The age of advertising is safely behind us. Members are overwhelmed by too many marketing messages, and have learned to tune it all out. However, don't take that as a suggestion to reassign your credit union's marketing staff to the teller line.
It's just that the focus of marketing has shifted, and is now less promotional and more informational. That's why content marketing has generated so much -interest recently.
In its simplest form, content marketing is about using educational, informational or entertaining content to market your -products and services. It's like product placement in a blockbuster movie, except you own the movie and it's up to you to make sure that movie is well-attended, not to mention deserving of blockbuster status.
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A content marketing strategy can include social media, public relations, website updates, email, direct mail, your newsletter, and more. Ideally, it includes the posters in your branch lobbies, digital signage, and everywhere else your credit union's marketing messages appear. The key is to view your marketing department as a content-producing machine rather than an advertising department.
Read More in the Sept. 18 Marketing Focus Report:
Here's a quick test to determine whether or not your copy qualifies as content marketing. Ask yourself: would my members pay to read this? If they would, you've created something of value. And, if what you're sharing in the form of content marketing is of interest only to your credit union's CEO or board, you've merely disguised a nice ad in a content costume.
There are two ways to share content with your members. The first is by creating it yourself or outsourcing to a freelancer. The second is content curation, where you share someone else's content in their name. Every time you share a link to an article with your members, you're curating content. It's quick and easy.
The difference between creating and curating content is that, when you create content, it's yours to manipulate in any way that's best suited for your needs. You can talk about your credit union's products and services in an offhanded kind of way and create content that leads readers exactly where you want them to go. With curated content, you can add your own comments, you can post to Facebook with a tie-in to your products, but you can't touch the -article itself.
Another way to find content is to get private label rights on content that already exists. Be careful, however, in adding info about your credit union to content you have rights to use. You don't want to make it too promotional, or you've defeated the purpose.
Laura Enock is managing editor of the Credit Union Toolbox.
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