How Banks are Using YouTube to Market Themselves

 The days when banks were way behind other sectors when it came to marketing are long gone. Today, banking is one of the most active corporate sectors, especially regarding the presence of international brands.

Many private sector banks have started using social media websites for many reasons, ranging from promoting credit cards to attracting new customers.

Fact: YouTube registers over two billion views on videos DAILY!

Online marketing is the need of the hour and one platform that is excellent for branding and self-promotion is YouTube. This website which started as a simple video sharing platform is today a threat to television. With many live channels and recorded videos, Indian banks are actively investing time and money on the opportunities offered by this type of marketing. Let’s try and discover what banks in our country are up to.

1. Customer Service

It is a rule of thumb that service businesses should be highly customer oriented. Technology has only helped banks to reach their customers anytime, anyplace. Although most Indian banks have their own YouTube channels today, HDFC is probably the best example.

The HDFC website gives viewers a direct link to the bank's YouTube channel where you’ll find many useful videos. Recently, the HDFC Bank uploaded a video about their new Nokia Banking App, thereby helping customers to easily understand and use the application. This video has registered around 1000 views in just a week.

2. Advertising

What could be a better way of promoting your products and services than an online video social network? YouTube is the best media- centric platform in comparison to other social networks that are only word-centric. Google ensures that companies can find tools necessary to market their products on YouTube.

One of the best ways to do so is to create an advertisement which will strike a chord with the online population and compel them to share it.

Fact: Every minute, 60 hours of video are uploaded on YouTube

3. Community Building

With the launch of  the channel subscription feature, viewers today enjoy connecting to many channels. It helps subscribers stay in touch with their bank and receive updates. ICICI Bank has probably accomplished this better than any other bank in our country.

It currently has over 220 subscribers which is huge considering the level of YouTube channel awareness in India. The bank also has several videos, ranging from advertisements to their latest products and services. There are over 2 lakh video views on ICICI Bank’s official channel.

Fact: Indians viewed over 1.5 billion videos in January 2012.

4. Safety Assurance

Current hacking and phishing cases have affected customer trust in online banking. Although the younger generation loves internet banking, the case is different with other age groups.

Banks are increasingly using videos to show how their banking methods are safer than others. ICICI takes the cake here as well with its safe banking segment. It has 9 videos to show customers how they can be wary of hackers.

Featured Image By: Tax Credits