In an annual ranking, RBC and TD Bank outperformed US banks on social media

The news: In The Financial Brand’s 2024 Social Media Ranking for Banks, just one US bank—JPMorgan Chase—scored high enough to enter in the top 10. Canadian banks did better, with TD Bank and Royal Bank of Canada both placing sixth and seventh, respectively.

By the numbers: Bank rankings are based on total likes, views, and followers on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, and Instagram.

• Chase ranked 10th among 100 banks with 3.9 million Q2 2024 Facebook likes, 398,000 X followers, 239.9 million YouTube views, and 294,000 Instagram followers.
• The State Bank of India ranked first again with 18 million Facebook likes, 4.8 million X followers, over 1 trillion YouTube views, and 2.6 million Instagram followers. It’s the oldest and largest bank of India, the most populous country in the world—which helped boost six additional India-based banks into the top 10.

It’s worth noting, however, that Chase has vastly more Facebook likes, Instagram followers and X followers than both RBC and TD Bank. But Chase has over 200 million fewer YouTube views than RBC or TD Bank.

Human-centric videos win YouTube views: Banks are investing in short-form video marketing for outreach to Gen Zers and millennials. Both generational cohorts have ranked YouTube as the top social media platform they use to find banking information, according to our proprietary data. 

Here’s a breakdown of three banks’ activities:

RBC has posted 2,700 videos and tallies almost 50,000 subscribers. Its most popular videos feature human-centric stories. The most-viewed videos are scripted ads featuring diverse consumers in specific life stages—such as college students, parents with babies, women exploring investing, and more.

• However, its most popular video won 25 million views by offering a free Apple Watch to consumers who switched to RBC.

TD Bank has posted fewer videos than RBC, at 2,500, but has attracted 80,500 subscribers. Its most popular videos also feature human-centric stories. 

• Its top-viewed video is 3.5-minutes of TD Bank surprising its customers with gifts at the ATM.

Chase has posted the fewest videos of any bank in this trio—just 266—and has picked up almost 65,000 subscribers. Chase’s content is similar to TD’s and RBC’s, but there’s less of it. 

• Its most popular videos are also scripted ads featuring consumers from specific life stages or demographics, such as women working in interior design (65 million views), a father and daughter (32 million views), and warehouse workers (27 million views).

Key takeaways: It’s clear that more content means more views and engagement, but that doesn't mean banks should just post more videos in general. According to Hootsuite, here’s the best way to keep getting boosts from YouTube’s algorithm:

• Optimize content for viewers, not for the algorithm. That means if your customers engage well with human-centric scripted videos, make a steady stream of them until they don’t.
• Use data wisely. Conduct keyword research, create appealing thumbnails, and track audience retention to continuously refine your YouTube strategy. That means if the videos that once performed well start losing engagement, it’s time to reconsider strategies.