To be Social or Not to be Social: How Your Credit Union Can Navigate Social Media

I started at the Corporate about two years before the launch of MySpace. And while it wasn’t the first social networking site – that title belongs to Six Degrees, which launched in 1997 – it is the first platform that most people remember, even if they never used it. However, when Facebook launched a year later in 2004, it completely changed the social networking scene. Like many others, it was the first platform I personally joined, and from there, these platforms exploded. Soon after Facebook came Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.

For almost three decades, these types of platforms have continued growing in popularity across the world. And typically, they’re made up of real people who want to be entertained, understood, educated and connected to other like-minded people. So, why am I telling you all of this?

Because often, I think it eludes credit unions that these platforms are also made up of your members and potential members, which is why your credit union should be taking advantage of social media to connect with them.

These platforms, whichever ones you select, can be used to:

• Improve your brand
• Promote your services
• Boost traffic to your website
• Generate sales and leads
• Increase conversion rates
• Strengthen member relationships

The list could go on and on because there are many business benefits to using social media to connect with your audience, but you have to be intentional about how you’re using it. Just posting about your products and services isn’t going to cut it. First, you need to learn about your audience.

Learn About Your Audience

According to Forbes Magazine, billions of people across the world use social media. Clearly, not everyone on social media is your target audience. So, in order to get your message in front of the right people, you need to learn about your members and potential members. First, start with their demographics:

• What’s their age range?
• What’s their gender?
• What’s their occupation?
• What’s their income level?

Once you know the basics of who your audience is, you’ll need to determine how and where they like to engage socially with organizations.

• Do they prefer X (formerly Twitter) to Facebook or videos instead of text?
• Do they care about what is happening in their communities?
• What kind of content do they like to see?
• When do they like to scroll through their feeds?

Finding out the answers to all of these questions will put your credit union in a better position to promote your institution on social media. It’s also worth noting that you should periodically conduct social listening activities. Find out what your audience thinks of your organization.

• Do they have pain points with your credit union?
• Are they sharing stories of great member experiences?
• Do they have suggestions that you could potentially utilize to create better experiences, products or services for them?
• Is there a product or service out there that your members seem to like but your credit union doesn’t offer?

These are all incredible insights that you can gain just by listening to your audience on social media. You can also find out more about your competitors by utilizing social listening too. You can determine things like:

• Are your potential members experiencing issues with your competitors?
• Are your competitors promoting their products and services in an innovative way?
• Are they doing something your potential members really like that you could imitate?

The information you can find out just by listening to your audience on social media is invaluable. Once you know how your audience feels about your organization and competitors, what they want to see on their social feeds and how they like to consume content, it’s time to start your social journey.

Now, starting your social media journey isn’t necessarily hard, but to really get the most out of your social media channels, you need to engage with your audience.

Engage and Connect

Social media is all about engaging and connecting with others. It’s the entire premise behind social media sites.

In fact, these platforms have algorithms that determine what content is shown to what audience at what time. If the platforms determine that your content isn’t getting enough engagement, they’ll start showing it to less people, which can lower the number of likes, comments, shares, views, etc.

So how can you get your content in front of your audience?

By using the social listening techniques we just discussed to determine the type of content your audience finds engaging. The more often they engage with your posts, the more likely they’ll see them.

It doesn’t stop there, though.

You should also engage with the content that your audience posts about your credit union. If they post about a great member experience, share that post and give a shout out to the team members involved. If they post a complaint, respond to the comment and try to move the conversation from social media to a phone call or an email to help resolve the issue directly.

Likewise, if one of your followers comments on or shares one of your posts, engage with them by responding and starting a conversation.

Sprout Social conducted a survey last year that revealed more than half of people are more likely to remember a brand if they respond to comments, post consistently and actively engage with their audience on social media.

That is why it is important to remember that social media is a two-way street. When your credit union finds meaningful ways to interact with its audience, you’ll be able to fully reap the benefits that come with utilizing these platforms.

Harness the Power of Brand Advocates

People who can speak on behalf of your institution — whether it’s your employees or your members — are immeasurably powerful.

Having individuals who are brand advocates for your credit union can do more to promote your organization than your own marketing efforts. That’s because reviews and experiences from real people carry more weight than traditional advertising or branded messaging.

Think back to the last major purchase you made. You probably looked at reviews, right?

Of course, the brand is going to tell you it’s the best option available, but previous customers are going to tell you about their real experiences, thoughts and opinions. If you’re like most people, you’re more likely to trust feedback from previous customers than messaging from the brand itself.

That’s the power of word-of-mouth marketing, also known as earned media.

In fact, earned media can be incredibly powerful for organizations because consumers often view you as more authentic and trustworthy than with paid advertising.

Find employees who care about your organization and encourage them to engage with your brand on social media. Have them like, comment and share your posts. You might even ask them to create a post and tag your credit union. Additionally, encourage your members to share their positive experiences via social media and tag your credit union. When these individuals speak on your behalf, they can influence potential members or prospective-employees to learn more about your institution and engage with your brand.

Build Partnerships

Just like members and employees help to promote trust in your brand, creating partnerships can do the same.

Building partnerships with businesses, community organizations and even other credit unions can help further your reach on social media and foster a sense of trust in your credit union. For example, if your staff volunteers with a community organization and the organization tags your credit union in a social media post, that’s a third party speaking about your commitment to community involvement and outreach initiatives. Likewise, if a local business that banks with your credit union posts positively about your institutional social media, that’s a current member who could influence other businesses to consider banking with your credit union as well.

When these organizations speak about your credit union on social media, they’re essentially providing internet exposure and credibility for your institution. Utilizing these organizations, fostering partnerships and engaging with them on social media can help expand your reach by introducing your credit union to audiences you may not have otherwise reached.

Partnerships also reinforce the cooperative community centered mission that credit unions were built upon.

Don’t Forget to be Social

Social media is all about being, well, social. Show your audience who you are. Show them what makes your credit union unique from other financial institutions. Let them see through pictures and posts about how you are impacting your community. Explain why they should want to use your institution for their financial needs compared to another institution.

If you’re only using social media to promote products and services, then you’re doing it wrong.

Social media isn’t just about promoting the latest CD special or announcing your holiday closures. It’s about building relationships with your members and potential members. People like to see authenticity, so add that human element to your social media channels. Showcase your employees, your culture, your community involvement and the impact your credit union is making.

At the end of the day, people want to connect with your credit union, your purpose and your impact.

The next time you find yourself asking “should I post on social media” or “should I post this,” I encourage you to revisit this article, think about the concepts we discussed today and then take it to the social side.

While you’re there, make sure to be social with us and follow Vizo Financial on LinkedIn and subscribe to our YouTube channel!

As the VP of marketing and education for Vizo Financial, Jaime Agostino oversees marketing and educational offerings for the Corporate. Ms. Agostino holds a master's degree in business administration with a concentration in markting, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from the Pennsylvania State University. She currently holds her Series 7 (Registered General Securities Representative) and Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination) investment licenses from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and has also achieved the following professional designations: Certified Trade Show Marketer (CTSM), Credit Union Development Educator (CUDE), SIE - Securities Industry Essentials Examination, Inbound Marketing Certified and Content Marketing Certified.