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MOTIVATION AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ADVERTISING BY FIRST BANK

Article · September 2022

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Nasarawa Journal of Multimedia and Communication Studies (NJMCS), 4(1), 236-255.

MOTIVATION AND USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ADVERTISING BY FIRST

BANK

OKAIYETO, SIMON AYODELE

Mass Communication Department, Salem University, Lokoja, Nigeria
okaiyetos@gmail.com
&

ALADE, NGBEDE
Mass Communication Department, Taraba State Polytechnic, Suntai
ngbedealade@gmail.com
Abstract

The study investigates First Bank Nigeria PLC willingness use of social media advertising.
The goals of the study were to look into First Bank Nigeria's social media advertising trends
and to learn about their motivations for employing social media advertising. The research
design used was both quantitative and qualitative, and it was based on the diffusion of
innovation theory. The quantitative element of the study focused on descriptive and inferential
analyses of the bank's social media platforms and responses from respondents (bank employees
and customers), while the qualitative aspect focused on a textual analysis of the social media
advertisements. The study found that First Bank used a variety of online advertising resources
(social media inclusive) to promote it products and services to the millions of online audience.
The bank is using social media ads to try to elicit feedback, engage its customers in real-time
and promote debate; thereby establishing two-way connection between the bank and its clients.
With a high level of success, First Bank currently has an appealing and well-designed website
and social media pages that is appealing with ease of interface. The potentials of social media
allows First Bank to market its products and services to the global audience. Therefore, the
study recommends that for banks to fully utilize social media advertising tools maximally, they
have to meet the criteria established for interactive and control medium.
Keywords: Advertising, Banks, Financial Institutions, Social Media, Uses and Motivation

Introduction

The introduction of new communication technology is altering communication patterns in the

corporate sector. Organizations are concurrently engaging with several shareholders via digital
communication, as opposed to the time-honored one-way, top-bottom connection. According
to studies, communication professionals' use of the World Wide Web has increased in recent
years, improving productivity and efficiency, two-way communication, real-time interactivity,
and research, consequently enhancing organization role enactment and perceived decision-
making capacity (Porter &Sallot, 2005). This is particularly true when it comes to maintaining
consumer involvement and loyalty. In the digital era, attracting and engaging a consumer has
become a stimulating experience, and many businesses are struggling to comprehend their
customers' changing tastes and how to cater to them online (Lopez, 2013).

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The adoption of new marketing techniques that employ the ever-advancing technology
applications accessible today has been the trend in global business for the previous two
decades. The usage of social media has become one of the most popular technological
applications for business marketing. Social media has grown as a highly active and energetic
Internet-based platform. It has shown to be an incredibly beneficial platform for
communicating with hundreds, thousands, or millions of other individuals concurrently in a
multi-dimensional manner (Ayarekar, 2015).
In this age of the information superhighway, millions of people all over the world are using
social networking to create online local, regional, and global communities where they can share
their common interests and activities, disseminate information, and interact using a variety of
web-based tools (Eid & Ward, 2009). As a result, social media advertising is still a relatively
new element to companies' integrated marketing communications strategies. Integrated
marketing communications unites the parts of the promotional mix, including advertising,
personal selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing, and sales promotion, all of which
social media is revolutionizing.
In the classic advertising communications model, an organization collaborates with an external
agent, such as advertising agencies, marketing research firms, the media, and public relations
organizations, on the content, frequency, timing, and medium of communications. However,
the rise of social media has had an impact on how businesses communicate. The Internet now
provides a set of technologies that allow people to develop social and business connections,
share information, collaborate on projects online (Corruthers, 2010), and keep constant
interaction with clients, thanks to the emergence of Web 2.0.
Advertising has typically been thought of as one-way communication, conveyed from the
advertiser to a receiver, the target audience, via some media vehicle. However, thinking of
advertising as one-way communication, especially online, limits what is possible. Advertising
enters a new phase in a society dominated by Web 2.0 (social media).

Banks embrace social media because it allows for interactive capabilities in an environment
marked by user control, independence, and dialogue, as well as bringing a new level of
engagement and customer involvement to advertising applications. Social media allows brands
and customers to communicate in a two-way or multi-way manner. Conversations, interactions,
and shared control become more important in online advertising than passive consumption of
packaged material (Tuten, 2008). Dominick (2009) emphasizes that in this day, advertising is
not just paid for, but word of mouth (viral advertising) is also used to harness paid advertising
as a variable instrument for banks.

