Social media in the marketing activity of banks in Poland

Social media are perceived as one of the most important marketing tools to reach and communicate with customers. The article concerns the activity of banks in social media and the interest of customers in the content published on those media. The aim of the research is to diagnose the usage of social media in marketing communication of the largest banks in Poland. The article is a preliminary assessment of marketing activities carried out by banks in social media and the reception of these activities by stakeholders in the form of customer interest in banks’ profiles in these media. To achieve the article’s purpose, the desk research method was to analyze the existing data, which included statistical data and available literature. The profiles of selected banks in social media were also reviewed and inductive reasoning was used in the conducted considerations. The conducted research confirmed a much lower interest in bank profiles compared to enterprises from other industries. This is determined by the specificity of banking services and divergent expectations of Internet users and bank representatives. While banks strive to create a community around the brand and a group of its advocates, consumers are looking for measurable benefits in the form of various types of special offers. Every year, banks show more and more activity in social media, however, the scale of the interaction of profile followers is not commensurate with the banks’ efforts. The effectiveness of social networking sites in achieving marketing goals is lower than banks expect.