VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Are Twitter, Facebook and blogs more than a black hole of vanity and noise? Credit unions say "yes" - even if they don't have the metrics to prove it.
After five years of blogging or "Linking-in," some credit unions using social media are finding they may be "better listeners" and more "sensitive" to their members' needs.
"Listening is key," according to William Azaroff, director, online banking and engagement at $12.5-billion Vancity CU here. Vancity is responsible for the well-known Change Everything social networking site, which has 4,700 users-nearly five times the number of users registered two years ago.
"Listening to our members via these channels helps us understand them better," said Azaroff. "On blogs and Twitter and Facebook, people are talking to their friends; they are sometimes more emotional or frustrated or joyous than they would be with their financial institution. It brings a level of honesty and immediacy that can't be captured elsewhere."
Social media allows Members CU of Winston-Salem, N.C. to "identify deficiencies in processes, service and communications that otherwise may have gone undiscovered," agreed Matt Davis, director, public relations at $208-million Members CU.
"With Facebook, we can measure our fan interaction: are they commenting that they like the updates and events we're posting? Are they writing on our Facebook wall?" suggested Victoria Selfridge, director of marketing and eCommerce at $2.8-billion Ent CU in Colorado Springs, Colo. "Over time, this type of feedback will give us insight into what this audience likes."
Bellco CU listens — and responds, said Laura Higgins, director of marketing at the $2-billion CU in Greenwood Village, Colo. "We've seen a number of members provide feedback-most positive, but some negative — via one of the social media sites. If someone does post a comment, we can react to it swiftly, either to say 'Thank you' or to say 'So sorry! Contact me.'"
Tracking sales and membership growth that result from social media campaigns is "cumbersome and complicated," said Azaroff.
"Measuring social media results has been an amazingly difficult undertaking for marketers — especially marketers like me who see the communications vehicle more as a member engagement tool than a sales tool," added Davis.
It's easier for Members CU to measure results at its proprietary social media sites, the 1-year-old "What Are You Saving For" and "Football Pick'em," launched in 2004, he said. More than 10% of the membership has visited What Are You Saving For — and the associated deposit account saw "tremendous activity for the first several months."
Football Pick'em is "sponsored" by the credit union's electronic statement service — which seems to encourage members to sign up for e-statements, continued Davis. Nearly 50% of Football Pick'em members gets e-statements, whereas 14% of the entire membership is e-statement users, he said.
Brewery CU could track the effect Twitter has on membership growth by adding a Twitter SEG to its core processing fields, suggested Mikal Gilliat, marketing director at $30-million Brewery CU.
But that's not really the point, Gilliat continued. "Our goal with Twitter is to be a community educator on financial issues and help people understand the difference credit unions bring."
Group Health CU of Seattle agreed: "We limit sales-pitch type tweets to a very small percentage of total tweets," said Shannon Perry, senior marketing and communications specialist at the $280-million CU.
Instead, Twitter is "another avenue of connection with our members — a way to provide really immediate information on products, services, events, special deals and free financial education seminars," Perry said.
However, much of back-and-forth on social media sites is between credit union and their peers, not members: "The majority of our Twitter followers are either other credit unions, employees in a credit union role and other companies," explained Jacki Teachnor, marketing and communications director at $1-billion FORUM CU out of Indianapolis, Ind.
Getting members to follow the CU is daunting, said Dan Veasey, director, marketing and member education at $34-million Piedmont CU in Danville, Va. "It's like the first day of school, and we're trying to make new friends. I'm actively looking for locals who are in these spaces. I need to write things that are interesting and relevant to our community."
Members are most attracted to social media with a "what's in it for me" component, such as special offers and financial advice, said Teachnor.
Credit unions are bound to make a few mistakes with social media, but a few said that you've got to jump in anyway. "I don't think social media is something you can sit on the sidelines and watch and truly understand it," said Shari Storm, CMO at the $390-million Verity CU in Seattle.
