Credit card companies should tie their marketing to social-media sites because more credit cardholders are connecting with them through those channels, new survey data suggest.
In an online survey of 877 cardholders Atlanta-based Synergistics Research Corp. conducted in February and March, 26% of respondents said they connected to their card brands through social networks, and 8% had used social media for customer-service purposes (see chart).
Asked why they became fans or friends of a card brand or issuer, one-third responded it was a means to be aware of special promotions or deals, Genie Driskill, Synergistics chief operating officer and senior vice president of research, told PaymentsSource in a June 21 interview. “The reason cardholders are saying they are signing up is that they expect to get something, not like a Groupon deal, but it is deals they are looking for,” said Driskill.
Some card brands, such as MasterCard Worldwide, Visa Inc. and Discover Financial Services, use Facebook to promote marketing events such as sweepstakes and contests (
Synergistics suggests that card brands and issuers continue to incorporate more of those types of marketing strategies because cardholders are looking for what they can get back for being a friend or fan.
“It’s very important that card issuers and brands make their presence in these different channels known,” such as by notifying cardholders through mailings, emails or on their company websites, Driskill said.
The most popular social-media site for card brands by far is Facebook, as the survey data found that 23% of respondents were fans or friends with their card brand or issuer, and 6% had used Facebook for customer-service purposes.
Only 4%, however, connected via Twitter, which surprised Synergistics because many card companies, including Discover, now say they troll Twitter to manage complaints about card products and services (
“But it’s still early in the game, and social media is an emerging channel in terms of overall usage,” said Driskill.
What do you think about this? Send us your feedback.
