Is your credit union LinkedIn or LinkedOut?

LinkedIn is more popular than Twitter. In fact, 28 percent of U.S. adults on the Internet have used LinkedIn, compared to 23 percent who’ve used Twitter.

LinkedIn has figured itself out over the past few years. It’s finally coming into its own as far as becoming THE go-to place for the professional and highly educated audience looking for relevant information for their professional lives.

I know…I know. You’re thinking, “Really, Ogden? Really….another damn platform? You’re killing me!”

Hey, I’m looking out for CUs all over to make sure you’re showing up in front of the right eyeballs that are looking for your help. (Plus, you’ll be really ticked once I share what I know about Pinterest….but that’s another article.)

For credit unions, LinkedIn holds a few pieces of social media gold: SEO, branding, marketing and networking.

SEO – not being on LinkedIn is a huge miss for credit unions. Google indexes your credit union’s company page and therefore, helps you show up in the right ways during searches. Here’s a great step-by-step guide to help you do this.

Branding – expanding on the SEO portion….if you have a LinkedIn company page set up properly, this turns into a powerful connection to you, your business and to the Google universe. Typically, your LinkedIn profile and company page show up in the top three or five search results for you. Here’s a secret: if you also connect your Google+ page, your results will be even better for your personal and professional brand.

Marketing – LinkedIn is not a replacement for your Website! It’s an excellent addition. It’s a platform for you to market your strongest points about who and what you are as a company. This platform is more “values-based.” Meaning, what do you stand for? What’s your culture? What are you an expert in? Use posts with videos, photos and industry trends from your experts to highlight your CUs culture and values.

Networking – nothing…and I mean nothing beats the LinkedIn groups when it comes to networking. I’ve even known clients who’ve cancelled their local Chamber of Commerce memberships because they were getting more out of LinkedIn. The thing is, you don’t have to go to some happy hour or early networking breakfast to make the connections important to your business goals. If done right, you can expand the reach of your CU in the groups and you can just have your own happy hour at your desk (please talk to your HR representative to discuss your “Drinking At Work” policy).  

Yes, LinkedIn is still currently free (with paid options like everyone else). But other than Google+, I haven’t seen a better social media platform that covers all of the things I listed above better than LinkedIn.

Not being on LinkedIn is like someone handing you the keys to a new house, but you’d rather just live in your car. Come inside, check it out and see how good your LinkedIn home can be for your credit union.