15 Ways Banks Are Engaging with Canadian Entrepreneurs on Social Media

Key Takeaways

RBC, CIBC, TD, and BDC organically engage with entrepreneurs in Canada through the following ways:

• Social Channels: Twitter is the most popular social media platform for banks targeting entrepreneurs, followed by LinkedIn and Facebook. Only Ownr (by RBC), Sustainable Future Lab and BDC have Instagram accounts and only Futurepreneur and BDC post videos on YouTube. In 2021, banks targeting entrepreneurs shared the most content on Twitter and Facebook, yet Instagram generated the highest levels of engagement per post.
• Content Messaging: In 2021, posts celebrating or supporting black-owned businesses were the most popular type of business banking social media content. Other popular content topics included sharing entrepreneur stories, celebrating female entrepreneurs, providing business mentorship, interviews with entrepreneurs and panels featuring successful entrepreneurs, tips for starting a business, discussion of entrepreneur mental health, celebrating and supporting small business and Indigenous entrepreneurs.
• Blog Content: From Jan. ‘21 to Nov. ‘21, business blogs and business resources traffic made up 42%, 76%, 34% of Futurpreneur's, BDC's, and Ownr's total web traffic, respectively. Top performing content pieces focused on the following topics: taxes in Canada, financial literacy, business plan templates, identifying growth KPIs, pricing strategies, hascap loans, working capital ratio, side hustles, mission statements, and registering a business.

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Twitter is the most popular social media platform for the banks targeting entrepreneurs, followed by LinkedIn and Facebook. Only Ownr (by RBC), Sustainable Future Lab and BDC have Instagram accounts and only Futurepreneur and BDC post videos on YouTube.

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In 2021, banks targeting entrepreneurs shared the most content on Twitter and Facebook, yet Instagram generated the highest levels of engagement per post. Posts on Instagram averaged 55 engagements per posts, whereas Twitter averaged 6 and Facebook 4.  

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Diving into specific companies, Futurpreneurs and DBC are the most active companies on social media both posting on Twitter daily.

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RBCx and Owner have 2.8% engagement rate (ER) on Twitter, which is typical for the accounts with lower number of followers — 490 and 438 (as of December 2021) respectively. On average, Instagram yields the highest ER with an average of 0.45%. 

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In 2021, posts celebrating or supporting black-owned businesses were the most popular type of business banking social media content. Other popular content topics included sharing entrepreneur stories, celebrating female entrepreneurs and providing business mentorship.

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The most engaging posts during this time period were posts that celebrated or supported Black-owned businesses, featured interviews with entrepreneurs, or shared tips for mental health for entrepreneurs.

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1. Black Entrepreneurs - The aim of this content is to celebrate and support Black entrepreneurs and provide opportunities for Black voices in the business community to be heard.

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2. Entrepreneur Stories - Content spotlights the stories of entrepreneurs, exploring their experiences and lessons learned through interviews, videos and webinars. 

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3. Female Entrepreneurs - Content aims to empower and celebrate women entrepreneurship and provide resources for women's success in business.

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4. Business Mentorship - Business mentorship content educates entrepreneurs with valuable insights and equips them with resources to help grow their businesses, improve sales and plan for the future. 

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5. Supporting Small Businesses - Content provides ways in which viewers can support local small businesses, and celebrate the achievements of small Canadian businesses.

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6. Entrepreneur Mental Health - Content aims to encourage more people in the entrepreneurial community to speak openly about their struggles with mental health and help destigmatize this topic. Top posts feature interviews with prominent entrepreneurs discussing their personal experiences and on how they prevent burnout.

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7. Indigenous Entrepreneurs - Banks support and celebrate Indigenous business owners by sharing Indigenous small-business spotlights, interviewing Indigenous entrepreneurs and sponsoring programs designed to help Indigenous entrepreneurs access funding and grants.

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8. Tips for Starting a Business - Content provides entrepreneurs and those aspiring to become entrepreneurs with insights on starting a business and whether or not they are suited to the lifestyle. Additionally, brands provide valuable templates, guides, and toolkits to help them successfully launch a business.

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9. Conferences and Webinars - Many banks draw their followers’ attention to various online conferences, forums, and webinars to help acquaint their followers with relevant knowledge and introduce them to online business communities.

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10. Sustainability - Sustainability is a popular topic leveraged by many companies, which shines through the policy updates, educational webinars, or highlighting businesses helping to tackle environmental problems.

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11. Promos - Some companies support businesses they helped launch or consulted by sharing promos that drive sign-ups and purchases.

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12. Achievements - Companies share their milestones and achievements as well as numbers of businesses they helped to launch — it’s a popular message leveraged in both organic and paid content.

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13. Market Trends and Outlooks - To build credibility, engage and educate their audiences, many companies share market trend reports and outlooks on their Twitter accounts.

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14. Policy Commentary - Some banks aim to engage Twitter users to participate in federal policy discussions and also share their opinion on the matter.

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15. Podcasts - Companies leverage their Twitter audiences to drive listeners to the podcasts they either create or attend as guest speakers.

