Social Media and Credit Unions - It's All about the People
Posted by Beth Austin
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of giving a talk at the Filene Research Institute Credit Union Digital Branding Colloquium along with several distinguished co-presenters. The colloquium's goal was to provide the credit union attendees with information that would help inform strategic decisions regarding their online/social media branding efforts. How can credit unions most effectively utilize online tools to communicate their brand? And how can members be engaged in building and sharing this brand? The perceptions and expertise of the six presenters varied, which provided rich content, yet many of the underlying messages were similar. From my perspective, here were the most important takeaways from the day.
The Revolution Will Be Virtual Among the presenters at the colloquium was Kristen Christian, the mastermind behind Bank Transfer Day. Her efforts, conducted primarily on Facebook, led to an estimated 210,000 Americans moving more than $4.5M from banks to credit unions. Her success underscores the magnitude of the power that can be harnessed through social media when you have a compelling story to tell and a clear call to action.
Tell Your Story Kristen Christian ditched her bank initially because of fees, but found more than just a friendlier pricing philosophy at credit unions. The fact that credit unions are local, community-focused institutions is important to people, particularly the coveted Gen-Y contingency. Credit Unions have a compelling story to tell and many people - including some of the presenters - still haven't really heard.
The Message Needs to Speak to Me (especially if I'm Gen-Y) When you share your story, make sure you convey your message in a way that is "emotionally rewarding." Maya Bordeaux of Attune, LLC emphasized this point as she shared the "Science of Gen-Y Branding." Your brand needs to be clear and consistent. Gen-Yers are experts at branding themselves and expect no less from the organizations they utilize. If you "work within what the target believes," your story will resonate. This may sound like a tall order, but social media provides a multitude of opportunities in this regard -more so than traditional media.
Let Members Tell Your Story, Too "Collaboration is where the game is at," Hope Jensen Schau, PhD, told the group. Giving members the platform and permission to share the story lets them have a stake in the game. The world is not about one-way communication anymore, which makes social media all the more relevant. In fact, Hope tells us that having your brand communicated in multiple places is really "the holy grail" of social media success.
Amplify Your Brand Presence Payton Dobbs and Katie Sollenberger from Google shared information on how to utilize online resources to gain the most benefit. The current trends provide new opportunities for credit unions. Make sure your credit union is front and center when consumers are researching financial information online and that your digital services (such as online banking) are up-to-date and well integrated with your other programs.
There's More to Life than What You Can Put In an Excel Spreadsheet Hope mentioned the "holy grail of success" - but how will credit unions measure that success? My presentation focused on the results of a yearlong study with credit unions across the U.S. that attempted to measure the ROI of social media. The study found a number of best practices and credit unions with successful programs garnered some quantifiable returns, but a critical learning is that social media is much more than just the numbers. It's an opportunity to share your brand with members. To tell your story in a way that resonates. To foster collaboration and community. In short, it's about connecting with people and cultivating those relationships to achieve (common) objectives.
Keep Moving Forward The usage of online social networking channels continues to grow and, despite what the nay-sayers may tell you, there's no sign of social media's popularity dwindling any time soon. The major sites are constantly improving to best meet user needs. One of our co-presenters was Christine Trodella from Facebook (yeah, that Facebook), who shared just a few examples of how Facebook has developed and will continue to evolve. She emphasized that people are the core of online social networks, not the technology. It's all about "building essential connections."
Do Something From my perspective, probably the most important message of the day came during the Q&A with the speakers' panel. An attendee asked for some guidance on what the next steps should be and was assured that "the only wrong thing to do is nothing." Organizations often view social media or other digital media as new and intimidating. But Hope reminded us in her presentation that the concept isn't really new at all: "Social interaction is NOT new, novel or disruptive." Technology may be changing, but the underlying principles of social communication remain constant over time. It's about making connections with people. The development of current events has cultivated a receptive audience that is eager to hear the credit union story - don't let the opportunity pass you by.