Not Measuring Results -- Some Jaw-Dropping Insights into Credit Union Social Media

by Ron Daly 

Recently, to gauge our clients' level of interest in our new social media "getting started (or not)" course, we decided to send out a survey and see where our clients were (or weren't) with social media. 

The course that Jimmy Marks, our Creative Media Director, spent the summer building focuses on: 

1. Deciding whether or not to get into social media and the information you'll need to gather first
2. What it takes to make good content
3. Getting fans and followers that match your goals
4. Safeguarding yourself against compliance and security issues
5. Monitoring your results

...and we wanted to see how useful that advice would be to current clients who were interested in social networking. 

We sent out a simple survey. The results we got back were shocking. 

First, some table setting:

Average size of credit union surveyed: ~400 million

Average year-over-year share growth: 5.04%

Average number of members: 35,216

Now, the numbers worth noting:

• 63% of CUs surveyed are involved with and using social media in some form. 
• 54% of those are using Facebook, the winner by far. Second place was a tie between YouTube and LinkedIn
• Of the CUs that said they are using social media, 51% had been using social media for less than two years.

Interesting thusfar, but here's the number that made my jaw hit the floor: 

• Of the CUs surveyed, 76% DO NOT MEASURE THEIR SUCCESS OR THE RESULTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA AT THEIR CREDIT UNION. 

What??? 76%??? It's true, according to our results. 

Now, I'm not one to just hear numbers and completely ignore how they got there. As I looked at a later question, where we asked respondants what information they would want to hear in a social media workshop, many people said they needed measurements and better metrics. As a result, part of me wonders how much the lack of measurement has to do with not understanding what these CUs are measuring or how to measure it.

Some of the results were actually very helpful - many CUs are measuring their results in feedback and next-steps in the marketing/sales funnel, not just numbers of "likes" or followers. I worry, though, that much of the problem with social media is how people think it's a solution to something. If you don't have a clear message and a clear understanding of how people make buying and borrowing decisions, what difference could YouTube or Twitter possibly make? 

At DigitalMailer, we have lots of followers and friends and likes and so-on and so-on and so-on. But make no mistake, we don't call any of those "leads". Not until we've been contacted by that person via email or phone. It's great to promote the brand and talk about what you're up to, but that's not where our scope is focused. Twitter and Facebook help us keep in touch with partners, clients and some very interesting people - but pleasing clients and making products and services that save people money is the thing that keeps the lights on. 

In our workshop, we've got a lot of helpful information and some good actionable steps. More importantly, we encourage the kind of forethought it takes to talk yourself (or your superiors) OUT of doing social media if it's NOT the right way to spend your time, money, or creative energies. 

The workshop is $500 and includes a 90-minute presentation and a downloadable workbook. To sign up for our next session, click here. 

"Duh of the Week" Award: Bad communication can be bad for your health

by Ron Daly 

That's right, we know you've been itching for its return...it's the DUH OF THE WEEK AWARD!

Cigarette makers learned recently that, starting September 2012, they would have to put pictures of the "effects of smoking" on cigarettes and tobacco products. These pictures are, to say the least, nasty looking. The point being that if the little black-and-white lettered warnings on cigarettes aren't enough to get you to quit, a picture of a stoma should do it. Maybe the legal forms attached to a loan should come with these as well...

This week's award goes to Ally. Read this story from the CU Collector website: 

Earlier this year, Linwood [Costin, the borrower] called Ally, formerly known as GMAC, to request skipping, or extending his truck payment for March. According to Teresa [Costin's Daughter] “He said when he called they told them they don’t usually skip a payment; they skip two,”, “He said, ‘That’s fine,’ and he sent the amount they told him to for interest.”...

...Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Linwood, Ally had already assigned his truck for repossession.

Teresa claims “He got very upset and asked what he needed to do to fix things,”

“The guy told him he needed to go to the closest Western Union and wire them $567.”

Reportedly, Linwood got off the phone and went to a Western Union office and wired the money due. Costins has receipts showing the made payments.

Teresa reports “He finished his shopping for that day, went home, and they came and took his vehicle anyways and has refused to return it,”

So upset was the gentleman from the story that he had a heart attack and was rushed to a nearby hospital. According to the article, doctors say the heart attack was probably due to stress, as Mr. Costin had no arterial blockage.

We've already heard of Bank of America seizing the wrong houses, but to date hadn't heard of anyone having a heart attack because of it. With so much business to tend to in collections and lending, it's not all that hard to imagine that mistakes like this happen...but please, please, PLEASE make sure you get the right person the first time, and if there's an issue, make sure you make up for it. 

