Lisa Wood

About Lisa Wood

Why Tumblr is the new unexpected social platform for first direct

When you think of Tumblr, you probably think of edgy creative images and striking visuals. You probably don’t think about your bank. 

But at first direct, we’re just about to launch a new Tumblr channel to showcase ourselves in a slightly different space, a space which is not particularly a ‘bank space’, a space which is unexpected.

Should you have a branded tone of voice in the social sphere?

Last year we looked into all aspects of how brands should approach social media while still maintaining brand identity.

One discussion I kept returning to was; how do brands articulate themselves on social media while staying ‘on brand’? 

Every brand approaches social media in a different way and, as we grow into a new, more mature era of social, we learn there is no definitive right answer (although there are definitely a few wrong ones!)

So for this post I’ve gathered together opinions from four key brands (including first direct) to demonstrate how they walk the tightrope of being social and staying on brand. 

How understanding social typology can help marketers

Over the past couple of months first direct has conducted a research programme designed to identify different personality types through social media. 

We questioned around 1,500 UK adults on their behaviours and attitudes towards social media. From the results we were able to identify 11 measurably different types of user.

Marketing vs. inertia: how to make sure marketing wins

In September 2012 the UK Payments Council released a report stating that in the year prior to May 2012, only 2.5% of consumers surveyed had switched bank.

Not just that, but 88% hadn’t even considered switching. 

Not necessarily a surprising statistic, banking is a system with a lot of inertia on behalf of the customer and a lot of friction on behalf of the banks. 

Banking, social media, regulation and risk

A colleague passed something on to me last week: HootSuite’s CEO Ryan Holmes’ quote on social in regulated industries – “For highly regulated sectors like finance, social media can be a legal minefield”.

Whilst this isn’t anything new, I guess it goes without saying marketers in regulated sectors are the most cautious of our breed.