The UAE Banking Report 2013 - 2014

THE UAE BANKING REPORT
ON SOCIAL MEDIA
2013-2014

Ayman Itani
Digital Strategist | Media Professor | Public
Speaker
aymanitani.com
Joe Moufarrej
CEO of Lava Brands
lava-brands.com
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
THE UAE BANKING REPORT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: 2013 - 2014

BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

We studied 28 banks in the UAE Q3,Q4 2013 and Q1 of
2014. We also used data from April and May 2014 where
applicable.
We analyzed the content of more than 4,500 Social Media
updates posted by the most active banks.
As with any study done, there is a margin of error due to
using publicly available data, public APIs, human error,…
BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

KEY FINDINGS

What we considered to be an“Active Bank”in this study is
a bank with at least one Social Media account that posts
updates on average at least once per day.
ACTIVITY ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER

ACTIVE ON FACEBOOK
LOW OR NO ACTIVITY
ON FACEBOOK
43%
57%
ACTIVE ON TWITTER
ACTIVITY ON FACEBOOK ACTIVITY ON TWITTER
LOW OR NO ACTIVITY
ON TWITTER
39%
61%

NOT ON LINKEDIN
HAVE ACCOUNTS
ON LINKEDIN
NOT ON INSTAGRAM
HAVE ACCOUNTS
ON INSTAGRAM
25%
75%
ACTIVITY ON LINKEDIN
BANKS ON LINKEDIN BANKS ON INSTAGRAM
ACTIVITY ON INSTAGRAM
64%
36%

YEAR OF CREATING ACCOUNTS
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
01 01 01
03
08
07
05
OPENING YEAR
OF FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

OPENING YEAR
OF TWITTER ACCOUNT
YEAR OF CREATING ACCOUNTS
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
0
02 0202
06
04
02

DATE OF INCREASE IN ACTIVITY
Banks in the UAE have significantly grown their Social
Media activity as of Q3 of 2013 and across different
channels.

COMMUNITY SIZE
The average community size as of May 2014 for the
active banks is 101,991 on Facebook and 16,412 on
Twitter.

AVERAGE COMMUNITY SIZE
ON FACEBOOK FOR ACTIVE BANKS
400
350
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
Q3 - 2013 Q4 - 2013 Q1 - 2014 MAY - 14
COMMUNITY SIZE
APRIL - 14

COMMUNITY SIZE
AVERAGE COMMUNITY SIZE
ON TWITTER FOR ACTIVE BANKS
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Q3 - 2013 Q4 - 2013 Q1 - 2014 APRIL - 14 MAY - 14

Active Banks in the UAE post on average 261 status up-
dates per quarter on Facebook and 271 updates per
quarter on Twitter. There are fluctuations based on
season, competitions, promotions,… Banks have been
active every day of the week on Facebook and Twitter.
There is a slight drop of activity over the weekend; how-
ever, they continue to remain active.
LEVEL OF ACTIVITY

LinkedIn average community size is 13,570 followers
and an average of FOUR posts per bank per month in
2014 . 10% of banks are taking advantage of Show-
case Pages.
Instagram average community size is 500 followers and
an average of 12 posts per bank per month in 2014
ACTIVITY ON LINKEDIN AND INSTAGRAM

LEVEL OF ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY OF BRAND
FACEBOOK
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Q3 - 2013 Q4 - 2013 Q1 - 2014

LEVEL OF ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY OF BRAND
TWITTER
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Q3 - 2013 Q4 - 2013 Q1 - 2014

ACTIVITY ON LINKEDIN
LINKEDIN AVERAGE NUMBER OF POSTS
PER BANK PER MONTH (2014)
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
JANUARY FEBURARY MARCH APRIL MAY

ACTIVITY ON INSTAGRAM
INSTAGRAM AVERAGE NUMBER OF POSTS
PER BANK PER MONTH (2014)
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
JANUARY FEBURARY MARCH APRIL MAY

Observing the Growth Rate of the community size of the
active banks, Q3 and Q4 of 2013 witnessed significant
growth rates in the community. Q1 of 2014 didn’t see
that growth. It is common that once a community size is
built up to a certain level that the brand efforts then
move towards increasing engagement levels.
GROWTH RATE

TWITTERFACEBOOK
400
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Q3 - 2013 Q4 - 2013 Q1 - 2014 APRIL - 14 MAY - 14
GROWTH RATE OF COMMUNITY SIZE (%)

