Time is precious. Good news: The Web has all the content you need to stay on top of your industry and social media and marketing. Bad news: The Web has all the content. A Google search for “financial services” and “social media” returns nearly 39 million results. You’re either going to need more coffee to get through them all, or you can refine your search. And that’s exactly what we’ve done for you.
This post contains a list of some top resources that will keep you in the loop for social media, marketing and financial services. And don’t worry: you don’t even have to read all of these. Together, they produce quite the volume of content! (And often similar news circulates through them.)
We recommend sampling them to see which fits best with the writing styles and level of detail you prefer. Once you’ve chosen your favorites, “follow” them via the method already proven to work for you personally – email newsletter, RSS feed, Twitter, mobile app, etc. That’s important because even after you’ve narrowed them down, you’re still going to want an effective means to scan headlines for what’s most relevant to you.
And of course, Media Logic will continue to be your eyes and ears! We’ll pull together the best of what we’re reading into quick, helpful insights for you in our FS Insider every couple weeks.
Social media & social marketing resources
Links and Twitter handles for some great publications and blogs on social media, marketing and where they intersect:
- AdAge* / @AdAge
- “The Big List Blog” / @SocialMediaOrg
- Bits (The Business of Technology from the New York Times) / @nytimesbits
- Chief Marketer (links to social marketing content) / @chief_marketer
- Content Marketing Institute / @cmicontent
- eMarketer / @eMarketer
- FastCompany / @FastCompany
- iMedia Connection / @iMediaTweet
- KISSmetrics / @KISSmetrics
- MarketingProfs (links to social media marketing resources) / @MarketingProfs
- Mashable (links to social media section) / @mashable or @mashsocialmedia
- SocialTimes (from MediaBistro) / @SocialTimes
- Media Post (links to “Social Media & Marketing Daily”) / @MediaPost
- “The Moz Blog” / @Moz
- ProBlogger / @problogger
- SmartBrief (links to the social media “SmartBlog”) / @SBoSM
- Social Media Today / @socialmedia2day
- TechCrunch / @TechCrunch
Platform-specific resources
Links to the official blogs and Twitter handles for some of the popular social networks:
- Facebook / @Facebook
- Foursquare / @Foursquare
- Google/Google+ / @GooglePlusTweet
- Instagram / @Instagram
- LinkedIn / @LinkedIn
- Pinterest / @Pinterest
- Twitter / @Twitter
- Vine / @vineapp
- YouTube / @YouTube
There’s also InsideFacebook, AllFacebook and AllTwitter.
Resources specific to financial services
Links and Twitter handles for some industry-specific resources (business and financial):
- American Banker* / @AmerBanker
- Banking.com / @bankingdotcom
- Business Insider / @Business Insider
- Business Week / @BW
- The Financial Brand / @FinancialBrand
- Forbes / @Forbes
- Google Finance / @GoogleFinSvcs
- J.D. Power’s “Banking Blog” / @JDPowerBanking
- New York Times* (links to business news): @nytimesbusiness
- Payments News / @paymentsnews
- PaymentsSource* / @payments_source
- Pymnts.com / @pymnts
- SAP’s Banking View (links to social news) / @SAPforBanking
- Standard & Poor’s / @StandardPoors
- Wall Street Journal*: @wsj
And did you know that the FDIC, Federal Reserve and FINRA have Twitter accounts? Here they are: @FDICgov, @FederalReserve and @FINRA_News.
Bonus Tip:
Create Twitter lists (like Media Logic’s Twitter list of financial services companies we follow) so that when you are pressed for time, you can check in quickly with the highest priority items. For example, you could make lists for individuals (like influencers or reporters) and for areas of interest like alternative payment methods or credit card products. These are great for keeping up with the latest from those your most interested in, including your competitors (Twitter lists can be private, and you can add handles to Twitter lists without following them). Want to see what your favorites and competitors are up to on Facebook, too? You can create lists there, as well.
- How to Use Twitter Lists (tech help from Twitter)
- How to Create Interest Lists on Facebook (tech help from Facebook)
Got questions or need additional help? Got a favorite resource we missed? Leave a comment or tweet @MediaLogic!
*Some publications offer limited free content before a subscription is required; others require site registration to access free content.