To Ally's credit, they did return the truck with a full tank of gas and waived the next month's payment for Mr. Costin. We hope that Mr. Costin has a speedy and full recovery and that the folks at Ally fix up  their legal language to include a warning label of their own: 

 

Your Word-of-Mouth Litmus Test: Do You Make the Cut?

by Ron Daly 

Kelley Parks is what they had in mind when they came up with the idea of a "go-getter". Shortly after leaving Call FCU, she founded her own consultancy called gira{ph} (the pronunciation of which I've been corrected on multiple times - it's just "giraffe", like the animal, it's not a trick or anything). She's written some great articles and made some waves by talking about what, exactly, makes an initiative stand out for a credit union. Recently, in an issue of the CU Journal, she shared what she calls her "litmus test" for word-of-mouth. According to Kelley - 

1. Is it engaging?
2. Is it true?
3. Is it relevant?
4. Is it fresh?
5. Is it memorable?

are the five questions you need to ask . If the program/plan you want to implement meets these criteria, you can bet they'll get people talking. 

Some great initiatives I've seen in recent years that meet these criteria: 

Shell Federal's iLife

Shell Federal in Deer Park, TX has a program to get people involved with the credit union. One of the programs they took on was Cell Phones for Soldiers, which provides cellular services for soldiers overseas. They collected a lot of prepaid cells and minute cards so soldiers could call home and they've engaged members in a way that's fun, relevant and lasting. 

Belvoir FCU Scavenger Hunt

Belvoir FCU in Woodbridge, VA teamed up with CodeGreen to create a web-based scavenger hunt. Members went to the site to browse through the pages and find the "slices of life" pie pieces - which increased viewership and time-on-site for Belvoir and far exceeded their marketing goals. I think this worked so well because A) everyone loves games and prizes, but more importantly because B) it makes the Internet feel like it used to - a fun place to browse around and discover. 

NARFE Premier's Onboarding Program

NARFE Premier FCU in Alexandria, VA started an on-boarding program that increased deposits by 24% and increased loans by 190%. More importantly, it cut their costs by 50% by year end. Why? Because the promotion highlighted all the points of Kelley's litmus test: 

1. Engaging members that just came to the credit union
2. True content, current rates, the values of the credit union on show
3. Relevant to members because NARFE serves a niche community (retired federal employees and their families) and the content reflected their needs and concerns
4. Fresh look (they'd recently rebranded after a merge) and fresh content (rate changes reflected month-to-month)
5. Memorable because an on-boarding series sends an email every few days/each week/twice a  month to members to keep you top-of-mind on services. 

Do your plans and products cut the mustard? Ask yourself why or why not and then take Kelley's advice. 

Guess I'm Socially Inadequate...

by Ron Daly 

I got my update from DC's "City Biz List" today (go here - good stuff!) about the most socially networked city in the nation. And guess what? It's us! Or...it's kind of us. 

Washington, DC is the nation's most socially networked city. I count the surrounds as well, because I'm sure whomever did this is. 

What gives? Well the study was conducted by Men's Health. They said: 

We started by calculating the number of Facebook and LinkedIn users per capita, followed by overall Twitter usage (NetProspex). Then we looked at traffic generated by the major social networks, including Myspace, Friendster, Reddit, and Digg (analyzed by ad network Chitika). Finally, after factoring in the percentage of households that check out chat rooms and blogs (SimplyMap), we had the results you see below. Go ahead, tell a friend.

Most socially networked
1 Washington, DC     A+
2 Atlanta, GA     A+
3 Denver, CO     A+
4 Minneapolis, MN     A+
5 Seattle, WA     A+
6 San Francisco, CA     A
7 Orlando, FL     A
8 Austin, TX     A
9 Boston, MA     A
10 Salt Lake City, UT     A-

Wow...some of those are astounding. Salt Lake City? Denver? Even DC is a little surprising to me. 

See, I have a few social media "toes" in the "water". I'll twitter every so often (@digitalmailer), I have my LinkedIn account (over here)...

But that's really all there is. I don't Foursquare, I don't Facebook, I don't flickr, I don't tumblr...If it's a weird, misspelled word, I don't do it. 

Something else that surprised me, how low down on the list Charlotte, NC was ( Number 21, so not bad, but still not top ten). We have an office down there with most of our tech team and they're pretty "wired" guys. I'm going to forward them this and make them jealous, I think. 

