Local bankers don't 'like' social media

Community banks throughout Florida, and especially the Gulf Coast, apparently haven't taken to social media with gusto.

In fact, only one bank in the state, Lakeland-based Community Southern, made Independent Community Bankers of America's first top 50 list of banks that do social media the best. The prominent lobbying group ranked the banks in several categories, including engagement with fans and followers; content distributed on social media platforms; the number of fans and/or followers; and the frequency of new content posts.

The list notes the Facebook page for Community Southern, which has $211.8 million in assets and four branches. The Facebook page, with 1,637 likes through April 8, is a combination of bank marketing and messages that support businesses in Polk County, where the bank is headquartered. One recent post pictured a coffee-food truck scheduled for a stop in the bank's parking lot.

The ICBA, in conjunction with the top 50 list, also ranked the top 20 community banker Twitter influencers. That list also has a lone Sunshine State representative: Broward Bank of Commerce President and CEO Keith Costello, who has 342 followers under the @browardbanker Twitter handle.

Costello's profile photo is a picture of him and boxing promoter Don King, and his homepage has a picture of Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey character in “It's a Wonderful Life” smoking a cigar.

The ICBA calls banks like Community Southern and executives like Costello social media trailblazers, and that's a major accomplishment in a highly regulated industry. “Social media opens the doors of opportunity even wider for community banks,” ICBA Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer Chris Lorence says in a statement. “Consumers now expect fresh content, insight and consistent interaction with brands they are connected to online, and community banks are no exception.”