Best Practices for Member Social Media Engagement

Any form of credit union marketing now requires social media to be part of the equation. Consider these recent demographic statistics from the Pew Research Center as they relate to social media trends in 2018:

• Seventy-three percent of male internet users and 83% of female internet users are on Facebook.
• Thirty-eight percent of female internet users are more likely to use Instagram than men (26%).
• Eighty-one percent of millennials check their Twitter feed every day.
• Ninety-one percent of all social media users check their platforms from a mobile device.

So, are you convinced that social media must be a part of your marketing plan? With that in mind, let’s highlight a few ways credit unions use social media to engage with their members, as well as some tips and tricks you can incorporate into your own marketing plan.

Member Engagement Is Key

Remember, it’s all about creating a sense of community with your members. There are several ways to do this with social media. Consider live streaming on Facebook or Periscope. Members get to “peek behind the curtain” so to speak, and it does a few things for your credit union.

First, it creates a feeling of exclusivity. Not everybody gets a glimpse into the lives of their financial institution, but your members will. Be transparent. They will love this. Second, it makes your credit union more personal. Anything to soften corporate stereotypes helps. Live streaming is one solution.

Sharing members’ success is another great way to engage them. With permission, you can tell stories of members buying cars, refinancing their home or starting their own business. These are great forms of high-touch engagement. Also, message them on their birthday or anniversary, and when their kids get accepted into college. Meaningful interaction on social media is a great way to build community.

Ask for Participation

The beautiful thing about the sense of community social media creates is it allows you to market and get responses faster than if you use traditional forms of marketing like radio and television. Consider doing the following to add some spice and variety to your campaigns:

Online polls: If you want a sure fire method for increasing member engagement, start an online poll. You can create one about anything; it doesn’t have to be credit union-related. A good tactic is to use Google Trends. Search for trending topics and create a poll about them. You can tie your credit union into the post with a “We thought this would be fun” blurb or something similar.

Ask questions: You can ask closed-ended, open-ended or general questions and get great responses. However, posting a question with an image will generate 104% more engagement. That makes it worth it to find an image to go with the question you want to post. Also, toot your own horn a bit. Post a link to an article from your credit union and ask members for their opinions. This is a fantastic way to increase engagement. Members will read your content and post responses.

Run a contest: Social media is a platform for so many different types of contests that can increase engagement. You could ask members to snap a photo of themselves in front of your credit union, or even better, you can provide frames for them to use in their own Facebook or Instagram posts. Get creative with Twitter and ask them to come up with a slogan or tag line for your credit union. Contest subject matter can be fictitious or real. It doesn’t matter. The purpose is to engage with members, and reward one or a select few for their participation.

Throwback pictures: Ask members to post an old picture on a certain throwback day. Throwback Thursday is popular right now, but you can really choose any day and designate it as such for your credit union. If the topic is automobile loans, then have members post pictures of old cars they used to own. You can do the same for houses. People love seeing the old pictures and it drives engagement for your credit union.

Engagement Dos and Don’ts

Hang in there. Collecting followers and likes take time, and the worst thing you can do is buy them. Most of the time, the accounts you buy are fake and you will ultimately get penalized. Social media platforms view these purchases as attempts to cheat their algorithm. In turn, your account will get penalized for views and rank.

The best strategy is to think long-term. Practicing patience and staying consistent will yield more benefits than trying to achieve quick gains will. You won’t get placed at the bottom of the penalty pile for algorithm ranking. Instead, you will be able to engage your members in a way that builds community. They will feel like they have people to share their story with and a place where they can be heard.

Outsource!

If social media marketing is overwhelming, you might consider a third party to handle it for you. This may be a good idea even if you have an in-house marketing department. A good marketing service company will come up with creative campaigns for you to run. Its staffers will have the experience and know how to increase engagement.

Also, they should be able to provide you with metric reports that track campaign effectiveness across all platforms. This information is invaluable. You’ll know which campaigns are effective and which ones need to be tweaked at a glance. Compiling this information in-house would take time and resources away from other pressing matters.

Whatever you decide, take action. Engagement does not happen on its own. It requires time and consistency, and when it’s done well, it is an effective piece of the marketing equation. Start engaging with your members, create that sense of community and see the difference it makes.

Richard Gallagher is CEO if Oak Tree Business Systems, Inc. He can be reached at 800-537-9598 or clientservices@oaktreebiz.com.