So, the moral of all this - is your credit union based in one of the top twenty cities? You should probably be reaching out to people via social media. Check the list and get cracking.

And if you're in the bottom twenty? Maybe you shouldn't be Facebooking all day long. Just a thought. 

We've written our share of articles on social media, both on the Soapbox and our company blog. Read through and find one to help you get started. 

Short, Sweet, To-The-Point: The Twitterfication of American Business

by Ron Daly 

[This post originally ran on the DigitalMailer blog] 

Just read an article from CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council, “Reach Members in 140 Characters”. They have a lot of great examples of small businesses and community businesses using Twitter to draw interest and save on marketing. They address a lot of what new users wonder about Twitter, specifically:

• Listen to the “static” and the negative/critical talk, because you can. Nobody’s stopping you from finding out what Twitter users think.
• Spice it up by making your messages sharp and memorable – don’t just “robo-tweet”.
• Use your Twitter stream as a focus group/Q and A channel for curious parties.
• Start small and stick with it!

Many of the folks I talk to in the credit union industry wonder how you manage to talk to anyone about anything in 140 character spurts. According to a recent article from LifeHacker, phrasing the first sentence in an email can increase the chances that the email gets read. We all know that a solid subject line gets a reader’s attention, but what about the preview line? For example, you get an email:

Re: Business Collaboration Opportunity

Hi, John – I got your email recently and I’m curious about a possible collaboration between our business and your busi…

The subject line lets you know that A) The person writing is replying to your email and B) they want to talk business collaboration with you. It’s simple and direct. But then there’s your preview line that gets cut off without saying anything else to compel your reader. Want to make it pop?

Re: Business Collaboration Opportunity

We would love to discuss a collaboration with you. Please call me today.

Hammer down a few lines with a hard return or two with extra details and let that first sentence say everything that needs saying. With practice, it can turn your business communication on its ear and make it stand out to your readers.

Start making it short, start making it sweet.

Bank Customers Are Mad As Hell, But What Else Is There?

by Ron Daly 

An article caught my eye on Monday about rallies against banks in major cities around the country. Citizens angry at big banks (with a particular focus on Goldman Sachs, still the whipping boy for public ire) mounted protests in places such as Charlotte, NC, New York City and Washington, D.C. One particularly disturbing protest involves a giant, inflatable banker chewing up people and spitting them out - as in the following video. 

Man, that's weird. 

Anyway, it made me wonder about how credit unions are doing with drawing new members away from their old banks.As a company that works with over 180 credit unions across the country, we know that there are a handful of credit unions willing to poke at the bruise left by the big banks to get new member's attention. 

Where Anger Fails, Marketing Succeeds

It seems like every six weeks, we get a new story about the "big banks" that drives people crazy, but we rarely see an "action step" coming from the other side.

Two opinions to consider when it comes to working with "Bank Rage" - that of Paul Lucas of Paul J Lucas consulting, and that of Ron Shevlin at Aite Group. 

In the April 12 issue of the CU Journal, Paul Lucas outlined three major action items for credit unions looking to sway the opinion of the non-member. 

1. Marketing Core Loan Products - That loan capital is capital you can count on, and do more with in the long run. 
2. Cross Sell Checking with Direct Deposit - says Lucas, "Cross selling at every opportunity is the hallmark of a smart, competitive credit union."
3. Keep Your Promises - "Knowing a member's name when she walks in the front door is not service. Handling her transactions with speed and accuracy is service." 

And speaking of service...I read a very thoughtful article on Marketing Tea Party, the new blog by Ron Shevlin. Titled "Moving His Money", the post tells the tale of a man with a long relationship with his community bank that, because of a series of unfortunate transactions, decides to move from a little bank TO a big bank. Says Shevlin in the post-story commentary: 

"This isn't a good sign for those marketers. The populist anti-big bank sentiment isn’t going to last forever. America loves to find new villains to crucify. Knowing when to jump off the #moveyourmoney wave is a decision that needs to be made."

My Rant: Why do credit unions always fight over the small piece of the pie left to them? Let's quit marketing against each other, continually moving our 6% market share between credit unions and let's figure out a way to collectively go after the 94% opportunity share out there and move it to credit unions before it's too late. 

Comments?

Follow-And-Friend Freeze Out

by Ron Daly

Have YOU been subject to it yet?

