Young Filipinos take to social media, banking topics predominate

• ThoughtBuzz researched social media chatter for a report
• Discussions on social media centred heavily on banking topics

WITH an Internet population expected to grow to 41 million In 2014, more people in the Philippines are taking to social media sites to voice their opinions and thoughts, including issues concerning the banking, financial services and insurance industry (BFSI) in the country.
 
So ThoughtBuzz, the social media analytics arm of To The New, carried out research and examined social media chatter in its Young Filipinos and Finance report that revolved around the BFSI sector.
 
The results of this study showed that the discussion on social media channels and networks centred heavily on banking topics (70%). Conversations also circled around other topics such as remittance and investments in properties, gold, etc. (19%), and stocks (8%), with insurance (3%) generating the lowest amount of buzz.
 
Buzz on banking was fuelled by New Year resolutions to save money for the year ahead, and news on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Central Bank of Philippines), particularly on the growth of the Philippine peso.
 
This led to banking garnering the most significant number of positive mentions by netizens (52% of discussions on banking), with people being optimistic towards achieving their saving goals for the year.
 
In addition, netizens are using social media to crowdsource information about bank products, as well as to air grievances about the banking services they receive.
 
After the recent mega typhoon Haiyan, social media chatter was directed towards the financial losses incurred due to natural disasters and the need for disaster-risk for insurance. However, it was the topic of car insurance that drew in the most discussion (80%).
 
“Through the BFSI study, we saw netizens reveal how they assess various insurance companies, based on performance, services and reputation,” said Ashok Patro, chief operating officer at ThoughtBuzz.
 
“Consumers also highlighted the companies’ stability as a major deciding factor when selecting the right insurance company. The study also showed the importance of tapping into social media to learn more about the company’s products and services and to listen to customers’ concerns.
 
“If companies are not already actively listening, now is definitely the time to start,” he added.
 
With this data, ThoughtBuzz hopes that companies will be able tap on what consumers are saying about services in the BFSI sector, as well as highlight key trends that will allow them to serve customers better.
 
In addition, companies would then also be able to effectively engage consumers and provide real-time solutions via the various social media sites.
 
The report is based on public chatter on all popular social media platforms in the Philippines including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums, bulletin boards, news portals, etc., and was prepared using ThoughtBuzz’s proprietary social media monitoring application Omnio G.
 
To download the full report from DropBox, click here. Click to enlarge infographic beliow:

ThoughtBuzz, a To The New group company, provides a listening and analytics platform for organisations of all sizes.
 
Founded in 2010, To The New is a social and mobile first digital services provider, delivering services across marketing, content, technology and analytics. It employs over 600 people across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Singapore, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai and Guangzhou.
 
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