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Banks now have a platform (as a new marketing tool) that allows them to get to know and
communicate with their customers and prospects in ways that were previously unattainable
(Eleboda & Majekodunmi, 2015). This will undoubtedly open the door for banks to utilize
social media for advertising on a large scale. Not only in industrialized economies, but also in
emerging economies, social media advertising has grown in popularity and acceptance. Banks
all around the world, including Nigeria, have adopted social media advertising as a supplement
to traditional methods of reaching out to current and new clients. Advertising in business aims
to influence the audience to take or continue to take some actions in relation to the advertised
product or service, and is seen as a form of marketing communication used to encourage,
persuade, or ‘manipulate' an audience (viewers, readers, or listeners, or sometimes a specific
group) (Ayerekar, 2015). Advertising is delivered to audiences through a variety of media,
including television, radio, newspapers, the Internet, magazines, and billboards. Cellphones,
iPads, Kindles, Notebooks, and other portable electronic devices with Internet connectivity are
some of the relatively new platforms banks are considering for advertising, particularly those
that are expanding quickly. Today's mobile advertising trends include the utilization of social
media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Whatsapp, just to name a few.

Supporting the above point, Nwosu (2003) claims that social marketing is based on new
marketing concepts that demand that we be customer-oriented and customer-driven in
everything we do, such as bank discussions, planning, and execution, in order to meet
customers' needs and wants to the fullest extent possible. While the Internet is changing the
way banks design and implement their entire business and marketing communication programs
(Belch & Belch, 2021), banks must view potential and existing clients on social media as
communities to be built and nurtured rather than just customers looking to buy goods and
services (Fyfe, 2009). While social media as a whole can be called interactive communication
vehicles, corporate communicators must learn to separate the components of different social
media, each of which has its own set of advantages for both banks and their clientele. As a
result, the purpose of this study is to determine the motive Nigerian banks using social media
advertising.

Objectives of the Study

1: To investigate the patterns of social media advertising by First Bank Nigeria.

2: To find out the motives for using social media advertising by First Bank Nigeria.

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Literature Review

Belch and Belch (2021) sees it as “any paid form of non-personal communication about an
organization, product, service or idea by an identified sponsor”. Quail (2011) defined it as “a
paid, mass-mediated attempt to persuade”. A painstaking look at these definitions reveal that
there is no widely adopted definition at this time but there are certain recurring elements: (1)
Paid (2) non-personal (3) identified sponsor (4) mass media; and (5) persuade. Advertising
which is any paid form of non-personal communication about an organization or its product to
a target audience through a mass/broadcast medium by an identified sponsor. It should be
observed that for any promotional activity to be called advertisement it must be paid for
(Okpoko, 2008). Therefore, without the media adverting cannot be complete. It is the media
that connect the advertisers with the target audience.

The internet which social media is a component has been a valuable tool for communicating
to, and most importantly, with customers. While newspaper and the television once dominated
as alternative choices for information flow, the internet now offers equal access for all
interested in disseminating information.

Social media is a term that has gained the interest of researchers over the past few years, there
are many definitions of social media as a result of this. For instance, in giving a definition of
social media, Nyekwere (2012) mentions that social media “refers to online social interaction
sites in which messages are developed by the users and also shared by those users between or
among themselves” (p. 16).
Media propagation has changed the ways in which advertising messages are delivered and
received. Due to the high costs incurred in delivering a mass audience, advertisers are moving
away from television and investing in alternate media, such as social network sites
(SNSs), to reach their target customers. The emergence of Social Media has helped
organisations in engaging in a direct, efficient, cost effective and timely end-consumer contact
as compared to the traditional communication tools. Therefore Social Media Advertising is
more beneficial not only to large multinational firms, but also to small and medium sized
companies, and even non-profit and governmental agencies.

Few studies have been conducted on the bank adopting social media advertising in Africa (
Adeola, 2016; Eleboda, Majekodunmi, 2015; Oluwatolani, Joshua & Philip, 2011 ), but more
studies done on the subject matter across Europe, America and Asia (Chanda & Zaorski, 2013;
Veenswyk, 2013).Veenswyk (2013) also confirmed that banks are leveraging on the potentials
of social media.