We analyzed the content of more than 4,500 Social
Media status updates posted by the most active
banks and found that 47% of the content falls under
the category of “Marketing by Brand” while 37% is
“Engaging Customers”.
CONTENT ANALYSIS

KEY FINDINGS – CONTENT ANALYSIS
MARKETING A
BRAND/EVENT
46.89%
ENGAGING
CUSTOMERS
36.95%
RECOGNIZING
CUSTOMERS
6.10%
POSTING A
NOTIFICATION
2.29%
PROMOTING
HR
ACTIVITIES
1.10%
CROSS-MARKETING
A BRAND
0.37%
POSTING
A CHEER
1.08%
INTEGRATING
TECHNOLOGIES
2.29%
POSTING
ABOUT A
GENERAL
EVENT
1.73%
CUSTOMER
SUPPORT
1.19%
UAE BANKS ONLINE ACTIVITY

The category within“Marketing By Brand”that composes
64% of the marketing content is“Posts general product/-
service marketing”. 22% of the marketing content is
competition related
MARKETING BY BRAND

POSTS GENERAL PRODUCT/SERVICE MARKETING
64.24%
POSTS A STATEMENT“COMPETITION RELATED”
22.04%
POSTS AN EVENT UPDATE
4.84%
SHARES A LINK TO WEBSITE OR APP
3.74%
UPLOADS EVENTS PHOTOS/VIDEOS
2.99%
POSTS BANK NEWS
0.80%
POSTS A STATEMENT“UPCOMING PROGRAM”
0.75%
POSTS MEDIA RELATED TO A PRODUCT/SERVICE
0.45%
POSTS CURRENT NUMBER OF FACEBOOK FANS
0.05%
POSTS A STATEMENT“REWARDS CUSTOMER”
0.05%
SHARES LINK TO WEBSITE OR APP
3.74%
CATEGORIES OF MARKETING
BY BRAND

CATEGORIES OF MARKETING BY BRAND
The category within Marketing By Brand that
composes most of the marketing content is“Posts general
product/service marketing”.

CATEGORIES OF MARKETING BY BRAND
For example:
Our sincere thanks for voting for our [CardName] ! Your
trust has helped us win the prestigious [AwardName] for
[BankName] Card under the category of“XXX"
‫ﺍﺧﺗﺎﺭ‬‫ﺭﺑﻳﻊ‬‫ﺍﻟﺧﺩﻣﺔ‬ [ ‫ﺍﺳﻡ‬‫ﺍﻟﺑﻧﻙ‬ ] ‫ﻷﻧﻬﺎ‬‫ﺗﻌﺗﻣﺩ‬‫ﻋﻠﻰ‬‫ﻣﺑﺎﺩﺉ‬‫ﺍﻟﺷﺭﻳﻌﺔ‬
‫ﺍﻹﺳﻼﻣﻳﺔ‬‫ﺍﻟﺗﻲ‬‫ﺗﺿﻣﻥ‬‫ﻟﻪ‬‫ﺍﻟﺷﻔﺎﻓﻳﺔ‬‫ﺍﻟﻛﺎﻣﻠﺔ‬‫ﻓﻲ‬‫ﻛﻝ‬‫ﺍﻷﻭﻗﺎﺕ‬
.

TACTFUL MARKETING APPROACH
If we look closer at the“Posts general product/service
marketing”category, we see that the brands are using a
tactful method to promote its brand. The brand tackles a
topic related to its industry or its audience in a way that
appeals to a general audience and then finds a way to
link it to its services.

TACTFUL MARKETING APPROACH
For example,
It's the weekend, it's time to go shopping! By using
[BankName] credit card you can win back up to X%… [link]
Experience the ultimate family holiday at [location].
Immerse yourself in adventure this summer, The exclusive
Offer for [Type] Cardholders from AED […]
* For more information – visit: [link]
SALE SALE SALE! Catch the 3 days sale at @[Place] on
Sheikh Zayed Road and get up to XX% off. [Link]

COMPETITIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
22% of the“Marketing by Brand”is competition related.

