Few business types have been as maligned as the banking industry in the past year. While banks may attempt to improve their reputations with branding campaigns in print and on TV, they should also consider employing a social networking strategy. As Jesse Torres, on the Social Media and Banking Blog, comments, there are right and wrong ways for banks to approach the new medium.

In particular, Torres points to the social network that Bank of America has developed for small business owners. The success of this strategy is that BoFA is “not on the stage but instead backstage prepared to deal with any questions that may pop up.”  He also emphasizes that effective implementation of this tool comes with a specific understanding – it’s not much about the tool as it is about the way customers are engaging with the tool.

To learn more about helping your community banking clients build an effective social media strategy, check out Torre’s Community Banker’s Guide to Social Network Marketing.

[Source: Social Media and Banking, May 2009]