Credit Unions Are In Love….With Video

by: Michael Ogden, Media Relations Manager for New Media, CUNA Mutual Group

You credit union people are head-over-heels in love with video! To that, I say, “Get a room!”

Last month we conducted a little social media experiment here at CUNA Mutual Group involving the use of video in our social media plans. June was a heavy-duty credit union news month and we decided to make an effort to engage our audience by using video wherever and whenever it made sense.

Here’s an overview of what we did: we shot interview-style videos with Subject Matter Experts concerning news of the day (i.e. Colorado Wildfires); promoted ACUC using a movie trailer format; held multiple live Hangouts on Google+ from ACUC and to get insight on major industry news (i.e. Health Care Ruling). There’s more to it, but you get the idea.

The results? Last month we tripled the number of viewers on our YouTube channel as compared to a typical month. We also increased the number of visits to our Website from our social media channels (Twitter and Google+).

What did we learn? Holy smokes you all like to watch videos! Also, we learned one interesting bit of strategy information. For instance, do you see the video below? We found that having an embedded video in a post (where you can see a still photo of what the video is about) people are more likely to click the video instead of only having a link to the video. Go ahead, try it and see what happens!

The other thing we learned isn’t as shocking, but it’s worth pointing out. People like short videos. Through our analytics we can see on average how long people tune in. Typically, if a video went longer than one minute, the viewership began dropping dramatically. Sometimes I talk too much.

What’s crazy about all of this is no matter how small or large your credit union is, absolutely anyone can do what we’re doing. If you can afford a Flip Cam or similar device, a microphone and a computer – you have a full production studio right there. By the way, we have an excellent A/V department filled with a staff of beautiful and creative people. We love you Don and Melissa!!!

My point is, anyone can start a unique video social media campaign to highlight the great work you do – and you don’t need a lot of money to do it.

We are experiencing an exciting time in the history of the credit union system and I hope you understand that the work you’re doing at your credit union is unique, interesting and worth sharing. Why? Because not one credit union is the same. Tell the story (with video)!

P.S. My job here is not to sell you something. My job is to share with you as much useful information as I can to help the credit union system. That’s it. Oh, and have fun while doing it.

Michael Ogden is the Media Relations Manager for New Media at CUNA Mutual Group. You can connect with him on Twitter @CUDiscovery or on Google+ at +CUNA Mutual Group. The first concert he ever attended was Olivia Newton John (1975).

CUNA Mutual Group, based in Madison, Wis., is a leading provider of financial services to credit unions, their members and customers worldwide. www.cunamutual.com