HSBC uses Facebook to market new Financial Planning site

This week, ads for HSBC's Financial Planning site have been popping up on my Facebook pages fairly regularly - the first time I've noticed a financial services brand advertising there and great to see.

Although the site is content rich, well laid out and interesting, sadly it's not brought many of the characteristics of Facebook with it - characteristics that would have made it really stand out and help HSBC develop their relationship with customers and prospects.

The only options to actively engage with the site are to use a tool to create a personal plan, start a web chat (which didn't work when I tried it) or move offline and call their call centre or make an appointment with a branch-based adviser.

It would have been great to see HSBC set up some discussion forums or blogs on specific aspects of financial planning - they would have encouraged repeat visits too. There isn't even a link to share the page on Facebook - or Digg, Twitter or anything else.

Interestingly, when I did a Google search to find out when the site had launched and what other comments people had made about it, all I could find were pages about a Facebook campaign a couple of years ago about overdrafts on student accounts.

All in all, it feels like HSBC is dipping its toe in the water with Facebook but sees it as a source of audience for its content, rather than allowing users to engage with it on their own terms. It will be interesting to see how they develop the tool and if they bring in more interactivity over time.