Globaldata insight

Banks, lessors, and social media followings

While SME leasing businesses tend to come to banks via brokers, the reality is that digital disruption and the mobile-first attitude of today’s young millennial SME owners means social media for brand awareness is key. By Sean Harrison, Sotiris Kanaris and Brian Cantwell.

In 2015, Leasing Life reporter Sotiris Kanaris produced a feature for the title about social media.

Apart from the hundreds of millions of individuals using social media every month, numerous businesses created accounts and developed their own digital communities.

Leasing Life’s research on the use of social media by lessors operating in Europe found that nearly three in five (59%) companies, from a sample of 180, had an ‘active’ account on at least one social media website in 2015. This means that a considerable share (41%) of lessors either had not created an account or not used it in the 12 months prior.

The research in 2015 revealed that independent lessors and captive finance companies were more likely to have an account compared to bank’s leasing and asset finance divisions, which were usually shared through the bank’s social media channels, mixed with updates on other units.

In addition, a North-South divide is evident from the figures, with only a small number of South European lessors having a dedicated social media account.

Out of the companies with a social media presence, 64.5% had an account in more than one social media channel.

Although changes to the way Facebook filters content through to users has reduced organic page reach – that is, the number of followers who actually see free adverts from brands they have ‘liked’ – it is still important for banks to boost their follower numbers.  

Despite the fact that Facebook was the world’s largest social media platform with 1.55bn monthly active users – as of September 30, 2015- only 21.7% of lessors had an account and the average community consists of 1313 people.

Today, with interest rates at historic lows and almost every bank embarking on a branch reduction program, Facebook is a good platform through which to communicate the more intangible qualities of a brand. These are also influential factors in customer acquisition, such as being perceived as an innovative provider or having ethical values.  

Banks must pay attention to the number of Facebook followers they have relative to their market share. Those that are underperforming in this respect are missing opportunities to digitally engage with their customer base, create and grow digital advocacy, and digitally acquire new customers.

No. Facebook Followers per 1% of Market Share

Total Facebook Followers 2018