If you're a marketing person at a credit union, you've probably entered the world of social networking. Whether you're just dipping in your toe with a Twitter account (follow us, by the way) or you've moved into your own Drupal backboned-supersite complete with blogs and Facebook links (like our dear friends at CU Rising), social media and social networking can be fun...and it can be daunting. 

Right now, our Twitter's holding at ~260 followers/friends. If someone wants to chat or feedback with us, we're available - really, feel free! Our site now boasts its own "Chat Now!" button so that you can reach us personally or leave us a message. 

Where things start to break down for most business-minded folks on Twitter is in dealing with a large follow count. Friend of the blog Jeffry Pilcher (@FinancialBrand) has almost 2,000 followers and is following almost 1,500 people and banks/CUs/businesses. Pilcher's follow count is pretty high, but he puts a great deal of time into his social media plan - following movers and shakers in finance marketing and making sure his posts, tweets and emails get read. Two-thousand followers is a lot, but it's still considered a "group" in terms of social media - not just an audience.

And then, there's Oprah.

Your chance to join the NACUSO Technology Advisory Board

From the CU Soapbox and Robbie Wright of the Life and Times of a CU Employee comes an exciting new contest - read more below!

Most everyone in the credit union industry has heard of NACUSO.  The National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations is the trade association for CUSO’s across the nation and has been doing great work in encouraging collaboration between credit unions.  NACUSO has a number of advisory boards and I happen to sit on their Technology board.  As is the norm with advisory boards, our membership is fairly fluid and we are always looking for new talent and news ways of using technology to further credit unions.

We currently have an opening on the Technology Advisory board and will be looking to fill that position by the end of January.  In the same vein as Young and Free and Forum Solutions‘ search for a speaker for their symposium, we will be hosting an online video contest for our vacant spot.

If you think you have what it takes to encourage credit unions to collaborate,  adopt new technologies, and want to be on the bleeding edge of financial services technologies, bust out that video camera.  The submission deadline is January 15th and we’ll announce the new member on January 29th, 2010.

To submit your video, upload it to a video sharing site such as Vimeo, Viddler, or YouTube (anyone with robust sharing capabilities) and shoot an email with the information .  I’ll post your submission to the NACUSO website.  We’ll throw a poll up on the website beginning in January to let everyone start voting and give us some insight before we make a final decision.  Feel free to leave a comment with any questions or shoot me an email.

Oh, by the way, you might want to know what you are getting yourself into.  At this point, we have a monthly conference call that lasts less than an hour and tend to trade emails back and forth throughout the month.  This may change slightly in the future as new projects come along, but that’s about it.  Ideally, one should be able to attend the NACUSO Annual Convention each year, but it is not mandatory.

We’re looking forward to everyone’s submissions!

CBS touts Credit Unions. Why wouldn't we?

by Ron Daly

You've probably been laboring over your budgets here recently, getting ready for 2010. You've probably been wondering, "What's the best way to express the credit union difference to the unbanked or those unhappy with their bank?" 

Well, the people at CBS are doing a little of your heavy lifting for you. 

This piece, called "Credit Unions Better Than Banks for You?", ran earlier this week on the CBS Early Show. Their financial correspondent, Vera Gibbons, talks about what CUs have to offer (mostly in terms of loan rates) that banks just can't - or won't. 

The story also focuses on misconceptions about CUs. Apparently, there are still people in this country that think CUs only cater to niche groups. The reporters do a good job of dispelling that rumor and letting people know there's a credit union out there for them.

If you read the whole article linked above (or watch the video below  - email readers, use this link to CBS news video site - and sorry about the commercial, CBS has to make their money somehow), you'll get a sense of what your average joe knows about credit union membership. The answer? Not much. What are you doing to let members know they can join a credit union, or more specifically, YOUR credit union? Do they know their deposits are insured? Do they know you offer competitive rates and better service? 

Is this story and video on your website or blog? If I were you, I'd start linking to this.

I tell you what, I'll do you one better. 

I had my creative media director whip up this button this morning. It's a nice, bright blue, should fit comfortably on any homepage or blog. It's in two sizes, one 250 pixels wide, one 150 pixels wide. 

 Small One

 Big One
 

Make it a button on your homepage or blog that links to the video we're talking about here today. Simply download these button images and use them where you please to promote this story.

Here's the link again: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5989790n

Make sure it opens in a new window so your potential members can keep browsing around. 

THERE. You don't have to bother marketing, just get your web manager to throw that where you want it to go. You don't need your own home-grown YouTube video. You just need to point them to this CBS story.

