Facebook, banks and, possibly, you

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007    Posted by Carmi Levy

Fascinating things are happening in the world of social networking. While the MySpaces and Facebooks have attracted legions of younger-demographic users, they have been viewed with a certain sense of detachment by mainstream business.

Until now, apparently.

Canada’s TD Bank and Royal Bank have initiated their own initiatives on Facebook. I spoke with Toronto Star business reporter Rita Trichur about what motivates them and what it means for the banking industry. The article, TD reaches out with Facebook group, was published in yesterday’s paper.

The use of social networking resources as marketing tools will only grow as businesses in all sectors begin to realize the value of reaching out to clients and potential clients through these non-traditional avenues.

Is there a Facebook plan in your future business plans?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Media, Communication vehicles, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

15 Responses to “Facebook, banks and, possibly, you”

1. Chad Oneil Says:
   August 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 pm

   I believe it.

   Just today, “Blogger”, was brought up as a possible avenue for a blog by the company I work for…I was even considered to head it.

2. aka_monty Says:
   August 23rd, 2007 at 10:02 pm

   I’m one of the Facebook Oldies.

   Social networking as a marketing tool…if I was still in the hotel GM business I would use that and every other available tool, especially if it was cost-effective.
   And also? Facebook seems to have more prestige than MySpace.

   I like the fact that you’ve separated this from your other blog, and I do believe I will visit BOTH.

3. shane Says:
   August 24th, 2007 at 12:52 am

   Chase Manhattan . . . coming to a “Written, Inc.” near you.

   If you code it, they will come.

4. Sue Says:
   August 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pm

   I am here from Michelle’s kinda — I have been playing a little with facebook but have been completely turned off to find out that they plan on selling their profiles for directed sales marketing — was on the news a few days ago and totally ticks me off.

5. gautami Says:
   August 24th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

   I don’t know. No use of blogs in teaching as of now. Not where I teach, anyway.

   As for other kinds networking, I can always check it out

6. OldOldLady Of The Hills Says:
   August 24th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

   Well, my dear Carmi…I don’t even know what Facebook is…LOL! I was hoping to hear from you by phone, my dear….I do have a bit of news for you….!
   Exciting that you now have these two blogs…!

7. Joy T. Says:
   August 24th, 2007 at 3:43 pm

   I don’t own a business but if I did I would certainly use Facebook as a marketing tool. I’m 43 so probably considered one of the ‘older’ users of Facebook, but it doesn’t have to be a childish thing to use. I have only friends and family on my Facebook and it is an excellent way to keep in touch with people.

8. Sara Says:
   August 24th, 2007 at 3:59 pm

   Very interesting…and you have to admit it reaches a whole new audience.

9. BreadBox Says:
   August 24th, 2007 at 4:22 pm

   I joined facebook a while ago as a way of looking at photos posted by a rowing team I work with: and haven’t used it since! I am of the old-fogie school in that there are certain social networking applications I just don’t get — facebook and myspace amongst them.
   Strange to feel this way, since I am an early adopter in so many other realms.

   By the way, an extra line under the “comments, trackbacks” etc line would be helpful: it appears as though the comments link refers to the post below rather than to the post above.

   N.

10. Suzanne Says:
    August 24th, 2007 at 11:17 pm

    My friend and I show our business pictures “event planners” on our my space pages and have actually received legit inquiries regarding our services. I also have architectural clients who have a blog where they chronicle a project’s phases. In this day and age, I think it’s almost a necessity to use all the resources available. Especially the free ones!

11. craziequeen Says:
    August 25th, 2007 at 6:26 am

    Hey Carmi, I came here from WrittenInc.

    I’ve heard about Facebook here and there, but had no idea what it’s all about.

    I’ve visited the website, but am not convinced Facebook is totally the way of the future.

    Perhaps I am just not in their customer demographic….

    cq

12. burntofferings Says:
    August 26th, 2007 at 6:41 pm

    I have a My SPace!! There is also a thing called bebo, sort of the same thing though…

    Thanks for stopping by earlier, was a pleasure having you there… Now, what’s at Written Inc??

13. rashbre Says:
    August 26th, 2007 at 7:25 pm

    Unless its interesting, the multi channel web 2/social computing model has to tightrope with the spam that we’ve all seen in email.

    Second Life has built a mini economic model around this and many corporates have tried memetic marketing as a way to drive clicks.

    The challenge becomes stickiness. People join Facebook for a reason. If it gets eroded or diluted by ill-placed marketing efforts then people will either filter it or move elsewhere.

    best.
    rashbre

14. Erin N. Says:
    August 26th, 2007 at 9:52 pm

    Hi Carmi! Congrats on the cool new site!

    I do think that Facebook is the wave of the future, and companies are smart to get in now! Most everyone age 15-25 (and beyond!) who I know is on Facebook - and these people are the major customers of tomorrow.

    I love Facebook.

    And I’ll definitely be back to your new site often! Good luck!

15. colleen Says:
    August 26th, 2007 at 10:14 pm

    I can barely manage a blog. I have had numerous invites to other people’s facebook pages. A few I have signed up for, but I never know what to do next. I fear I don’t need another thing to do online, which is why I refuse to play Cyber-Scrabble!

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