KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Social media and a clever publicity stunt have given UT FCU more hits in a month on its youth website than it had received in a year.
The site, UTFCUrocks.com, was recently upgraded with a blog, Twitter and Flickr feeds, a YouTube video contest, and text message alerts. To kick off the new site, some of the credit union staff and a few members tried their hands at graffiti art.
Armed with spray cans the group headed to the University of Tennessee's fraternity row, and painted "UTFCU to 25827" on "The Rock," a 12-feet-tall slab of slate that students typically paint messages on. The simple message returned a text about UTFCU's cell phone alerts on rate changes, financial tips, and contests.
Brandon Ballentine, interactive technology manager for the $157-million UTFCU, did his part to paint The Rock. "We like how it turned out," said Ballentine, noting it netted a handful of text messages and a local newspaper story on the unique website promotion. "That story really drove interest; about 7,000 hits a month," Ballentine said.
What also has drawn attention, according to Ballentine, are the site's new social media elements. Previously, UTFCUrocks.com was a "static" web page." "We wanted to create a site that keeps young adults coming back," said Ballentine. "We want to gain younger members who will hopefully become long-term credit union supporters."
The CU's Power U Checking account is promoted at the top of the site. Ballentine said UTFCU didn't set any targets for site traffic or new accounts, and had yet to track new checking activity.
The website was redesigned by Ballentine using ExpressionEngine, and it's separate from www.utfcu.org. "We wanted the kids to feel they had their own place to go," Ballentine said.
UT Federal Credit Union wants students to have fun, too, inviting them to submit a video of themselves singing Rocky Top, which is posted on YouTube. The best submission wins a Nintendio Wii.
UTFCU also plans to gist a Guitar Hero contest at a nearby restaurant, and is greeting students as they return to campus. "We'll have a couple booths and hand out literature, and two video cameras to record students singing Rocky Top and talking about the credit union.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
