Financial institutions form the backbone of the economy. Digital communications from these institutions face very unique challenges, bridging a traditionally conservative industry and cutting-edge technology. SMWTO producer Eli Singer took some time with Bank of Montreal’s Pritesh Gandhi to discuss how social media is changing the game for financial institutions.
Background
Pritesh’s past accomplishments include leading ShopATI (acquired by AMD), an e-commerce site with revenues of over $25MM US dollars annually with a 95% customer satisfaction index. He also independently developed the first internet marketing course for Seneca College. This course has become an integral part of the marketing curriculum at Seneca College.
Currently, he is Sr. Manager, Enterprise Digital Marketing & Strategy for one of Canada’s largest financial institution with over 20 people reporting to him. Recently, he led a team of 50+ to redesign BMO Bank of Montreal’s website to a leading-edge financial website which was rated in the Top 2 by Forrester Rankings.
Want to know something awesome about Pritesh? He has a Film Making Certificate from George Brown and has worked on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Who knew?
How is social media being used by financial institutions in Canada?
When it comes to Canadians’ money and finances, a lack of communication by big banks almost always leads to customer dissatisfaction. So we make it a priority to be as open and transparent as possible. An impressive 60 per cent of Canadian retail banking customers use social media, which makes it a great place to discuss our customers’ banking experiences and hold to our promise of making money make sense.
What can other industries learn from how financial institutions are using social media?
The financial services industry in Canada and around the world has a great opportunity to use social media as a means of improving its customer experience. I believe companies like BMO show other industries that social media is not just about promotions and selling products, but also about understanding customers’ needs and engaging in conversations. Social media allows financial institutions to extend their footprint beyond the traditional sales-driven marketplace and into a setting that is more community-focused. Through this approach, social media naturally becomes a very effective customer service channel. Just be sure to tread carefully, because once questions are asked or an issue needs to be resolved, you had better have the resources in place to get your customers the answers they need.
With Social Media allowing the transfer of information at light speed, what do you see as being the next big opportunity for Social Media in relation to finance and banking?
One of the next big opportunities in social media, not just for the financial sector but for all businesses, is socially-enabled websites. From an e-marketing standpoint, a social experience brought into a branded environment is ideal. We currently do this to a degree with our BMO SmartSteps communities, where professional bloggers help start discussions around business and finance issues for Canadians.
I believe there’s a bit of a disconnect between traditional websites and social platforms for the financial industry as a whole, but a lot of businesses are quickly realizing they can integrate social elements into their sites. Do I think this type of integration will completely replace your standard bearers like Facebook and Twitter? Probably not – at least not anytime soon. But a well thought-out approach to your business’ social mix can really increase your Return on Relationships (RoR).
What are some challenges you face when integrating Social Media in a financial institution?
As a bank we’ve found trust and security are the most important things to us and our customers. Inherently, social media is about openness and communication. Our challenge then at BMO is to balance the practice of being open and transparent with the understanding that we have been entrusted with very important, and at times sensitive, information.
What are you looking forward to most for the 2012 festival?
The BMO team and I are very much looking forward to hosting new events and sharing new ideas, which influence the way participants see and value social media as a result. The programming this year looks better than ever with events not just across Toronto, but also linking up with our friends in other host cities like London and New York.
