With the announcement of its new Twitter and Facebook channels in addition to its previously launched Boards.ie forum, Bank of Ireland is looking like the most social bank in Ireland, being the first to engage with customers across all three channels.
Bank of Ireland expects to build highly effective online communities through its social media strategy, enhancing brand recognition while also creating more options for customer service online.
While Twitter and Facebook are popular worldwide, Boards.ie is practically an Irish institution, welcoming more than 2.2m unique visitors per month. In April, Bank of Ireland introduced the Talk to Bank of Ireland forum to the popular site – the first bank to do so.
The forum gives customers the opportunity to submit everyday banking queries in a new way and, according to Bank of Ireland, activity on the forum has increased month-on-month, showing a 50pc increase, putting overall views at nearly 60,000.
Talk to Bank of Ireland on social media
Bank of Ireland hopes to have the same success with the @talktoBOI Twitter account, which will be available to answer customers’ queries between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday; and its new Facebook page, which will promote local initiatives and update users on new services and upcoming events, such as National Enterprise Week.
“Social media has experienced phenomenal growth in just a few years, effectively reshaping the way brands offer customer service to their customers,” said Gavin Kelly, Bank of Ireland’s head of direct channels. “It offers us an additional platform to engage and communicate with our customers within their chosen channels in a place that best suits them. We are delighted to be the first Irish bank with a dedicated social media customer service team active through Boards.ie, Twitter and Facebook, and look forward to building effective online communities throughout these channels.”
A dedicated social media team, trained to interact with customers across these channels, has been appointed by the bank, which is trying to hard to prove itself in the digital age, having launched a mobile banking app just last month.
