such as email, paid media, and website optimization.
2. Prioritize social data integrations. To propel your digital transformation efforts, integrate social data with existing systems (such as content management, analytics, compliance, and CRM platforms).
3. Innovate with content. Endless approvals and old school compliance technology kill the personal nature of social media. Mobile video, user-generated advisor content, and social ads will be key to winning the hearts and minds of clients in 2019.
METHODOLOGY
Hootsuite’s third annual Social Trends for Financial Services and Insurance report is based on internal benchmarking data for 100+ financial services and insurance organizations, a survey of 320+ industry marketers, and interviews with 25 industry experts.
KEY FINDINGS
Adoption of social media shows no signs of slowing
Despite data privacy concerns at Facebook and new GDPR regulations, adoption of social media in the financial sector showed no signs of slowing. A study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research found that 100 percent of the financial services organizations in the Fortune 500 maintained a social presence in 2018. But many teams still struggle to prove the value of their efforts to executives.
Cross-departmental social media initiatives are breaking down internal silos
The influence of social media continues to expand beyond marketing, with 38 percent of financial services and insurance organizations reporting that they’ve implemented social initiatives in at least four areas of their business, according to a global study by Hootsuite. And according to Hootsuite’s industry benchmark data, 41 percent of financial services organizations collaborate across departments, working together to better connect social to organization-wide business objectives.
Organizations are also removing silos—for example, by uniting the tools used by corporate marketing and advisor programs in order to consolidate data sources and reduce costs. To expand these efforts, advanced organizations must make CRM and analytics integrations their focus in 2019, uniting social data with existing technology (such as Adobe, Google Analytics, Marketo, and Salesforce).
Financial services organizations are adopting new formats—but lagging in content innovation
In the quest to reach customers—especially among younger demographics—where they spend most of their time on social media, advanced organizations are pushing into new platforms such as Instagram. In 2018, 61 percent of the financial services organizations in the Fortune 500 maintained a corporate Instagram account, a 15 percent increase from 2017.
But financial organizations underestimate the need to innovate with content, particularly in areas like mobile video, user-generated advisor and agent content, and new social advertising formats. As organic reach declines further in 2019 due to algorithmic shifts by Facebook in the wake of fake news and data privacy concerns, organizations will need to stay informed about emerging formats and how best to incorporate them into their overall strategy.
You can view the full report by downloading a PDF version (top right).