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Chanda and Zaorski, (2013) conceptually examine social media usage in the financial services
industry. They pointed out that social media use by the financial services industry is prevalent
and can be expected to grow as the social networks continue to expand and become further
entrenched in the public’s online consciousness. Nyekwere, Kur and Nyekwere (2013) study
investigated awareness and use of social media in advertising among residents of Port Harcourt,
Nigeria. They found that social media are good media for advertising, despite the
challenges inherent in their use. However, Adeola (2016) examine if new media marketing
concept as a new business philosophy has been effectively adopted in the banking industry.
Closely related to this study is the work of Eleboda and Majekodunmi (2015) investigates the
growing adoption of social media advertising among financial services providers, particularly
banks, in Nigeria.

From the foregoing review, it is evident that there is an impressive amount of literature on the
subject of banks adopting news media. However, most of the available studies on social media
advertising by banks focused on western possibly because they dominate the global media
landscape; whereas the birth of studies from Asian countries is emerging. Studies in Africa
(Nigeria) are a recent development. But as existing literature shows, there is a consensus among
scholars that social media advertising is taking a center stage in marketing.

Theoretical Framework

The diffusion of innovation theory explains how an idea or knowledge spreads over time
through many channels and social structures in society (Katz et al, 1963 cited in Ojobor, 2002).
The theory's main concept is that for a new idea to spread, it must go through many stages:
awareness, curiosity, appraisal, trial, and adoption. Rogers and Shoemaker (1973, quoted in
Nyekwere, et al., 2013) proposed a four-stage model of information diffusion: information,
persuasion, choice or adoption, and confirmation (McQuail, 2011).

Because social media advertising is still in its early stages of development, various users will
adopt it to varying degrees, this hypothesis is considered relevant to this study. While some
users, such as advertisers and viewers, have progressed through the stages of awareness,
interest, and trial, and have begun using social media to advertise and patronize certain
products, others have yet to embrace this new medium, despite being aware of it.

The primary goal of this research is to look into how Nigerian banks are using social media
advertising. The significance of this theory to our study arises from the fact that social media
are still in their early stages of development, and as a result, various users will embrace them
in different ways. While some users have progressed through the stages of awareness, curiosity,
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and trial, adopting social media for advertising and some patronizing products advertised on
them, others have yet to accept this new medium, despite their knowledge.

Financial organizations are increasingly embracing information technology, which makes

providing services much easier. Indeed, using social media advertising allows them to
communicate directly with their clients.

Methodology

Both quantitative and qualitative research design were used in this study. The quantitative
analysis focused on the descriptive and inferential analysis of the bank's social media platforms
as well as replies from respondents (bank employees and customers). Clients response was
utilized in order to corroborate the data gotten from the staff of the bank. The qualitative
research allows the researcher to describe the types of products First Bank advertises on social
media. The researcher examine the content on First Bank's Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
profiles in Nigeria. The advertising items on the banks' Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
profiles (Content categories: Audio Visuals, Written Texts, and Pictorial Resources) serve as
the unit of analysis. For both pilot and final coding, inter-coder reliability was greater than 0.70
as such reliable ( Wimmer & Dominick, 2014). After the pilot test, no items were removed. In
the end, each media item from the pilot study was kept for the final study.
In order to complete the survey, letters were addressed to bank managers to obtain an accurate
number of bank customers in order to calculate the population for this study, but they were
denied on the grounds that such information is confidential and cannot be released.
Alternatively, a sample frame was determined by counting the number of staff for that working
day and customers who came into the banking hall for transactions on the 8th, 12th, 15th, and
19th of March 2019, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 noon, at two branches of each selected
bank in Ilorin.