We're doing the work for you here. Tell potential members what you have to offer over the banks today! I'm certain someone will say that's not a good idea, but why? Just do it. Don't waste this opportunity to get people interested in joining YOUR credit union.

(PS - If you're worried about rights issues/creative commons/whatever, don't. This image is a total freebie. Scratch that - this whole STORY is a freebie. Reblog it, repurpose it, reTumbl it, Retweet it, etc. I'll keep an eye on our analytics to see how far our story/images go. Just make people pay attention to this endorsement of CUs.)

CHALLENGE: Put this on your website, and challenge five others to do the same. Maybe we can get some people to pay attention. 

Watch CBS News Videos Online

No Need for Bite - the Bark is Bad Enough

by Ron Daly 

Comment cards at a restaurant. The Customer Service Department. "How's My Driving?"

Before the Internet, when you wanted to register your pleasure (or displeasure) with a company or establishment, you wrote: 

1. YOUR First and Last Name
2. YOUR Phone Number
3. YOUR Address
4. YOUR Compliments or Complaints

on a little card, or you recorded them on a voicemail service. Someone would get back in touch with you, via letter or phone call, and they'd give you a coupon or a discount or even a simple "thanks". 

This was called customer relations, or member services. Making sure you were staying the course by providing consistent quality and service and not committing any major errors. You thanked the consumer for their time and moved on or made adjustments. 

It used to be that your bite had to be as big as your bark. But behind the veil of the Internet, even a Chihuahua sounds like a Great Dane. Now people can insult or degrade your business as much as they want, anonymously. 

The Peanut Gallery

We talked a few weeks ago about the lady that stopped paying her credit card bill because of the rate change - how she went on YouTube and read her bank the riot act (click here). She got her rate changed back. Quite a David and Goliath story, yes? Well, most folks aren't interested in taking down Goliath. They just want to throw rocks. 

Sites like Angie's List, Yelp, and Chowhound like to tout their helpfulness with finding the best in services, entertainment, and food, based on other user's reviews and input. NetPromoter scores are there to pry honest feedback out of your membership and help you gauge your service. This is web commentary at its best - giving you honest responses from average folks. If the service isn't great, explain WHY. If they're giving you five stars, describe why you're worthy of those five stars.

At its worst, web feedback is a nightmare of swear words, tirades, jabs, and misdirected anger. It's called "cyberdisinhibition", where users feel able and, in many cases, eager, to give you an earful because the internet gives them the ability to do so and an environment with seemingly no consequence attached. 

Take a look at this chart from eMarketer: 

That can lead to positive and negative behaviors alike. Users are more likely to feel able to meet new people or be empowered to do something they wanted to. But they were also more likely to “lash out” on the Web when they had something to say about a company or brand. One-fifth of Internet users, including almost one-quarter of men, had done so.

So, what does that mean for you? If people are being jerks online, just ignore them, right? 

But ask yourself for only a moment what drove someone to this level of vitriol. Is the wound they feel you gave them actually self inflicted, as is often the case with "overdraft backlash"? Are these people just jerks, are they blowing off steam, or is there something you need to weed out of all the rabble-rousing? 

The truth, according to Daniel Goleman (click here - story midway down page), is that there are lines people draw in normal social engagement - there are certain things people will not say, but will write, and will not write, but will type into the comment section of a website. The habit breaking comes from facing down these people and asking them what you can do for them/what you did TO them. When cyber bullies start attacking a target online, their reprimand must not also come from online - the playing field is level there. Instead, it's up to the authorities in that situation (a teacher in Goleman's situation, a customer service rep in business) to intervene and bring things offline and in focus.

To Qualify

How do you qualify online responses, then? See what the user/member is willing to tell you about themselves. Did they leave an email address? Email them personally, ask what the issue is. Is there a picture attached to their comment? A website? How willing is this person to let you know who they are? 

The anonymity of the web is the generator that powers a lot of this behavior. The cycle-breaker is not just listening to people complain, but doing something ABOUT their complaints. Surprise your membership by showing them you're paying attention. Large media companies and banks don't care what people have to say when they're saying it anonymously. But a video that clearly identifies the person, the problem, and their level of dissatisfaction can bring even one of the biggest banks in the country to make a change.

More  than lashing out at companies, people feel empowered by online communication. They feel like they have the courage to make demands. While not all their cards are on the table online, finding more information about them and through them is simple. The real question for your credit unions out there: are you brave enough to listen?