CardMarketing 2.0

Many people cringe at the thought of a bank being on Facebook or some other social networking site — it's not for them and they just shouldn't be there. In many cases, they're right, generally because the financial institution in hand somehow manages to make a complete hash of it.

Yes, they're there, and yes, they have a presence on this "absolutely crucial social network", but somehow it's plain awkward, all out of place. The true inhabitants of the social network just read them like a book.

But in WaMu's case, as Jim Bruene of Netbanker blog points out, they manage to pull it off. And Jim's right — the WaMu facebook page (see below) isn't overcooked, it somehow just fits in. It's got some quirky video content, a cash-related crossword game, a fun interactive banner and a branch finder. Nothing major, but nothing OTT either.

Admittedly, people aren't going to be kicking down the doors to become friends of WaMu but when they do stumble across the page, and many will, they won't laugh out loud. Dare we say it, they may even stay around a while. That alone is invaluable.

Says Jim: "I realize that all banking pages in Facebook will appear lame to just about every 20-something that happens to stumble across them. But 20-somethings do still need checking accounts, debit/credit cards, vehicle loans, and so forth. So they will buy banking services. And what brand will they choose? The one that is at least making an effort to meet them on their turf."