Group SWOT Analysis on Synchrony Financial

1. SWOT Social Media Analysis
MAR 4233
Marco Ibarra
Gustavo Gutierrez
Jocelyn Loo

2. Company Background
● Formerly known as part of GE Capital
● Largest provider of private label credit cards
● 80 Years of Retail Heritage
● Partners with healthcare providers, merchants, and
dealers
○ diverse client base of major retailers and small-
to-mid-sized businesses
“We are an engagement company, meaning we engage
deeply with our partners and provide them with tools,
such as data analytics, loyalty and marketing expertise,
to help them engage and build long-term relationships
with their customers. “ ’ -
Margaret Keane, President and CEO of Synchrony
FInancial

3. Company Culture“The culture we are developing is reflected in our core
values, which are being honest, passionate, driven, caring,
bold, and responsible.”- Margaret Keane, President and CEO
of Synchrony FInancial
● Women are well represented in the company
○ Women are in very senior roles, including our
Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Information
Officer, Chief Securities Counsel, and Chief
Compliance Officer.
● Have various programs to build leaders internally
○ Business Leadership Program (BLP)
○ strong leadership programs for more tenured
employees
● Integrated volunteering into the company culture.
○ All employees are granted time off from work
for volunteerism, including our non-exempt staff

4. SWOT ANALYSIS
•
• Active and updated social media.
• Fast responsivity to follower’s
comments and questions.
• Consistency on their Social
Media messages
• Small group of followers.
• Low integration between social
media platforms
• Competitive Market
• Increase Facebook presence
• YouTube Video push
• Client engagement via social media
• Blog content and exposure
•
Online Reviews
• Regulators working against the
Banks Social Media
• Growing Competition
• Lower Profitability Threats
Strengths
SWOT
Opportunities
Weaknesses

5. STRENGTHS
SWOT ANALYSIS
● Synchrony Financial has a very active and constantly updated social media network.
Currently they are present in: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Linkedin.
● Their social media responsivity to follower’s comments is pretty fast. On Facebook it was
easy to find responses from Synchrony within minutes (Comment to a post on October 1st
2015) and on YouTube videos they did not specify the day and time but most comments
were replied within same month.
Strengths
SWOT

6. STRENGTHS
SWOT ANALYSIS
● They keep a strong consistency on their messages across all four social media platforms,
providing a strong and unified idea of “what are they doing” in a daily and weekly basis.
● Social media messages from Synchrony are directed to all types of demographics, their
comments and responses to customers are professional and timely keeping them at the
same pace or even faster than other financial institutions.
Strengths
SWOT

7. WEAKNESSES
SWOT ANALYSIS
● Due their newly appearance in the market, Synchrony Financial has a very small group of
followers. YouTube: 609 followers, Linkedin: 26,191 followers, Twitter: 4821 followers and
Facebook: 554 likes. Information collected on 10.24.2015 6:30 pm.
● Despite having excellent Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube content, they only provide a
single link to their social media efforts from their main site. Giving users more options to
connect with them will allow them have higher engagement with their clients.
SWOT
Weaknesses

8. WEAKNESSES
SWOT ANALYSIS
● Throughout their social media platforms there are few ties back to the alternative
social media platforms. For example, their LinkedIn profile, which has over 20K
followers does not encourage or link back to their Facebook page which would be
highly beneficial as it would provide more exposure and boost Facebook likes
which are only at about 500.
SWOT
Weaknesses

9. THREATS
SWOT ANALYSIS
● The threat of growing competition is always a possibility. Nevertheless, they are lacking
the number of social media followers compared to their competitors, thus allowing
potential customers to look towards other companies such as American Express, Visa
and MasterCard.
● Because they are not attracting followers adequately, they are losing out on an
audience that other companies have access to, therefore contributing to lower
profitability.
SWOT
Threats

10. THREATS
SWOT ANALYSIS
● Unfortunately for this company, there are many negative reviews on online websites
such as “Yelp!”, done by current and past clients. This will drive business away unless
they listen to their customers and rectify the situation.
● Businesses thrive on great customer service and great products. One major concern is
the amount of complaints received in regards to their communication via email, chat
and social media.
SWOT
Threats

