Central Bank to spend €360k 'monitoring social media'

The bank has gone to tender for a two-year contract worth up to €360,000, before tax, seeking a company to provide "social media monitoring services".

The Central Bank is to spend €360,000 employing a company to monitor social media in order to help it manage its reputation.

The bank has gone to tender for a two-year contract, with the possibility of a further two-year extension, worth up to €360,000 before tax seeking a company to provide ‘social media monitoring services’.

While traditional media monitoring by Government departments is relatively common, notably at the Department of Education and the Department of Social Protection, a spend of more than €20,000 per annum is in excess of that typically incurred by State bodies.

In its invitation to tender the Central Bank said that the services provided by the successful bidder would be split between the monitoring of and reporting on social media and the management of specific social media campaigns.

A spokesperson for the Central Bank said that it uses social media “to support its consumer protection mandate”.

It said that the elevated value of the tender constitutes “mark up to reflect market changes that have emerged since we first contracted for this service”.

At present, the bank is active on just three social media platforms – Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. It has no presence on either Facebook or TikTok, although the contract seeks confirmation of proficiency in monitoring many other platforms, including Mastodon, Discord, online forums and news outlets, among others.

In its list of requirements, the bank said it needs assistance in managing its various social media campaigns, in understanding and increasing its audience engagement, to identify and monitor issues with regard to its brand and reputation, and to aid it in identifying and responding to “emerging consumer protection issues and risks in the Irish financial services market”.

It said that the data gathered would be used to collate discussions regarding the public’s experiences of and interactions with financial services providers and the provision of financial products within the Irish market, and to “capture conversations and sentiment regarding public perceptions of the Central bank brand”.

In terms of campaign management, the Central Bank said it would need the contractor to run those campaigns, track the public’s engagement with them, and to “engage with audience (sic)”.