5 digital/social items for credit unions to do in 2015

2015 budgets and plans are being formed as we speak. So as my gift to you, here are five things to think about including into your credit union’s digital plans for next year.

Music Platforms – Want to reach your audience (especially the younger ones)? Try using some marketing dollars on running ads on Pandora or Songza or any music streaming service. I know one credit union who’s been testing this out and it’s worked brilliantly for them in converting real revenue for their credit union.

Blogging – This content-driven strategy is working wonders for credit unions and financial brands. Why? Because people are looking for two things: financial help and connections to the community. If you can do those things in a way that’s timely, planned out and structured – you’ll see successes. Oh and make sure that you tie your blog to your credit union’s website – it’s about traffic to your services.

Local Social – This year, there’s going to be more of a focus on connecting and supporting local efforts and businesses through your social channels. For example, other small businesses needing help, promoting important community issues to gain regional and/or national attention, or simply being proud, good citizens on behalf of your credit union.  All of this can be done to rally your community using your social platforms.

Paid reach – Get ready to start funding your social media platforms with a little extra cash. We’ve reached the point where it’s time to pay-to-play, especially on Facebook and Twitter. How much should you expect to shell out? Depending on how targeted you want your posts to be, you could be looking at spending anywhere from $50 to $1000 per month for promoting and boosting general posts.

Partner with Compliance – It’s been a year since the FFIEC came out with their “Guidance on Social Media” and it’s time to have “the talk.” Sit down with compliance and come up with your social media rules of engagement for internal and external audiences; how you’ll handle crisis issues, customer service, product-related posts….all of it! It’s time to embrace your heavily-regulated environment and make it work for your credit union’s digital strategies.

One last suggestion for my social media friends: This is the year to finally abandon all of the careful “corporate-y” and financial marketing language in all of your social media posts. No one really connects with language like “get a good auto loan rate,” or “stop by for a quote.” Sure, they are traditional marketing phrases. But your followers are looking for more than marketing. Give them something to share and be excited about.