11. OPPORTUNITIES
SWOT ANALYSIS
• Increase Facebook presence
• 71% of adult internet users have a Facebook account (Pewter Research Center).
Currently, Synchrony Financial only has 561 on Facebook, compared to over 4,000
followers on Twitter. They can help to drive more traffic to their website and increase
their Facebook presence organically or using sponsored posts.
• YouTube
• They have several videos on their YouTube account with some having over 200,000
views. By tieing in their youtube videos to their Facebook and Instagram posts as well as
taking advantage of Youtube Preroll, they can help drive more users to their site and
increase their social media presence.
Opportunities
SWOT

12. OPPORTUNITIES
SWOT ANALYSIS
• Client engagement via social media
• Many companies have chosen to engage with customers by providing customer service
via social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Currently, they only have informative
posts on their social media sites. Taking a more customer servicing approach with their
social media efforts would drive higher customer engagement.
• Blog content and exposure
• It’s important for Synchrony Financial continually create fresh blog content to highlight
benefits and features that set them apart from their competition. According to Shaefer
(2014), “If the social web were a living organism, content would be the air that it
breathes. Furthermore, it is essential that they ensure high exposure of their custom
content.
Opportunities
SWOT

13. Social Media Content - Twitter
● Tweets: 2,297
● Following: 322
● Followers: 4,895

14. Social Media Content - Facebook
● 578 Likes

15. Social Media Content - Linkedin
● Followers: 26,394

16. Social Media Content - YouTube
● 16 Videos
● 611 Subscribers
● 1,891,683 Views

17. Social Media
Strategy Analysis
● Define the purpose and objectives for the use of social media by your
organization
○ To satisfy omni-channel needs of shoppers thru different channels
○ “Uses Analytics to Help Retailers Clinch Deals”
● Describe the target group(s) for your social media presence.
○ Small business managers/owners
○ Tech-savvy consumers
● How do they use social media?
○ They use their platforms to educate their followers of current trends,
data gathered, and strategies

18. ● Analysis of social media tools
Social Media platforms this company currently uses are YouTube, Twitter LinkedIn and
Facebook
● What are the most appropriate tools? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
The most appropriate tools for a financial institution in social media should be those where banks
can offer valuable content and be responsive to customer’s interactions at the same time.
Based on that and after reviewing not only Synchrony Financial, but also its two closest
competitors (Alliance Data and TD bank) we confirmed that all three institutions are using the most
effective tools based on the nature of their businesses: YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Social Media
Strategy Analysis

19. Social Media
Strategy Analysis
Social Media tool Advantage Disadvantages
Facebook -Lower Marketing Expenses.
-Increased Exposure to Potential
Customers.
-Build Brand Loyalty. 1
-Lack of Control
Twitter -Increase brand awareness
-Drive website traffic
-Get instant feedback about your
products and/or services
-Capacity of keeping Pace with
customer’s interaction.
Linkedin -Attract New Talent
-Establish Credibility
-Time consuming tool and users are
less active/ interactive than
Facebook and Twitter users.
YouTube -Viral Marketing tool.
-Marketing on YouTube helps to get
found on Google.
-Unwanted competition from
videos that are presented around
the company’s videos.

21. References
● Synchrony Financial | Retail Banking and Finance. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2015, from https:
//www.synchronyfinancial.com
● Schawbel, D. (2015, May 10). Margaret Keane: How Synchrony Financial Built A Winning Culture.
Retrieved October 24, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2015/05/10/margaret-
keane-how-synchrony-financial-built-a-winning-culture/
● Synchrony Financial. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2015, from http://financials.morningstar.
com/competitors/industry-peer.action?t=SYF®ion=usa&culture=en-US
● Synchrony Financial Digital Retail Strategies. (2015, June 1). Retrieved October 24, 2015, from https:
//www.synchronyfinancial.
com/Synchrony_Financial_Digital_Retail_Strategies_white_paper_June_2015.pdf

22. References
● Synchrony Financial | Retail Banking and Finance. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2015, from https:
//www.synchronyfinancial.com
● Ayres, S (2015).Top 10 Benefits of a Facebook Business Page. Retrieved from: http://www.
postplanner.com/top-10-benefits-facebook-business-page/
● Schaefer, Mark (2014-03-13). Social Media Explained: Untangling the World's Most Misunderstood
Business Trend (Kindle Location 508). Amazon Publishing. Kindle Edition.
● Social Networking Fact Sheet. (2013, December 27). Retrieved October 29, 2015, from http://www.
pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
● Credit Card Firm Synchrony Financial Uses Analytics to Help Retailers Clinch Deals. (n.d.). Retrieved
October 24, 2015, from http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/06/19/credit-card-firm-synchrony-financial-
uses-analytics-to-help-retailers-clinch-deals/