The Banking Executive Magazine - March 2022 Issue

Tiktok for Banking and Finance • TikTok is downloaded over 1m times a month in the UK • The average daily time spent on the app is 41 minutes Some of the key reasons behind the TikTok app’s surge in popularity are: • Celebrity Endorsements: The app is liked and used by several celebri- ties. The app has paid partnerships with several celebrities, in various regions, who promote the app to local audiences. • Localised Content: Another key driving factor in TikTok app’s pop- ularity is the fact that despite being a global app, it has a strong focus on localised content. The app often runs local contests and challenges and captures on local trends by using of localised hashtags. • Easy Content Creation, Sharing, and Viewing: The TikTop app has simplified video creation and shar- ing. All what users have to do is record anything and everything from their daily routines and post it instantly. Due to the short format, neither the video-creation nor the watching process takes much time or effort. Additionally, this short- form video content is played as soon as a user opens the app. Due to this addictive nature of the type of content, it is very easy for peo- ple to keep watching random videos for hours. Popular widespread use of TikTok is ascertained by the United States president, Joe Biden, meeting with TikTok stars to strategize on combat- ting disinformation surrounding Rus- sia's invasion of Ukraine during the CNN Saturday Night Live program aired on 12 March 2022. BANKING ON TIKTOK Banks cannot ignore TikTok in any customer-facing service. Banks seek- ing to identify their future customer pipeline should leverage the scale of the demographic that TikTok is at- tracting. What is increasingly evident for any bank going through a digital transformation is that Generation Z (known as zoomers - the demo- graphic cohort aged 9 to 24) expects brands to come to them with bite- sized relatable and relevant content that they can access whenever it suits them. TIKTOK OFFERS TWO BROAD AREAS OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR BANKS: 1. The first is to use the platform to increase awareness and consider- ation. The content opportunities are theoretically limitless, for in- stance, offering a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in branches and contact centres, sharing the latest card designs and commintments to society (end child poverty, getting greener) and so on. 2. The second area for opportunity relates to financial awareness. The financial advice community is small but growing with Fin- techs. Banks could fill this gap and help young people develop good money management habits from the outset of their working lives resulting in more valuable potential customers. Using TikTok to convey the three principles of sound money management (track your spending, pay off debt, save for the future) would be a good starting point. Below are some hints and tips to help banks in using TikTok: • Create content with the TikTok platform in mind. Re-purposing In- stagram content will not appeal or generate the same interest. • Make the content useful, relatable and funny to appeal to target audi- ence. • Partner with influencers who al- ready have an established commu- nity of followers and understand banks goals in using the platform. • Encourage user-generated content to increase engagement. This might be something like a video campaign for spend or save where users share whether they are stick- ing to their financial goals. HOW BANKS ARE USING TIKTOK? Below are two case studies of how banks are using TikTok: Case Study 1: FNB Community Bank According to Independent Banker news, FNB Community Bank is con- quering TikTok. FNB Community Bank has reached millions of people via TikTok, Instagram and other plat- forms. FNB Community Bank in Mid- west City in Okla has made an early and particularly successful step in making videos about financial ad- vice. These videos for TikTok and In- stagram Reels, a TikTok competitor with the same short-form videos of up to 60 seconds, typically receive a few hundred or several thousand views, numbers that would make many community bank marketers proud. Case Study 2: Neobank Up in Australia According to Australian news, Neobank Up is taking innovation to a whole new level by partnering up with TikTok to create the first-ever gamified TikTok effect in Australia. Users can now use this new effect to create a TikTok video of themselves playing the #UpEasyMoney Chal- lenge which involves “munching” as many coins as possible in 30 seconds to go in the running to win $1,000. Neobank Up has collaborated with TikToker in the campaign to launch its new brand platform Easy Money. Neobank Up goal is to change the whole experience of saving and spending - because the more en- gaged and connected you are to your money, the easier it is to take control and build the life you want. Personal finance content continues to thrive on TikTok. Aussie neobank was using TikTok as a way to connect with ex- isting customers and meet new ones. Aussie neobank found TikTok to be effective and engaging. the BANKING EXECUTIVE 12 ISSUE 159 MARCH 2022