Table 1: Sample Frame based on researchers visits to banks

Bank Branch Time of visit No. of bank Date
Staff/Customers
FBN Unilorin 10 am - 12 noon 294 Monday 8th &
Friday 19th
FBN Unity 8 am – 10 am 898 Monday 8th &
Friday19th
Total 1191
Source: Researchers field work 2019

A sample frame was built based on the aforementioned data by observing the average number
of clients who visited the bank on the observed days. There were 1191 staff and clients in total

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in the sampling frame. Krejcie and Morgan's (2006) Small Sample Technique chart and based
on a 95 percent confidence level and a 0.05 significant level, the total number of staff and
customers necessary was 280. The questionnaire was divided into three sections: Section 1:
this section dealt with the demographic data of the respondents, such as their age, gender, level
of education, and bank category. Section 2: this section inquired about the pattern of social
media advertising aspects of banks' websites and social networking sites, such as frequency of
usage, purpose of use, frequency of visits, and time spent while using. Section 3: this section
inquired about the motivations for banks' usage of social media for marketing purposes. A
reliability test utilizing Cronbach's alpha coefficient indicated a minimum of 0.70 for the scales
as such reliable for the study.
Data Analysis

The qualitative data were presented thematically and analyzed through qualitative textual
analysis. For descriptive statistics, frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation
were used to present the results. In accordance with quantitative research approach, 280
respondents were purposefully and after administration of questionnaire only 268 (24 staff and
244 customers) questionnaires were recovered making 90% response rate.

RESULTS
Demographic Variables of the Respondents

On the average, the respondents of this study were 30 years old (M= 30.06, SD=11.12). Those
within the age of 18-25 years old form the bulk of the respondents. They account for half
(50.4%) of the total respondents. This was followed by those between the ages of 26 - 35 years
which represents 23.0% of the respondents and the working class group, ages 36-49 years
represent 20.3%, while those above 50 years old are the least age group, they represents 6.3%
of the respondents and the elderly. Females represented 54.5 percent of respondents while the
other 45.5 percent were males. Staff constitute 9.0% and customers represent 91% of the
respondents.
RESULTS OF CONTENT ANALYSIS
In order to address research question 1 – What are the patterns of advertisements provided on
First Bank Social Networking Sites? – content analysis was used. The pages of the First Bank
on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram were investigated in which 68 posts were analysed.
Sixteen (16) items were used as the analysis unit, representing media content on the bank’s
social media sites. Advertisements and media, press release, video, audio, and photo gallery,
blog pages, live chat, media contact, download centers, annual reports, About us part, FAQ,
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Nasarawa Journal of Multimedia and Communication Studies (NJMCS), 4(1), 236-255.
Facebook pages, Instagram pages, Sitemap, and Feed bank sections are all examples of these
elements. The items were assessed to see if they were present in the five categories of social
media advertising communication.
Audiovisual advertisements (advertisements, news, audio, video, and blogs); Written text
Resources (live chat, news, download center, about us, contact us, FAQ, annual report,
feedback, complaint, media centers); and Pictorial Resources were re-coded into theme groups
(Photos, Face Book posts, Instagram posts and sitemaps). Table 2 depicts the frequency with
which advertising content is used on First Bank social networking sites.

Table 2: Social Media Advertising Resources

Dialogic Resources Frequency Percentage

Audiovisuals Adverts 20 32.2
Written Text Resources 12 19.4
Pictorial Resources 30 48.4
Total 62 100.0
Source: Researchers field work 2019

Advertising resources are extremely vital for the growth and survival of business organizations
in today's competitive world. In the banking sectors, advertisement resources affords bank the
opportunity to deliver state of the art customer services to its customers while maintaining the
market competitiveness required for gaining business. Hence, advertising pictorial resources
occur the most with 48.4% which works in line with the principle of usefulness of pictorial
element during advertising. Posted on it Facebook Page (Feb. 27), First Bank attest to the
importance of social media:

In the last few years, FirstBank has rolled out some banking and lifestyle digital
offerings such as USSD banking service, online and mobile applications to boost
convenience and ease of banking for its customers as they are enabled to engage in
banking transactions from the comfort of their homes with the FirstMobile app and
stay updated on the latest global trend from their mobile phones using the FirstBank
LOOP – a lifestyle app. The LOOP app provides premium content from across the
world delivered right to mobile phones. Contents include Technology & Gadgets,
The Economy, Luxury Goods, Health, Entertainment, Business, Life & Travel,
Sports, Shopping and more. LOOP ensures that customers are the first to know
about the topics and events that matter most to them. FirstBank customers can now
enjoy enhanced digital experience just with their mobile phones.With FirstMobile
app, customers can conveniently pay bills, buy airtime and do money transfers of
up to N500,000 (Five hundred thousand naira to any banks without the need for a
token and up to a daily limit of 1million naira using their mobile phones anywhere,
anytime .