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The following were the top performing competitor posts on Twitter in 2021:

Promoting Virtual Summit

RBCx sponsored The Peak’s Virtual “Bet on Canada” virtual summit which was an event for entrepreneurs, innovators and decision makers from across Canada to tell their stories and “inspire the next generation of Canadian business leaders”.

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Entrepreneur Interview

RBCx shared a link to The Peak’s Virtual “Bet on Canada” virtual summit live interview with  Marie Chevy, the Founder & CEO of Sampler Business. 

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Tech Leader Panel Discussion

RBCx celebrated the launch of Hub350 — "the Gateway to Canada's Largest Technology Park", and hosted a panel discussion with Canadian tech leaders. 

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The following were the top performing competitor posts on Instagram in 2021:

Black Entrepreneur Feature

To celebrate Black History Month, RBC interviewed a series of successful Black entrepreneurs to discuss their hopes for creating a better tomorrow.

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Indigenous Entrepreneur Grant

In honour of Indigenous Entrepreneurship, RBC was the co-presenting sponsor of the Pow Wow Pitch—a business competition for Indigenous entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses for a chance to win cash prizes.

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Featuring an Entrepreneur’s Story

The CIBC Memento Project features the stories from clients and entrepreneurs who CIBC has helped to make their ambitions real.

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The following were the top performing competitor posts on Facebook in 2021:

Celebrating Female Entrepreneurs

Futurpreneur shared an article that featured one of their board members and the founder of Knixwear, Joanna Griffiths, for successfully raising $53M of funding while pregnant.

Indigenous Entrepreneur Grant

In honour of Indigenous Entrepreneurship, RBC was the co-presenting sponsor of the Pow Wow Pitch—a business competition for Indigenous entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses for a chance to win cash prizes.

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Starting A Business Article

RBC shared a link to their blog post on Facebook about the rise in young entrepreneurs during the pandemic.

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The following were the top performing competitor posts on YouTube in 2021:

Shop Local

Futurpreneur's “2021 Shop Local” YouTube video celebrates small business owners in Canada, highlights how they have helped over 1,500 young entrepreneurs and encourages Canadians to shop local over the holiday.

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Indigenous Entrepreneur Feature

Futurpreneur spotlights Indigenous Young Entrepreneur, Dawn Forrest and her story as a small business owner and her experience as an Indigenous entrepreneur. 

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Discussing Mental Health

BDC shares a series of YouTube videos on the mental health of entrepreneurs. In this video, Marie Chevrier Schwartz, the CEO of TheSamplerApp, discusses her experience with mental health and what it means to her. 

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From Jan. ‘21 to Nov. ‘21, Futurpreneur’s website blogs and business resources traffic made up 42% of its total web traffic. Top evergreen content pieces include a business plan writer and education blog posts about taxes for independent contractors, explaining financial literacy, how to implement your products in retail stores and KPIs for growth. 

19,226 - Monthly Average Business Blog & Resource Page Visits from Jan. ‘21 - Nov. ‘21

Top Non-Branded Keywords:

• independent contractor taxes canada
• financial literacy
• business plan template
• growth kpis
• business plant writer

Top Business Blogs & Resource Pages % of Total Traffic Share

• Business Plan Writer - 6.02%
• Common Tax Mistakes - 5.60%
• The Meaning of Financial Literacy - 3.14%
• How to Land Your Product onto Retail Shelves - 1.95%
• KPIs for Growth - 1.72%

These 5 pages account for 18% of Futurpreneur’s total web traffic.

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From Jan. ‘21 to Nov. ‘21, BDC’s website blogs and business resources traffic made up 76% of its total web traffic. Top evergreen content pieces include business templates, tools and checklists and education blog posts about taxable expenses, hascap, and how to price your products.

326,738 - Monthly Average Business Blog & Resource Page Visits from Jan. ‘21 - Nov. ‘21

Top Non-Branded Keywords:

• pricing strategy
• business plan template
• hascap
• working capital ratio
• hascap loan

Top Business Blogs & Resource Pages % of Total Traffic Share

• Templates and Business Guides - 3.62%
• Tax Deductible Expenses - 2.39%
• hascap - 2.24%
• How to Price your Product - 1.60%
• Business Loan Calculator - 1.14%

These 5 pages account for 11% of BDC’s total web traffic.

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From Jan. ‘21 to Nov. ‘21, Ownr’s website blogs and business resources traffic made up 34% of its total web traffic. Top evergreen content pieces education blog posts about side hustles, small business grants by province, niche markets and business structure best practices.

25,720 - Monthly Average Business Blog & Resource Page Visits from Jan. ‘21 - Nov. ‘21

Top Non-Branded Keywords:

• side hustle ideas
• how to make money online
• how to write a mission statement
• register a business in ontario
• sole proprietorship ontario

Top Business Blogs & Resource Pages % of Total Traffic Share

• 12 Ways to Make Money Online - 19.45%
• 20 Side Hustle Ideas - 8.33%
• Small Business Grants - 3.90%
• What is a Niche Market? - 2.34%
• Sole Proprietorship vs Corporation - 1.84%

These 5 pages account for 36% of Ownr’s total web traffic.