FERNDALE, Mich.-Credit Union ONE here has begun offering financial advice to members via its Facebook page.
The 104,000-member, $732-million credit union launched its Facebook page about nine months ago, and VP of Marketing Swami Seetharaman said Credit Union ONE wanted to find creative ways to engage with members through social media.
"We thought instead of asking them to come to us, we'll go CU ONE's latest strategy is an titled "The ONE to Ask," an "ask the expert" tactic, as Seetharaman called it, wherein members can post questions to the credit union's Facebook wall and get a response from CU staff. Seetharaman said that posting sample questions in advance-on topics such as repairing credit or whether to buy or lease a car-helped drive traffic to the page.
"We said 'Let's compile a list of a few questions and give some cues to them'," explained Seetharaman. "That makes the member say, 'You know what? I actually have a question on that topic!'" CU ONE is not attempting to push any kind of product during the sessions and has no plans to do so moving forward.
The credit union offers the Q&A sessions quarterly and has had three so far, receiving anywhere from two to 15 responses from members during each event. The sessions feature CU representatives answering questions live for two hours. Each event is promoted via Facebook and with an e-mail blast to members a few days in advance so that they have time to post questions.
While the response from membership has fluctuated, it has increased the CU's Facebook presence, with an additional 100 members "Liking" the credit union prior to the most recent of the Q&As. "I think our approach is right, but our technique is not," said Seetharaman, pointing out that CU ONE is still trying to find the right way to drive interest.
One of the strategies it has mulled is holding the events more frequently than on a quarterly basis.
Tip of the Week Planned
Seetharaman said that for now the credit union is sticking with Facebook for these interactions and not branching out to other channels such as Twitter or Google Plus. It also plans to launch a "Tip of the Week" soon on its Facebook page, on topics such as personal finance, healthy living and more.
"We're trying to be careful in using the channel," said Seetharaman. "We're excited about the opportunities we've seen, but it's a continuous learning process. It's a new thing for us, but we've been learning pretty quickly."
