Independent Banker - January 2022 - 51

Two community banks going viral
To reach the next generation
of community bank customers,
some banks are adopting the
latest social media platforms,
including TikTok. This platform
is focused on spreading viral
content, sometimes far outside
a community bank's market.
The most popular TikTok video
from Farmers State Bank in
Waterloo, Iowa, has more than
100,000 views. Piggybacking
on the " Make That Sound "
trend, the video shows a staff er
demonstrating the noises a
money counter, a piggy bank, a
stapler and other bank-related
items make. Then they ask
employees to recreate them.
Julie Waddle (pictured),
assistant vice president and
digital marketing manager
at $570 million-asset FNB
Community Bank in Midwest
City, Okla., has one video that's
garnered 3.9 million views on
Instagram and 505,000 views
on TikTok.
In the video, Waddle appears
with a caption reminding
users that the payments app
Venmo isn't FDIC-insured like a
community bank.
" One of our goals is to
remind Gen Z why banking
local is important and that
we are relevant to their lives, "
Waddle says.
content on sites like Instagram, Spotify, YouTube
and TikTok (see sidebar, above).
Farmers State Bank in Waterloo, Iowa,
began creating TikTok videos during the
pandemic after surveying staff and learning
that social media was one of the top reasons
younger employees applied to the community
bank. Now, the bank regularly posts to TikTok
under the handle @fsb1879, often fi lming
light-hearted videos on a Friday afternoon as
a teambuilding exercise, says Shelby Myler,
marketing coordinator at the $1.3 billion-asset
community bank.
" We're using it more as a personality piece, "
says Myler of the short, " goofy " videos, including
a series with the bank's mascot, Hap the Pig,
celebrating holidays like the Fourth of July and
Oktoberfest. " This is who we are. [We're saying]
we're a little quirky, we're a little diff erent and
maybe not what you think of when you think of a
standard community bank. "
Myler says making TikTok videos may seem
like a silly thing for a community bank to do, but
the feedback has been worth it to Farmers State
Bank. College students mentioned seeing them
during campus outreach events.
One of the most powerful ways to
reach Gen Z is through a streamlined
and intuitive user experience, says
Shelley Wang, vice president of
strategic sales at Zafi n, a Torontobased
bank technology company.
" Connecting on their terms and
on their turf, such as popular social
media platforms, can kick off the start
of a lifelong relationship, " she says.
* Personalized products *
In addition to its online presence,
Bank Five Nine looks to the other
place Gen Z hangs out: school. Its
Mascot Banking program off ers local
high school students a debit card
with a school logo. If they meet the
minimum requirements, students get
$150 deposited into their account and
the school booster club gets $150.
Younger students are eligible for the
Good Savers program, which rewards
them with a gift card after they make
independentbanker.org Q 51
Hear more
about FNB
Community
Bank's
TikTok
strategy on
page 61
http://www.independentbanker.org
Independent Banker - January 2022

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