Within a year of
launching itself across social media platforms, Russia’s
fourth-largest retail bank Alfa is already planning a unified data
portal and focusing on virtual customer service, online
competitions and product-based promotions. Maria Trubnikova tells
RBI how important social media is for Alfa
Bank.
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Alfa Bank
began working with social media nearly a year ago. Our first
project was a crowd-sourcing model that was followed through by
launching ourselves across new communication platforms such as
Facebook, Livejournal, Twitter and Vkontakte. We soon plan to
launch a unified data portal to communicate with customers in a
variety of areas.
Social media, above all,
presents an opportunity to distribute information about new
developments and it is a way to maintain relationships with
customers by drawing them into the life of the bank.
This is important to improve
the bank’s image, and it also helps us engage in remote customer
servicing.
Many customers are eager to
communicate with us through social media, as they ask questions –
general and specific – related to aspects of the bank’s services.
We sometimes offer advice on making an appropriate choice, for
instance, from our range of co-branded cards or service packages
via social media platforms.
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By GlobalDataSome people use public
channels just to offer feedback to the bank and elaborate on
specific problems. In this case, it is important to change their
attitude towards the bank and resolve the problems and continue to
maintain a positive relationship.
We closely monitor our
reputation on the virtual world – both what is written about us as
well as through each social networking platform. Whenever
necessary, our colleagues discuss the opposing threads to offer
advice or share an unbiased view.
The
driving forces behind our internet projects are the marketing
department and our specialised online office unit. Our social media
specialists are given carte blanche to make public statements on
behalf of the bank – confidence in which must be won over, as there
are no set scripts for social online communications, and one has to
find the most appropriate tact and tone for every
situation.
Important parameters of our
social media specialists’ work include the number of visitors,
friends, ‘likes’ received, the bank’s awareness on the social
network, applications and requests to the bank and subsequent
replies, and understanding the emotional background of the
particular social media outlet and thread.
Our top management is
involved in this process, as they consider presence on the internet
a priority. This involvement however is strategic, as few of the
bank’s managers write their own comments over social
media.
Rather, they are more active
on our site where customers share their ideas on how to improve the
bank’s business – Alfa-Idea, idea.alfabank.ru – which is
reasonable, as many of the proposals received on these platforms
from our customers are far-reaching, both in terms of their
potential effect on the bank’s business and the investment
requirements for their implementation.
Our middle management, on the
other hand, is less proactive in social media.
Crowd-sourcing is an
important part of our work. Our customers were enthusiastic about
the newly launched Alfa-Idea in October 2010. The success of this
project may be split into three parts:
- innovations offered by
customers; - numerous improvements in our
current business, products and processes; and - creating a pool of ideas
from regular visitors.
Since our Alfa-Idea launch
last October, nearly 5,000 users have registered on the site,
offering 3,500 ideas of which 62 have been implemented and 147 are
under review. Our site is viewed by approximately 1,000 unique
visitors daily, 30% of them being regular viewers. We want to
increase that number up to 50%.
Having earned a certain
reputation, we can now focus on the development of sales through
social media.
In autumn, we plan to launch
a specific portal that will combine polls, opinions and exchanges
of customer experiences with the bank’s products.
Before the end of 2011, we
will offer our customers an opportunity to apply for products
directly using their familiar social communication platforms and
invite them to take part in competitions and promotions based on
our product range.
We intend on developing
additional ways to promote online communication between the bank
and our customers. The sky is the limit.
Maria Trubnikova is head
of the international division and department of corporate
communications and PR at Alfa Bank, Russia
