INFLUENCE OF UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA’S DIGITAL PUBLIC RELATIONS ON CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

This study focused on the influence of United Bank for Africa’s digital public relations on customer engagement. The main objective of this study is to identify the digital public relations strategies adopted by UBA, Anyigba Branch on social media, to determine whether UBA’s Anyigba Branch digital public relations activities contributes to customer trust, satisfaction, and loyalty, to examine the extent to which customer interactions with UBA, Anyigba Branch on social media translate into meaningful customer engagement, to investigate the challenges UBA, Anyigba Branch faces in using digital public relations to sustain positive customer engagement. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study and data were gathered through the use of questionnaire. The population of this study comprises of 6,350 savings account holders, 3,120 current account holders with UBA Anyigba branch bringing the total to 9,470 respondents. A convenience sampling procedure was adopted to sample the 362 customers. The research questions were analyzed using means and standard deviation, while the respondents’ demographics were analyzed with percentage and frequency count. Findings of the study showed that UBA employs effective digital PR strategies like multi-platform presence and timely updates, which significantly contributes to customer trust and satisfaction. However, these activities have a weaker direct impact on motivating customer loyalty. Also, the study reveals that while customers feel more connected to the bank when they interact online, the overall level of active participation is low, and a sense of community is lacking. Key challenges identified include slow response times, lack of personalized communication, and technical issues. The study recommended that UBA should enhance its interactive customer service with a rapid-response team, develop personalized digital engagement strategies, shift from a broadcast model to a community-building approach, and invest in advanced social media management tools to ensure efficient and personalized customer interactions.