COMPETITIONS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For example,
Which one of the following screens appears first when
you access the [Bank Name] Mobile Banking App? If you
know the answer, post it as a comment with hash tag
#[QuizName] and stand a chance to win a [Prize]! Condi-
tions Apply.
Login to [Bank Name] Online or [Bank Name] Mobile and
get a chance to win an AED […] mall voucher or AED […]
cash back. Learn more: [link]

ENGAGING CUSTOMERS
This is where the bank tries to be active with its audience,
interacting with them, soliciting participations in
competitions, general questions or statements that are of
appeal to a wide range of audience,…
ASKS
CUSTOMERS
QUESTIONS
ASKS A
CUSTOMERS
TO LIKE/SHARE
/TAG/VOTE
HELPING
CUSTOMERS
POSTS A
STATEMENT
“COMPETITION
RELATED”
GENERAL
KNOWLEDGE
POSTS A
STATEMENT
“ENVIRONMENT
FRIENDLY”
POSTS A
STATEMENT
“REWARDS
CUSTOMER”
POSTS A
STATEMENT
“GOOD MORNING”
POSTS A
RELIGIOUS
QUOTE
REPLIES
TO A
COMMENT
POSTS AN
EVENT UPDATE
POSTS A
STATEMENT
“FOOTBALL
MATCH
SCORE..”
SHARES
LIKES TO
WEBSITE
OR APP
POSTS A
STATEMENT
“LIFESTYLE”
POSTS
GENERAL
PRODUCT/
SERVICE
MARKETING
51.23%
1.77% 1.52%
19.00%
15.39%
3.04%
2.03%
0.76% 0.76% 0.13%0.32% 0.06% 0.06%
2.79%
0.95%

ENGAGING CUSTOMERS
For example,
"The weekend is a great time to relax and spend some
quality time with you loved ones. Tell us how you plan to
unwind today!”
“Don’t access banking services from public computers.
Keep your identity safe.”

LANGUAGES USED
POST LANGUAGES
70% 17% 13%
AENGLISH
ARABIC
MIXED ARABIC & ENGLISH
70% of the status updates were in English while 17%
were in Arabic. The remaining 13% were a mix of both
Arabic and English in the same status update.

VIEWPOINT

VIEWPOINT
We reached out to top executives in banks in the UAE
and asked them if they would handle’their bank’s Social
Media account to get closer to their customers and a
good portion of them were eager to do so.

“YES. It is highly recommended for any member of a
customer focused organization to be exposed to day to
day interaction with customers - whether to spend a day
in the branch, call center or at the social media
'command center'.”
Petr Klimes
Group Marketing Director
VIEWPOINT

“YES. How else you can be put under pressure to see and
feel reality? If I cared to know the truth, and get to the
cracks of it nothing beats real time, honest, straight
through feedback from the ones we need to care about.
Yes it might be challenging, we might get defensive, but
still, some learning will be there.”
Mohamed Zaqout
Group Head of Retails
VIEWPOINT

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS

This study details the Social Media KPIs of the UAE
banking industry and can act as a benchmark against the
activity of banking brands and relevant other
industries.
For example, you can take a look at the average community
size and see where you stand in comparison to it.

Content tactic that is working for brands is tackling a
topic related to its industry or its audience in a way that
appeals to a general audience and then finds a way to link
it to its services. Efforts in that direction will continue to
bear results; however, more emphasis in the content
communication needs to be done on the Customer
Support aspect as that is a recurring theme in user
questions to the brand.

Regularly do Content Analysis on how people are
interacting with your content and what they are posting
on your wall in the direction adopted in this report. The
results of this analysis will assist you in building more
effective content calendars moving forward.

There is a need to continue to invest in Social Media ads
to grow the community size and boost visibility of
content to that community, especially with the decreasing
reach of organic reach.

There is a communication opportunity via LinkedIn
for communicating on a regular basis with all of these
active professionals on LinkedIn. Moreover, only few
banks are taking advantage of LinkedIn’s Showcase
Pages to communicate relevant content with their
different connected audiences.

Few of the banks are active on Instagram; however, you
see that there is a recent effort in being more active on
that platform. Instagram continues to grow in popularity
and banks can be part of the discussion if they do it
tactfully.

SCALE UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA EFFORTS (PROMO)
Is your bank ready to scale up its
Social Media rankings?

Contact for consultation to benchmark the Social Media
activity of your bank versus the industry. We can help
you revamp your channels, optimize your content, spark
engagements with your audience, and grow conversions.
hello@aymanitani.com
+971529608685

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT
Full report can be downloaded from,
http://bit.ly/uaebanks

The UAE Banking Report 2013 - 2014

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