How 13 Banks and Credit Unions Handle Community Guidelines on Facebook
In March, The Financial Brand published “7 Ridiculously Simple Social Media Fixes for Financial Marketers,”which addressed oversights by financial institutions. We agree with the piece and its sentiment; you’d be surprised how often financial services companies (and all brands, really) overlook the fundamentals. In addition to what The Financial Brand outlined, Media Logic is often astonished when financial institutions and brands fail to provide two very basic – and extremely important – items: guidelines for their Facebook communities and protocols for customer service on social platforms.
Community guidelines for Facebook
Every Page on Facebook should publish community guidelines. These “rules of the road” put financial institutions and brands in charge of tone and content. Since an organization’s Timeline in its entirety (including comments and “posts by others”) affects both branding and the customer experience, this must be a priority.
Common elements of community guidelines include requirements about playing nice (and all its variations, such as restrictions on obscenities, fraud and disrespect), warnings about sharing personal/financial information (such as social security numbers, passwords and account details) and explanations of consequences for violating the guidelines (removal of comments, blocking/banning, etc.).
For those without any posted guidelines and those in need of updating, here’s a sampling of how some banks and credit unions lay down the law.
You have the right to an attorney
Some pass along their guidelines straight from legal counsel:
- Chase’s guidelines, which appear in its “Terms of Use” app (formerly a tab), use legal language and cover everything from copyright infringement to disruption of service.
- In its “about” section, Citi provides a link to Facebook Terms, which are located off-platform. Like Chase, Citi’s guidelines appear as – and are written as – a legal document.
Just the facts, ma’am
Some banks and credit unions take a plain, “nothing fancy” approach to their community guidelines:
- Capital One’s “Guidelines For This Page” appear in the bank’s Facebook “about” section; the language is straightforward and the rules are fairly standard.
- Citizens Bank spells out “Participation Guidelines” in its “about” section, as well, and the guidelines aren’t just for fans and customers. They also mention the requirement for employees/colleagues to disclose their relationships to the bank if they choose to post.
- Presented in clear language, Bank of America’s Facebook guidelines are located off-platform, a few clicks away from its Timeline. They cover the common elements as described above, and they do so in great detail.
- Navy Federal Credit Union’s “Posting Guidelines,” located in the credit union’s “about” section, cover the standard elements, as well.
They’ve got personality
Bank of America (detailed above) begins its guidelines with this: “Clear communication is at the root of any good relationship.” Navy Federal (also mentioned above) leads with this: “While this is an open forum, we intend to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere.” Although both set the stage with a tiny bit of branding, they immediately fall into standard language that might appear in any financial institution’s guidelines.
Some banks and credit unions take branding of their guidelines further, however, making it clear they aren’t schlepping out the “same old” guidelines users have seen a hundred times. Some even seize the opportunity to have a little bit of fun:
- Wells Fargo publishes its community guidelines in two locations. Wells Fargo’s “about” section establishes some baselines, while its “Guidelines” Facebook app gets more specific… and less formal. The app – which has fun with the rules – contributes to the tone of the Page. One of the guidelines reads, “R.E.S.P.E.C.T. We know what it means to Aretha, but what about us? Well, it’s fine if you disagree with a comment or posting, but please be nice or your posts will be removed.” And they conclude, “Are you still awake? Great! Now let’s go have some fun!”
- PNC’s Facebook Guidelines appear in an app, as well, where the bank details its no-nonsense approach, including presentation of “two simple tenets – use good manners and common sense.” They also warn, “Keep it clean” and “This community is not your personal soapbox.”
- In addition to linking from its “about” section to legal “Disclaimer” text at its website, TD Bank provides more casual language via a “House Rules” Facebook app. The app sets parameters about what’s welcome on the Page and what’s not. It also cuts to the chase: “Bottom line? Ponder what you post and be a good online citizen.”
- Like TD Bank, SunTrust has a “House Rules” Facebook app that contains its guidelines. SunTrust’s rules feature some very good general advice – “Think before you type” – and some solid reasoning for “foster[ing] a productive, secure and helpful experience for everyone.”
- U.S. Bank provides “Facebook Community Guidelines” in its “about” section “to help make sure that visiting our Facebook page is a positive experience for everyone.” To make it clear and keep it relatable, it summons the Golden Rule: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” The guidelines read as conversational and casual.
- A “Posting Rules” Facebook app from Umpqua Bank details its community guidelines, and like Wells Fargo, the rules invoke the Queen of Soul: “In the immortal words of Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding: Respect.”
- KeyBank’s very brief and to-the-point guidelines appear in the bank’s “about” section. They state, simply, “While we want our page to be an open and lively forum, we also reserve the right to disallow posts that are spam or comments that are obscene, abusive, profane, indecent or defamatory. Please interact with our Facebook community as a neighbor.”
Each bank/credit union handles its Facebook community in a way that’s personal to its brand, but regardless of a financial institution’s approach to the social network, it must explain the rules of engagement. As a means of addressing and dealing with conflict – while advancing the brand experience – community guidelines are a basic requirement on the platform.
Want to learn about another one of the basics that’s often overlooked? We’ll tackle social customer service protocols in an upcoming post.