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The following is a Facebook post discussing how digitization may make clients' banking
activities much more convenient:

Fig 1: Facebook Advertisement

It is impossible to overstate the importance of social media in marketing and advertising.

Financial institutions can make use of social media as part of their customer service efforts.
According to research, (Veenswyk, 2013) the most cost-effective medium for providing
customer support is social networking. However, the findings suggest that some banks have
not fully integrated social media visual advertising resources into their social media sites,
resulting in a low incidence of 29.3% (Veenswyk, 2013). First Bank has not given up on the
possibility that social media offers financial organizations to become more efficient and
customer-friendly.
Nature of the Advert Message
Along with the observation of general advertising contents of First Bank social media
pages(Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), advertising resources was selected and analyzed for
the purpose of investigating the nature of the advert messages. Each media item was coded for
“yes” or “no” of the attributes of each of the adverts message pattern. Table 3 presents
frequency and percentage of each attributes.

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Table 3: Advert Message Contents

Yes No Total
Dialogic Loop F % F % F %
Content is a post that doesn’t warrant response 18 29.0 52 71.0 62 100.0
Content of the item poses a question to 15 24.2 47 75.8 62 100.0
stimulate dialogue
Content is interactive 9 14.5 53 85.5 62 100.0
Request for further comments 15 24.2 47 75.8 62 100.0
Direct response to question or comment 10 16.1 44 83.9 54 100.0

Source:Researchers field work 2019

The attributes of the adverts includes providing customers the opportunity to respond, and then
by the organization responding to comments, complaints, and questions. The results in Table
3 show that, First Bank adverts resources stimulate dialogue most frequently (29.0%) and
contents are interactive (24.2%). To complete dialogic loop the bank request for further
comments (29.0%) more than giving direct response to question and comments (14.5%). The
results show that banks are yet to grasp the full impact of interactive adverts in improving bank
and customers relations

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Fig 2: Advert posts and customers’ comments

Through post on Facebook and tweet on Twitter, First Bank is able to interact with its clients
and customers across the world directly. Thus, any new innovation introduced by the bank is
brought to the knowledge of the clients. Also, clients are being enlightened through the social
media. Social media enables immediate conversation in real-time. Social media, one of the
reasons why is timeliness, timeliness in essence, as you are doing the programme or activity,
immediately you are reaching the target public and immediately your activity is been seen all
over the world, so is faster and you don’t have to, unlike the mainstream media.

Table 4: Usefulness of Information

Yes No Total
Usefulness of information F % F % F %
Useful to customers and visitors 56 90.3 6 9.7 62 100.0
Information on Banks product and services 35 56.5 27 43.5 62 100.0
Bank logo 53 85.5 9 14.5 62 100.0
Description & overview of bank 22 35.5 40 35.5 62 100.0
Provides persuasive information 55 88.7 7 11.3 62 100.0
Item is convincing 57 91.3 5 8.7 62 100.0
Marketing a product or service 60 96.7 2 3.3 62 100.0
Source: Researchers field work 2019

Table 4 show that social media provide useful information about First Bank. The bank post
information about it products and services and engage in marketing. These commercial
messages are directly reaching the audience and their feedback are being noted through
continues virtual conversation.
First Bank uses social media to allow dynamic, symmetrical, multi-dimensional discussion and
relationship management with its customers. According to the findings of this study, social
media has the potential for speed, interactivity, ubiquity, multimedia advantage, and
accessibility. As a result, social media is extremely valuable in enhancing the practice of
advertising in Nigerian financial institutions in particular, as well as the rest of the globe.
The utility of advertising idea is to supply consumers with information that will help them
answer their queries and make them more informed, such as information about products,
services, and other items the bank offers (Rybalko &Seltzer 2010).

The study of attributes of useful advertising information as presented in Table 4 shows that
consumers and visitors find 90.3% of the material on banks' websites to be beneficial. Another
feature of information usefulness is the presence of a bank logo, which accounts for 85.5
percent of the total. Only 56.5 percent of the media content examined provides sufficient
information on the bank's products and services, while 35.5 percent provides a description and
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overview of the bank. In terms of persuasive information, 88.7% of advertising messages aim
to persuade clients. Furthermore, 96.7 percent of the advertisement's purpose is to promote the
bank's products or services.

