Due to technological innovation, the economy is transitioning from a market-driven to a network-oriented status, and social media has seized the leading I.T. trends in the technology sector. A paradigm change in banking and finance operations has occurred due to the upswing in innovation, transformation, and digitalisation in Indian banking and financial organisations. The development of online banking, mobile apps, mobile banking, and tools like debit and credit cards has changed how customers utilise banking and financing services. Thanks to social media and digital marketing, banks may now be practical tools for supporting customers' enterprises and gaining target prospects. To provide customers with rapid and efficient service in the post-pandemic age, Indian banks and financial institutions are rushing to modernise their technology infrastructure and digital goods. Social media offers users attractive options for 24-hour access to information and the use of financial services across temporal and geographic boundaries.
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People now spend more time on their laptops, smartphones, and computers, whether it be to read newspapers online, book travel tickets, listen to music or watch videos for entertainment, find information, purchase any product through online shopping, participate in public forums and discussions, read e-books, e-journals, share pictures and videos, or interact with friends, family, coworkers, businesses, or government organisations via popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. All they require is a computer and an internet connection. Mass internet connections have been made possible by developing information and communications technology and expanding broadband penetration in urban, semi-urban, and rural regions.
In this digital age, social media is the new medium for people, businesses, organisations, the government, and civil society to communicate and participate. Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc., can bring about public protests, organise social demonstrations, mobilise social campaigns, and enable communications and discussions on public forums. They can also overthrow political regimes, support political campaigns, and help candidates win the presidency. Most of the time, social networking has taken up a significant amount of space in the lives of millions of individuals worldwide. These days, social media platforms serve as a means of communication, information access, commerce, networking with clients, and a wide range of comparable activities (Bawre & Kar, 2019; Miranda et al., 2013). Blogs, microblogs, Wikipedia, virtual worlds, and social networking sites are the main components of social media (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010; Miranda et al., 2013). Although there isn't a clear definition of social media yet, (Bryer & Zavattaro, 2011) claim that “social media are technologies that encourage social contact, make it feasible for cooperation, and allow for stakeholder discourse.” These technologies include wikis, blogs, networking sites like Facebook, and tools for sharing media (music, photos, videos, and text).
Organisations can connect with the public through social media (Aula, 2010). In recent years, banks worldwide have been utilising social media platforms to communicate with their clients and build their reputations. According to Banerjee (2017), social media facilitates the real-time connection between banks and their clients, allowing the latter to detect and address any issues swiftly. Social media aids banks in developing their digital offerings. Also, banks are running financial literacy campaigns on social media to pique users' interest in the advantages of savings accounts and investing in other financial products.
With the development of innovation and Technology in the finance sector, the ideology of the Indian financial sector has been transformed in a digital access way. With the development of the financial industry in India, financial products and services have become easily accessible to every familiar people in India. In India, the process of digitising banks began about 30 years ago. The Digital India initiative, which emphasises giving India digital empowerment through better online infrastructure and enhanced internet access, has also helped speed up this process. According to Gadekar (2016), certain Indian banks (State Bank of India, ICICI, HDFC, and Kotak Mahindra Bank) have added services for their clients on Facebook and Twitter, including balance inquiries, financial counselling, financial transactions, and more. It is essential to investigate how much the financial industry uses social media to its advantage in this age of digitalisation and social networking (Bawre & Kar, 2019).
Customers may develop closer ties with financial institutions and learn more about them through social media. Social media has emerged as the platform that will determine many winners in tomorrow's linked company. Initial financial service endeavours saw banks looking to learn what customers thought of bank services and products. Subsequently, it changed to play a more proactive role by promptly reacting to client input. Financial institutions worldwide are working extra hard to create the Connected Client Strategy (K.S. Venkateswara Kumar, Dr V. Rama Devi).