Nearly all the credit unions surveyed by a pair of CUNA Councils were using Facebook to interact with members, the company said Tuesday.
And the longer they had been doing it, the better they have gotten at it, according to the findings presented by CUNA Mutual Group sales planner Patrick McElhenie at the 2012 CUNA Lending Council Conference in Miami.
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The survey conducted in August among 160 members of the CUNA Lending Council and the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council found that 94% were using Facebook.
"Survey findings show credit unions using social media for more than three years are more adept at integrating it into their overall marketing strategy and are achieving better levels of member engagement," McElhenie said.
He said the more veteran users of social media also were more likely to be using other channels, such as Twitter and YouTube.
"Advanced social media users are using Twitter, YouTube and podcasts at a much higher rate than beginners. These three social media platforms lend themselves to member engagement more than some of the others," said McElhenie.
Most credit unions that use social media do so to primarily educate, build awareness and promote events. "Social media can supplement traditional marketing and help credit unions educate and promote, but its real strength is in the ability to engage members," said McElhenie.
He said the top barriers to using social media are time and resources and the ability to measure return on investment.
The survey of lending and marketing professionals found that 87% plan to continue to use Facebook, as well as the following other platforms:
- Mobile applications: 74%
- Twitter: 66%
- YouTube: 61%
- Social media analytics: 48%
- LinkedIn: 39%
- Tumblr: 29%
- Google+: 24%
- Pinterest: 1%
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