In terms of immediacy in the communication process, social media works quickly. With the
previous article, it is clear that when an organization posts information on social media, there
is a greater likelihood of receiving immediate reaction, which is a benefit. Because of the speed
advantage of social media and the capacity to work in real-time, First Bank is able to provide
24-hour service.
Furthermore, both the bank and the general public have easy access to social media. Social
networking is inexpensive, simple to use, and accessible to anyone with a smart phone,
including huge internet service providers like ICT. Now the defining element of new media,
which describes the capacity of users to contribute material in response to a source or
communication partner, is interactivity, which characterizes the ability of users to provide
content in reaction to a source or communication partner (Quan-Haase & Young, 2010)

Table 5: Generation of Return visits

Yes No Total
Generation of Return visits F % F % F %
Users can like, share or comment on post 19 30.6 43 69.4 62 100.0
Update information within 30 days 25 40.3 37 59.7 62 100.0
Explicit invitation to return 17 27.4 45 72.6 62 100.0
Contest and games 6 9.7 56 90.3 62 100.0
Source:Researchers field work 2019

Generation of return visit is another attributes of social media advertisements. Attribute of this
principle includes asking customers to “share, like or comment” on posts, update of information
within 30 days, explicit invitation to customers to return, contest and challenges etc. Table 5
shows a very low percentage for contest and games (9.7%), explicit invitation to return
(27.4%), prompt for users to like, share or comment on post is 30.6% while regular update of
information within 30days of post is 40.3%. the result reveals poor use of this dialogic feature.

Motives of Using Social Media for Advertising

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Research Question two: What are the motives for using social media advertising by First Bank
Nigeria? Objective two looks at the banks motives of using social media for advertising.

Table 6: Perceived Motives of First Bank use of Social Networking Sites for Advertising
Perceived Motives Level of Agreement (%) Over
1 2 3 4 5 M SD all %
Usefulness of Information
Link to official website 5.6 10.8 23.1 36.2 24.3 3.63 1.92 72.6
Link to other social media pages 7.5 11.6 22.0 44.8 14.2 3.47 1.10 69.4
Visible pictures and videos on website 5.6 10.5 22.9 39.1 21.8 3.61 1.11 72.2
Information on products and services 4.9 6.0 12.3 54.5 22.4 3.84 1.00 76.8
Overview of the bank on social media site 6.3 6.7 27.3 39.0 20.6 3.61 1.08 72.2
It is cost effective for the bank and customers 4.9 6.0 12.3 54.5 22.4 3.84 1.00 76.8
Total 3.63 1.24 72.6
Ease of Interface
Search Engine boxes on the front page 5.7 9.4 34.0 35.8 15.1 3.45 1.04 69.0
There are links to homepage from each page 4.1 6.4 25.1 50.2 14.2 3.64 0.95 72.8
Options to select language 14.9 13.8 29.1 34.3 7.8 3.06 1.18 61.2
Pages takes less time to load 8.6 14.2 34.1 31.8 11.2 3.23 1.10 64.6
Visible Navigation on each page 9.3 11.2 27.2 34.0 18.3 3.41 1.18 68.2
Speed of information accessibility 4.1 6.4 25.1 50.2 14.2 3.64 0.95 72.8
Total 3.36 1.09 67.2
Conservation of Visitors
Information update within 30days 14.2 11.2 32.2 20.6 21.7 3.24 1.31 64.8
Easy to subscribe to information on the website 5.1 10.2 61.0 17.8 5.9 3.54 1.06 70.8
Information sharing on social media 5.2 7.1 25.0 45.9 16.8 3.62 1.02 72.4
Regular information through feedback 8.6 10.4 22.4 37.7 20.9 3.52 1.19 70.4
Downloadable information 4.5 10.8 25.0 41.0 18.7 3.59 1.05 71.8
Bank respond directly to comments 5.2 7.1 25.0 45.9 16.8 3.62 1.02 72.4
The sites are interactive 8.6 10.4 22.4 37.7 20.9 3.52 1.19 70.4
Facebook site provides opportunity for liking 4.5 10.8 25.0 41.0 18.7 3.59 1.05 71.8
comment
Total 3.50 1.13 70.0
Source:Researchers field work 2019
*Scale: 1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Slightly Agree, 4=Agree, 5=Strongly Agree
(1-20%) (21-40%) (41-60%) (61-80%) (81-100%)

