Vancouver Internet Marketing Social Media Marketing Consultant Canada

Business is all about people. Understanding people. Helping people. Connecting with people.

Sometimes, those of us who work in the online world get so caught up tracking followers, retweets, likes, page views and conversion rates that we forget something very important for social media success – engagement.

How to Engage Using Social Media
Want to start connecting with people in your social networks? Try these four simple rules of social media engagement:

1. Initiate contact. Make connections. Focus on quality over quantity.
2. Break through the wall. Think outside the box for ways to start conversations, to stand out from the crowd, to help people want to connect with you.
3. Be consistent. Establish trust by building consistent presence and positive interactions
4. Be authentic. Share real stories and facts, don't pretend to be something you're not. Focus on making real connections with real people and provide great information and resources

As the need for financial knowledge and empowerment grows, so has the trend for financial institutions and companies to engage with consumers through social media.

Atlanta-based credit reporting agency Equifax has launched a personal finance blog that will feature weekly insights and practical information from consumer finance experts, the company announced this week. In February, SunTrust, also based in Atlanta, debuted its LiveSolid.com Web site. The site has attracted more than 210,000 unique visitors since its launch. And personal finance expert Patricia Stallworth of Johns Creek, president of PS Worth, runs the popular site, MindingYourMoney.com.

Can you think of any social media applications or uses of Twitter or Facebook or other social media your bank could offer you that you'd actually find helpful? Do you really want to follow your bank on twitter just because they hold your mortgage? Perhaps you'd follow them if they offered you a discount on your monthly fees? Is there a social media app out there that can make my bank branch be open during ALL regular business hours 6 days a week? ;)