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? 

In Defense of Email Follow-Up: I'm not the only one who's defending email!

by Ron Daly 

Last week, I reacted to an article from the Wall Street Journal about the impending death of email. I tried to give credit to Twitter, Facebook, etc. for the roll they've played in changing how we chatter at each other day-to-day. 

Kit Eaton at FastCompany.com put together a great story called "Why Twitter and Facebook Will Never Kill E-mail". This article points to some interesting findings from Nielsen and some facts about email that many overlook when they dismiss email as "on it's way out". 

For one, you can't send files directly via "tweet" - and, for all I know, you can't do that over Facebook, either. You can provide links and downloadable files that are hosted elsewhere, but these messages don't have the capacity to carry vital info. And who owns that info when you upload it? Rights issues are plaguing this new territory right now, and corporate/private communication can't be done in the blind - or worse, in an environment where security isn't prized. 

But maybe the best point brought up about email in this article is the idea of simplicity. Email is easy to learn and to use (for most). People have spent the past year squawking about Twitter being impossible to understand and arguing about its usefulness. Seems to me there might have been an hour-long window where the people who invented the first email systems were asking themselves "When will this ever be of any use to anyone?" Then they realized that email was sending messages in seconds when it formerly took days. 

While we're talking about email's long life, this Google Wave affair is interesting. Real time communication mixed with email mixed with...well, I'm not really sure. Jimmy, my Creative Media Directory, has been sniffing around for invites. Has anyone used it? Can we get some information on how it handles? Talk to us about it. 

Anti-Social Media

by Ron Daly

Back in April of this year, Jimmy [my Creative Media Director] pointed me to this story that unfolded on Twitter. It was the story of "The Credit Union Receptionist", a young lady kept a personal blog and wrote a lot of unsavory things about coworkers and members in one particular blog post. That post was read by several credit union muckity-mucks, who launched into a lengthy analysis of the situation. 

After a long list of thoughts/feelings shared on the subject and a LOT of cross-talk on Twitter, someone called the credit union to speak with the young woman who wrote that blog post and informed her that it was probably a bad call, public-relations-wise, to talk about people's bad breath and call them stupid. She took the blog post down and apologized, and everyone learned a valuable lesson. 

One Spot, One Thought

Most think that the opportunity for credit unions to grow market share and deepen member relationships has never been better. After all, banks and other financial entities (i.e., CIT) have been falling down for over a year now. 

Shari Storm - Chief Marketing Officer for Verity Credit Union, blogger and author of the book Motherhood is the New MBA - is a fan of making the message simple, clear, and focused. We were very excited to have her as this week's guest author, and we think her advice is very sound. 

You fill your direct mail pieces with every offer available. You mail them twice a month. Your numbers barely shift. What gives? Maybe there is such a thing as "too much to choose from".  

---------------

Throughout my 15 year marketing career, I have had some sort of variation on this conversation at least one million times.

Me (or my team): "Our plan is to tell our checking account holders about our VISA card."

Someone else: "Why don’t we tell them about our car loans and mortgages too?" 

Someone else: "We should send them a menu of products we offer so they can choose from all 64. Who knows what they need right now?"

You can swap out the target and swap out the product, but the suggestion is always same – send as much information as possible. The more words, the better. 

Most marketers know that the opposite is true. There is an old adage, "If you tell them three things, you’ve told them nothing". Or, like Currency Marketing said when we were producing a radio commercial with them, "One spot, one thought". 

Twitter Part 2.0

by Ron Daly

 

[Mike lawson posted an insightful comment to our article "Sorry, Twitter - Rob's just not that into you". So I decided to ask Jimmy Marks, our Creative Media Director and Web 2.0 follower, to talk about the micro-blogging service. Below is his response, and some thoughts on where the service is and where it's going. You can follow the Soapbox on Twitter by clicking here.] 

The question I've been asked is "why Twitter?" Why not? It's a nice little peek at everyone's working/thinking cycles, it's great entertainment, there's always someone interesting to follow, and it's costing me nothing 

...I take that back. It's costing me time. But it's time I can usually say is well spent. Most of the people I'm following are advertising and creative types and marketing analysts. Or writers. I'm big on following writers.