Usefulness of information
Overall respondent perceived bank social media sites as being useful (M = 3.63, SD = 1.24).
The usefulness of information is the extent information appeals to stakeholders and wider
customers. In the hopes to fulfill their information needs and information seeking habits, the
following features were observed on the study banks’ social media pages; direct links to the
organizations official website and other social media pages, visible pictures, photos, videos,
information on banks product and service and overview of the bank.
Ease of interface
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The ease of interface principle relates to the effortlessness for users to navigate and locate
information on bank official webpage. In the study, six features were used to locate the ease
for a person to find information on the organization social networking sites. The six features
are browser capability, navigation buttons, links to homepage search engine box and an option
to change language/location on a website. Overall results show that respondents perceived First
Bank social network sites as user-friendly (M=3.36, SD=1.09).

Conservation of visitors
Generally, respondent perceived First bank social network sites as being able to keep them on
the site (M = 3.50, SD = 1.13). Conservation of visitors is the extent banks use certain features
to keep customers and wider publics on their page. Information updates, newsletters,
downloadable, interactive, information etc. are ways the organization can keep people on their
page.

Discussion
Banks' advertising communication techniques and processes have evolved throughout time,
moving away from traditional approaches and toward Internet-based new media. Knowing how
and when to use web-based public relations tools is critical, especially with limited resources
and a growing need to establish connections and build a positive image with important
stakeholders. The findings of this study revealed how heavily banks are employing social
media technologies for marketing.

According to the analysis of research question one, First Bank used various internet advertising
resources (including social media); while some of these resources were used for maximum
benefits and are well utilized, the bank's preference for certain features over others may be the
result of integrating the feature into organizational objectives, adapting to trends in the wider
environment, or a combination of these factors. As a result, First Bank is making extensive use
of social media to communicate its business objectives to consumers and potential customers.
This demonstrates that First Bank has made substantial use of social media in their advertising.
This matched the findings of Veenswyk (2013), who claims that in the twenty-first century,
banks are heavily reliant on social media advertising.
To support this, a study by Efma and Vidyo (2016) found that 70% of customers prefer video
banking on mobiles and desktops over going to a branch, or even simple account and balancing
information. As a result, the utilization of news and audiovisuals allows both staff and
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consumers to take control of their own affairs, resulting in more efficient and convenient
banking.

The results of the features of First Bank patterns of using social media show that the bank
embraces two-way dialogic digital advertising features such as providing up-to-date
information, concentrating more on other features such as usefulness of information, ease of
interface, visitor conservation, and keeping a positive image, which is consistent with previous
research (Lee, 2014, Veenswyk, 2013). As a result, in order for social media advertisements to
be categorized as interactive, they must include features that allow visitors to respond to some
of the messages placed on the site, as well as the ability for the organization to respond to
visitor feedback and comments. When visitors are unable to provide feedback, it is considered
that there is simply one-way communication between the sender and the message receiver, with
no discussion.

Financial sector experts (Paxson 2014; Bartlett 2010) believe that introducing tools like
financial calculators into a bank's Internet usage will help enhance penetration rates and lay the
groundwork for long-term online engagement. Through dialogue-oriented financial
communication on the Internet and social media, the bank and its customers will be able to
develop investor connections.

Furthermore, the current study validate the findings of Corruthers (2010), who found that
financial institutions are leveraging the potentials of social media to spread their corporate
messages, which has the ability to increase brand awareness and facilitate customer
conversations, are in agreement with the findings of this study. Furthermore, social media
provides a relatively low-cost platform for businesses to launch marketing efforts.
The second goal examines the reasons for First Bank's use of social networking sites for
advertising. This section looks into the usage patterns of employees and customers, with an
emphasis on awareness of the bank's website, Facebook page, and Instagram page, as well as
usage hours and reasons. The findings demonstrate that while more than 90% of respondents
are aware of the website, they rarely utilize it for transactions or as a source of information
(Table 2, 3). Moreover, despite the fact that many bank customers are aware of the bank's
Facebook and Instagram sites, only a small percentage of them actively follow or like the pages,
and even fewer have utilized them for any transactions. This tendency can also be seen in the
frequency of visits to bank and social networking websites, which has a relatively low mean,
indicating that users only visit these sites on occasion. In a survey conducted by Marous (2014)

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on Generation Y's use of social media, it was discovered that Gen Y clients want to do more of
their banking through these channels and are disappointed that most banks only enable them to
do basic research. As a result, there is a growing gap between client expectations and the
implementation of social banking services, which has harmed customer satisfaction ratings and
usage of bank websites and social networking sites.

