I recently had to put together a few case studies on the finance sector's use of social media. Finance houses, banks and financial planners have a tough time compelling ordinary members of the public to engage with the content they produce and the products they market - not so when finance houses let consumers do the educating and inject a little fun into their messaging.
Check out some great examples of finance firms, banks and services related to personal and business finance below.
Young & Free Alberta from Servus Credit Union
"We launched Young & Free because we felt strongly that young people were not being well served by large faceless financial institutions. Young people in Alberta didn't have a voice when it came to getting what they needed financially. So we launched a search for a Spokester (spokesperson) and gave that person a platform: the Young & Free Alberta website."
A clear and concise message, perhaps taken right out of their positioning strategy. Why the hell not? Additionally instead of forcing their message, they sought a consumer mouth piece and allowed their brand to tag along for the ride.
http://www.youngfreealberta.com/
100Voices from Barclays
"Written by students, for students, and supported by Barclays, this site is packed full of real-world tips on how to manage your money, from finding the best freebies to keeping down your food bill"
Love their tagline "by people with more sense than money"
Real world tips for nor normal people - not real financial tips for abnormal people. Instead of packaging finance education in formal diction, Barclays allow young people to craft tips for other young people. Who do I trust to tell me how to cut down my food bill? Not the big bank with a commercial agenda, but another poor consumer like me.
Mint.com
"Mint is fresh, intelligent online money management. Not only is Mint free, it saves you money. While existing personal finance software packages require hours to set up, a passion for accounting (is that possible?) and hours of weekly maintenance, Mint is virtually effortless."
It's a financial planner with social budgeting (collaborate with your friends to save for a holiday trip. It's also a one stop budget planner with bank integration *US only* with goal and investment tracking. It makes financial planning fun!
FreshBooks
Ever wanted to do your own invoicing but you've been told keeping books, invoicing and doing cost estimates is best left to the pro's. Not with Freshbooks, it's simple user interface allows you to keep tabs of clients, nominate team members to work on them, generate invoices and track the life cycle of a sale right from the cost estimate to approval to recurring billing.
It's AWESOME.
Recommended by the fans