SYLVANIA, Ohio-Having a strategy is just the first step in getting more value out of social media. Many CUs are also now realizing incentives are needed, as well.
"Credit unions are not utilizing social media in the way it can be maximized," said Nadine Mohney, Strategic Online Marketing manager for the Clinton, Md.-based Visions Ink, a firm that caters specifically to credit unions. "There are some credit unions that are doing well with social media because they know that there needs to be a strategy, not simply a presence."
Among credit unions realizing some success in social media is Directions Credit Union.
"I feel it is almost a table stake in today's world, because many consumers expect it and want to use it," said Directions CU's Vice President of Growth and Development, Brenda Covrett. "All levels of management support our social media strategy. However, like most organizations, many of our senior leaders and management are not in the demographic that uses social media."
Pew Research recently released "The Demographics of Social Media Users-2012," which examined social media portals as they relate in popularity and usage to respective demographics. The study found that 62% of men and 71% of women use social networking sites. Facebook had the biggest market share with 67% of online adults, Twitter had 16%, Pinterest 15%, Instagram 13% and Tumblr 6%.
"While they are not bigger than Facebook or Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are the fastest growing networks right now," said Mohney. "Ideally, you want to have a presence everywhere, be it blogs, websites, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, so when your credit union is searched online, it takes up all the real estate on the first Google search page."
Managing Social Media
While Directions CU had an employee leading its social media efforts, that position is now in flux. "Our social media manager moved on to a new job towards the end of 2012. We are in the process of replacing her, and as a result, we've struggled a bit to keep up with the daily posts and tweets," said Covrett.
For many credit unions, social media is nonstarter. At best they may have a limited presence with a few "Likes" and "tweets." The Financial Brand recently released a report on credit unions using Twitter, which underscored this reality. The study looked at 350 credit unions, which represents just 5% of the industry. Credit unions polled had approximately 400 followers; however 20% were either inactive accounts or associated with spam. Roughly 100 Twitter followers joined each year with each credit union sending about 500 tweets (200 of those sent in 2012).
"There is so much wasted potential in engaging members," said Mohney. "The sky really is the limit, but you have to be active and get people excited."
Social Media Strategy
With 69,000 members, 250 employees, 18 branches and $560 million in assets, Directions Credit Union (as of late March) had 1,399 "Likes" on Facebook and 1,041 "followers" on Twitter (with 1,369 tweets).
"I don't look at it as a sale tool or ROI contributor, so we haven't placed much emphasis on measuring and ensuring results," said Covrett. "It is a low-cost method to help us communicate with our members."
When asked for examples of successful social media campaigns, Covrett noted a video contest held last summer geared toward 18- to 24-year olds.
"We had 16 video entries and over 11,000 votes. During the two months of the campaign, we opened 269 new accounts and 226 new checking accounts among this 18- to 24 year-old demographic."
It is this type of strategy that Mohney applauds. "I don't think you need a designated person working on social media 100% of the time. It should take one hour a day for basic updates and then weekly promotional updates."
Mohney is currently working with five new credit unions on respective social media campaigns and likens it to a festive gathering. "It's as if your credit union is hosting a party. You catered it and have all the bells and whistles but you forget to invite people. You have to give a reason for people to like or follow you. This requires incentives and strategy."
The Social Media Vision
Directions CU firmly supports a calculated social media vision.
"Monday might be financial tips, Tuesday trivia, Wednesday product tips and so on," said Covrett. "It's best to sit down and map out the content for a week or a month this way you have a list of tweets and posts that can use each day. I think it is easier to brainstorm and write a bunch at one time, rather than dedicate time each day to figure out what you want to post."
Moving forward, Covrett noted that the credit union is working with an outside firm in an effort to stay viable online. "Facebook has migrated to soccer moms; it isn't the Gen Y tool it used to be. I think Twitter has become more popular among Gen Y. We are revamping our YouTube site and plan to utilize that more in the future."
And in an effort to reach the younger banking demographic, Directions CU recently launched a Mylife@directions Facebook page.
"The idea was to provide more relevant youth content and contests on that site," said Covrett. "The online and social world has gotten so complicated and it is critical to reach younger consumers, which is why we felt it was time to look towards the experts for guidance."
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