Seylan Bank reached a social media landmark this week, reaching 200,000 fans on its Facebook page and that too with a far superior engagement score to its peers signifying the true engagement it has with its fans and customers.

The first bank in Sri Lanka to reach this milestone, Seylan Bank has been spearheading social and digital media marketing in the banking and financial sector in Sri Lanka since 2012. Having aimed to be the ‘most socially engaging bank’, social media has since been an integral part of the bank’s customer engagement strategy and has grown from strength to strength.

“As a leading bank in Sri Lanka, digital marketing is a vital part of our strategy to provide a better banking experience to our customers, interact with them and to constantly innovate and augment our offerings,” said Seylan Bank Deputy General Manager Marketing and Personal Banking Tilan Wijeyesekera.

“We use social media as a platform to engage and add value and we are grateful to our fans for their continued support. We are extremely humbled and proud that 200,000 people have chosen to be a part of our social media endeavours and help in creating a robust and thriving banking community with true engagement as opposed to simply becoming fans.” Seylan Bank’s social media success can be attributed to its innovation and efforts to address its customers’ needs through real-time interaction via its customer support tab, a variety of interactive apps to enable Gamification and a series of special promotions to reward its fan base. A firm proponent of organic fan growth and value addition, the bank also engages with its customers by sharing interesting and relatable content, information about its products and services and news of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.

Innovation has been at the crux of the bank’s digital communication strategy and the bank makes considerable effort to bridge both its online and offline worlds, offering access to all its customers alike. Seylan Bank launched its first-ever game app to supplement Seylan Tikiri, its popular children’s savings account and also launched the first online art gallery through a children’s art competition.

Seylan Office Challenge was yet another first in the banking industry, where teams from offices were invited to take part in a series of challenging games which were hailed by many organisations and participants for its innovating and engaging approach. During Avurudu, fans were given a chance to play Avurudu games on the Bank’s Facebook page while 40 winners were rewarded with gifts. Seylan Bank has sponsored popular events such as the Sesame Street Show, Barney – Live in Concert and Jurassic World, rewarding its customers with tickets and prizes through its social media efforts. A special promotion is currently underway to celebrate the bank’s social media milestone by rewarding 200 fans with a unique gift, via Facebook app developed solely for this occasion.

The number one Sri Lankan bank on Facebook to date, Seylan Bank has been lauded at numerous award ceremonies around the world for its innovative social media initiatives. Most recently, the bank was recognized at the Global Marketing Excellence Awards 2014 organised by the World Marketing Congress, the Customer Engagement Award organised by Asian Customer Engagement forum and the Golden Globe Tiger Awards.

A pioneer in digital communications and channels, Seylan Bank also focuses on Internet banking, SMS banking and other social media platforms such as Twitter, Linked-in and Youtube to consistently add value to its customers.