Every business today leverages the power of social media to engage and attract more customers and Nigerian banks are not left out.
Today, Nigerian banks are competing not just on the basis of services but also on the strength of their social media followings. That’s because these platforms help them to improve the digital experience for their customers.
Every day, more banks are making social media a priority and are producing digital content that allows them to engage as well as get instant feedback from their customers.
Aside from customer engagements, these platforms are being used to address customer service issues as each of the banks wants to be seen satisfying its customers. Oftentimes, they also leverage trending topics in the social media space to market themselves and promote their businesses, and those who can do this efficiently get more followers and more customers for it.
Nairametrics took a look at some of the social media platforms being used by the banks and these four: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook came top as the most used. A summation of the number of followers of each of the banks on these four platforms is used as the metrics for our ranking.
Below are the top 10 banks in Nigeria based on their social media followers as of January 30th 2023.
10. Sterling Bank (936,607): Established in 2006 through a merger of five banks Sterling bank has maintained a significant presence on social media. The Abubakar Suleiman-led Sterling Bank prides itself as Nigeria’s disruptive bank and the bank continues to project this through its digital presence.
- Twitter 143k
- Linkedin 79.6k
- Facebook 591k likes
- Instagram 123k
Total followers 936.6k
9. Union Bank (1.37 million): Despite not being among the category of new generation bank, Union Bank is social media compliant and the bank is available on every available social media platform. As one of the oldest banks in Nigeria, the bank has shown that it is in tune with digital trends through its social media activities. Today, Union bank occupies the 9th position and even doing better digitally compared to some new-generation banks in Nigeria.
- Twitter 253.2k
- LinkedIn 74.7k
- Facebook 924k
- Instagram 123k
Total followers1.37 million
8. Fidelity Bank (1.46 million): Fidelity bank has become one of the top financially stabled banks in Nigeria with a strong presence in all the states and major cities in Nigeria.
- Twitter3k
- LinkedIn 1k
- Facebook 1 million
- Instagram 173k
Total followers 1.46 million.
7. Stanbic IBTC Bank (1.63 million): Listed as one of the top Nigerian banks with the highest dollar inflows into the Nigerian economy in the first half of 2022, Stanbic IBTC is also one of the leading banks with a strong digital presence.
- Twitter 332.7k
- LinkedIn 149.5k
- Facebook 1 million
- Instagram 151k
Total followers 1.63 million
6. FCMB (1.96 million): Known as the FCMB the first bank to be established in Nigeria without government or foreign support, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) shares the stage with the top banks in Nigeria in many parameters. In terms of social media followership, the bank ranks 6th.
- Twitter 184.6k
- LinkedIn 94.3k
- Facebook 1.5 million
- Intagram187k
Total followers 1.96 million
5. Access Bank (3.85 million): Access Bank acquired Diamond Bank in early 2019 and this impacted not only its customer base but also its social media followership. The Herbert Wigwe-led Access is 5th on the list.
- Twitter 770.4k
- LinkedIn 201.5K
- Facebook 2.4 million
- Instagram 479k
Total followers 3.85 million
4. UBA (5.54 million): The UBA Group prides itself as UBA is Africa’s best and most resilient banking group with operations in 20 African countries and offices in three global financial centres. The bank currently ranks 4th in terms of social media followers.
- Twitter 1 million
- LinkedIn 421k
- Facebook 3.7 million
- Instagram 426k
Total followers 5.54 million
3. First Bank (6.17 million): Just as its name indicates, the oldest bank in Nigeria has had many firsts in many areas of banking in Nigeria and it is two places short of being number one in terms of social media followers.
- Twitter 8k
- LinkedIn 217k
- Facebook 4.2 million
- Instagram 1 million
Total followers 6.17 million
2. Zenith Bank (8.48 million): The Jim Ovia-founded bank is second on the list. The bank has the largest number of followers by any Nigerian bank on Facebook.
- Twitter 1.5 million
- LinkedIn 222k
- Facebook 6.2 million
- Instagram 565k
Total followers 8.48 million
1. GTBank (8.65 million): Taking the top spot is Guaranty Trust Bank with the most social media followers. The bank tops the list with the largest number of followers on Twitter and could be described as being social media savvy by all standards.
- Twitter 1.8 million
- LinkedIn 270k
- Facebook 5.8 million
- Instagram 788k
Total followers 8.65 million
Bottomline: Nigerian banks are not pushovers when it comes to social media engagement and it is quite interesting to see the so-called old-generation banks tagging along and even doing better than some of the new-generation banks in leveraging these digital platforms. This notwithstanding, the digital journey is a marathon and not a sprint, the banks will need to do more to remain ahead of the curve
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