Finance Malta social media platform is a hit

Since going live on March 7, more than one million people have viewed Finance Malta’s posts on Facebook, analytics for the recently launched social media platform show.

In just two months Finance Malta has succeeded in winning a healthy social media following as it steps up its online efforts to market the island’s financial services centre.

Managed in collaboration with Dmax, Finance Malta’s presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter has reaped a growth rate of up to 48 per cent on some channels, chairman Kenneth Farrugia and head of business development Bruno L’Ecuyer told The Times Business. Finance Malta also uploads selected videos on YouTube. A bespoke Finance Malta icon has been designed for the social media platform.

Facebook activity has registered 1,310 direct page views, around 300 fans, and an average weekly reach of 11,282. The highest weekly reach was 42,978.

Between March 7 and May 3, activity on Finance Malta’s Twitter page included 13,116 views (a daily average of 234), and 167 tweets, and 33 retweets.

Just under half of Finance Malta’s Twitter followers are based in Malta, with a further 29 per cent based in the US, 12 per cent in the UK, and others based in Germany, Luxembourg, Brazil, and South Africa. The analytics have revealed that Finance Malta is followed by promotional bodies with briefs similar to its own and members of the financial community overseas.

On LinkedIn, preferred as a business-to-business and business-to-customer channel, Finance Malta registered 703 views by April 30, up by 338 from the end of March. It clinched 308 followers.

“The social media platform launched in March is a natural extension to the initiatives on Finance Malta’s calendar,” Mr Farrugia explained. “We are seeing exponential growth in a short period of time. It is imperative that we have a strong online presence. Our portal was revamped three years ago, and we invested significantly in search engine optimisation. That gives us a bearing on the improvement in rankings and gives us very specific statistics on hits, geolocation, and page views.”

“Social media has enabled Finance Malta to push very specific messages, particularly the onshore Malta concept,” Mr L’Ecuyer added.

Finance Malta, which has been operational for five years, has done wonders with a limited budget by leveraging technology to optimise its marketing efforts through a series of online projects including podcasts and webinars. In April alone, its portal at financemalta.org was visited 6,218 times, up from 3,678 in April last year, with 4,469 unique visitors. Most site visits – 4,147 – were directed from Google.

The public-private partnership tasked with marketing Malta’s financial services centre is a lean organisation with three full-timers, two team members seconded by the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners and a part-timer seconded by the Malta Financial Services Authority. Mr Farrugia also attributes the organisation’s effectiveness to its local and international members’ support and its sponsors’ backing.

Mr Farrugia added that Finance Malta’s marketing achievements have been buoyed by the island’s success in winning international business and the growing clusters.

The domestic professional services community, which is increasingly pro-active with executives travelling constantly to ensure Malta has a firm presence on the international circuit, has also partnered Finance Malta at major trade events.

Most firms are engaged in enhancing their own social media platforms, contributing to the collective effort to raise the jurisdiction’s profile internationally.

Finance Malta targets five core sectors – banking, insurance, funds, trusts and foundations, and wealth management – and has co-branded international initiatives with major names like the Financial Times and Camden Media.

“It is difficult to measure the results of our physical initiatives but the feedback we receive from our members is very positive,” Mr Farrugia said. “Many report that Finance Malta has paved the way in raising awareness about Malta’s offering and potential business partners are now approaching them with very specific enquiries, saving practitioners a lot of time.”

Finance Malta holds its fifth annual conference themed ‘Malta’s financial services industry: sustaining the momentum’ at the Radisson Blu Resort and Spa Golden Sands tomorrow, in collaboration with a record 20 corporate and affiliate sponsors.