Chatter Yak! is making it easier to run worry-free contests, sweepstakes via social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.

The technology-based marketing solutions CUSO has unveiled Yak! Tracker, a third-party social media contest management application designed to go beyond just acquiring fans but also statistics, analytics and demographics about those new fans.

In addition, Yak! Tracker can be customized to align with current branding efforts and includes promotional tools ranging from custom QR codes for print materials and shortened URLs for posting across social media platforms to Facebook landing page and website widgets.

The brainchild of CitizensFirst Credit Union CEO Kevin Ralofsky and Bryce Roth, director of marketing/social media at the $371 million CitizensFirst in Oshkosh, Wis., the CUSO got its start at Vacationland FCU in Sandusky, Ohio, as a way to help increase credit union awareness, engage credit union members, to differentiate credit unions from other institutions within the financial industry, and to help reach younger age groups.

CitizensFirst credit union recently acquired Chatter Yak! LLC.

According to  Roth, who in 2011 was also named a CU Times Trailblazer 40 Below, the idea for Yak! Tracker came with the realization many credit unions were violating Facebook's terms of service by running contests on their page without using a third-party application.

“When we developed the product, we looked at other third-party applications, but quickly discovered that to offer a sweepstakes and stay within Facebook's rules, things were pretty costly. Also, most applications were built for Facebook fan page administrators to use them for one contest and then they had to pay again,” said Roth.

“We designed Yak! Tracker so the credit union has a full-year subscription and can run unlimited contests. We also made sure to price it so credit unions of all sizes could afford to follow the rules,” he said.

 “It is my opinion that if we are expecting our members to trust us with their money, and we have so many other compliance issues we have to follow, we should not be breaking rules on Facebook,” Roth added.