Credit Unions Go Social

CreditUnions.com rounds up examples of successful social media strategies — as well as identifies alternatives to Facebook and Twitter — to help credit unions take their social presence to the next level.

Social media is here and credit union’s are using it to their advantage, by deepening relationships with members through creative YouTube series and live webinar communication.

This week, CreditUnions.com goes social. We’ve rounded up examples of successful social media strategies as well as identified alternatives to Facebook and Twitter to help credit unions take their social presence to the next level.

Redstone Federal Credit Union is combining social media and in-person engagement through a series of webinars on a range of topics.

The big Alabama credit union live tweets seminars while simultaneously hosting members and non-members in person at the Atrium, the public meeting space in its Huntsville headquarters.

In its most recent session on June 16, Betsy Pruitt, Redstone’s online marketing manager, says 37 people physically attended the free webinar Fraud Trends: How To Minimize Your Exposure to Fraud while they and others also engaged through Twitter.

In How Redstone Delivers Fraud Education One Tweet At A Time, Pruitt shares what Redstone has learned since it began using Twitter for webinars a couple years go.

Internet users are spending an average of 1 hour and 7 minutes per day on social media sites. The percentage of people with social media accounts in the United States has tripled since 2008. And while Facebook and Twitter and still huge drivers of traffic and usage, credit union can think beyond these social titans.

In 4 Alternatives To Facebook And Twitter, Callahan industry analyst Stephanie Clark identifies strategies for credit unions to increase their social presence.

In the summer of 2014, leaders at Arizona Federal Credit Union were strategizing about how to serve the unbanked and financially illiterate. As part of their research, they watched Spent, a film that showcases everyday Americans who lack financial options. And it got them thinking.

We help our members with their credit challenges, says Jason Paprocki, the credit union’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. But how do we show the marketplace we are doing this?

The structure of the My Comeback series which premiered in May 2015 was straightforward. Four teams totaling six contestants set financial goals and worked for four months with a credit union coach to meet those goals. In addition to bragging rights and better finances, the winning contestant received $20,000.Their answer was a financial web series inspired by The Biggest Loser. Instead of shedding weight, though, these series’ stars would gain financial footing. And instead of NBC, Arizona Federal produced the series for YouTube. The credit union even enlisted former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner to host.

In Lessons From A YouTube Series, Paprocki discusses the competition, what contestants gained, and what it was like to work with Kurt Warner.

A pair of Midwest credit unions have gone first with a mobile coupon app that allows them to combine local and national offers under the credit unions’ brand, raising engagement with businesses and members alike, and maybe earning an extra bit of interchange income, too.

MidUSA Credit Union and Frankenmuth Credit Union recently began offering the white-label app through their own mobile apps. The process is simple, with the primary task on the credit unions’ part being to market the deals to local merchants and members. Read more about this strategy in Looking For Mobile Coupons? There’s An App For That. by Callahan senior writer Marc Rapport.

With 1.4 million residents, San Antonio ranks as the nation’s seventh-largest city. It’s also home to some large credit unions. Security Service Federal Credit Union, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, and San Antonio Credit Union are all headquartered there.

It’s a competitive market, says Ashley Harris, vice president of corporate communications at Generations Federal Credit Union’s. In Bexar County, of which San Antonio is the county seat, 52% of adults belong to a credit union compared to 19% in Dallas and 21% in Houston.

For Generations, the challenge isn’t in educating its community about what a credit union is, it’s in communicating why Generations is the best option for them. It does that partly on Facebook and Twitter, and has won a number of awards for its work.

In 3 Social Media Tips To Attract Millennials, Callahan associate editor Erik Payne identifies three lessons on how to maintain a social media presence.

Happy Reading!

August 1, 2016

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