The findings suggest that First Bank makes extensive use of social networking platforms for
advertising. The results reveal that the bank employs social media advertisements and tries to
spark debate and get replies, resulting in two-way connection between the bank and its clients.
This suggests that corporate websites may not want to engage in two-way dialogue on their
websites, but rather utilize them to strengthen their identity in the larger world. This finding is
consistent with Chanda and Zaorski's (2013) earlier findings regarding the prevalence of social
media use by financial institutions.

The study found that most banks felt social media to be effective for communicating with the
public. Another method banks express their identity and maintain people's perceptions of them
is by giving social media channels for driving return visits to their websites. This advertising
principle demonstrates how far a firm can entice users to return to its website. Banks utilize a
variety of methods to keep customers coming to their websites, including updated content,
newsfeed links, and the ability for users to login or register with the bank. Customers, on the
other hand, are skeptical that banks would invite them back to the website on purpose or
expressly. Emails, videos, audio, and downloadable information are all available as a strategy
for the organization to keep users on their website. However, audio content is not popular on
websites, with just a small percentage of banks including it, and only a few banks using videos
to engage with customers. The low percentages of visitors that stay on a website show that
there isn't much work put into keeping them there, or that the bank doesn't think it's necessary.
First Bank's websites are interactive and dynamic. However, the usefulness of information and
simplicity of interface are the most commonly used dialogic principles of communication, as
seen by consumer replies to First Bank's websites, which effectively apply the dialogic
function. Thus, the study supports Lee (2014) findings by stating that social media is appealing
to advertisers because of the relatively low cost of reaching consumers, the potential for greater
efficiency, and the ability to engage in more timely and direct-contact communication than
most traditional media tools offer.

Conclusion

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Despite the fact that financial institutions throughout the world have been using new media
technologies for advertising for years, there are still gaps in the way Nigerian banks have used
social media advertising. According to the findings of the survey, banks are employing social
media advertising to promote their products and services. Because of its quickness and
extensive reach, social media advertising is also a cost-effective way for banks to connect with
their clients online. As a result, First Bank now has an appealing and well-designed website as
well as social media pages that have an easy-to-use interface and a high level of success. As a
result, social media allows First Bank to market its products and services to a group of people.
Organizations can use social media to establish a virtual presence in cyberspace as a tool to
communicate their mission, products, and services to the rest of the world (Lee 2014). When it
comes to information transmission and exchange, such communications platforms differ from
traditional mass media in that they have the capacity for speed, efficiency, integration, and
interactivity. These primary activities include one-to-one communication via e-mail, one-to-
many communication via websites and email, and many-to-many communication via websites,
newsgroups, mailing lists, and, more recently, blogs and social networking sites like Twitter
and Facebook. This is also a benefit of First Bank's social media utilization.
Recommendations
This report makes ideas for how bank executives might use technology to improve their client-
customer relationships. One area of priority is using social media to communicate or disclose
information to stakeholders, and banks are right in the midst of it since competition in that
business is severe. Therefore, the following recommendation are provided:
1. Though the motives of adopting social media is derived from it immense usefulness,
establishing a well-rounded internet platform that scores highly on the five principles
stated in this study may be expensive in the short term, the long-term benefits (i.e. the
ability to spread information more cheaply and in a timely manner) make it a
worthwhile venture for banks to leverage upon as seen with First Bank which is a first
generation Bank.
2. The necessity for two-way communication should be considered by bank’s image
builders. It turned out that the bank under investigation is making extensive use of social
media sites as interactive advertising platforms. They just use their websites to keep
their customers informed by timely response to their feedback.
3. Banks using social media as effective advertising tools expose them to different
categories of audience and comments that may impact negatively on it image. Thus, the
need for banks to established interactive and control mechanism. .

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