Communicating Effectively With Members During the Coronavirus Crisis

Unemployment is spreading faster than the coronavirus itself. During these fast-changing and uncertain times, people are struggling to pay their bills and worrying about the long-term effects of an economic recession. A recent poll by USA Today found that Americans are currently more worried about financial health than their physical health.

Your credit union, like most businesses, is likely in a mad scramble right now as you figure out how to best respond to this growing crisis. You may be grappling with branch closures, temporary layoffs, and a flood of incoming communications from anxious members. No one would blame you if you’re feeling a little lost. There is no global pandemic playbook; we’re all facing this strangeness and uncertainty together.

What to Message to Your Members

You know you need to communicate to your members, but what should you say? Chances are, you’ve likely sent out at least one email about your response to the crisis and maybe put some information on your website – is that enough? In a word, no. When it comes to what to message, here are some guidelines to follow:

1. Put your cooperative principles to work.

Now, more than ever, it’s time to put your cooperative principles to work. “People helping people” has never been more relevant, or more critical. Your credit union should be a beacon of strength and information for your members and the broader community. Now is the time to play up that you are here to help, not to make money. Lead with your cooperative purpose and not-for-profit status.

2. Focus all your messaging on this big issue.

Marketing has to adjust to the times and really completely rethink its messaging. You risk looking tone deaf if you are communicating about other things in a time of crisis, especially one that is a Black Swan. Take a look at any scheduled social media posts, digital advertising campaigns, website promotions and automated emails and consider pausing them, particularly those that may come across as promotional and self-serving. One of our vendors reached out to us today — I kid you not — to let us know that they would be doubling our rates (or more) in September.

3. Be nimble, consistent and specific.

Remember, the worst thing an organization can do right now is be silent. Now is the time to be nimble and to communicate efficiently. As a first step, build a cross-functional team, then work with the team to create a guiding set of protocols and standards for communications. You want to set a hopeful, reassuring tone and ensure that the messages you are sending out are consistent and well-informed.

Lots of organizations are telling their customers or members that they’re “here to help,” but those platitudes mean nothing if they don’t tell us how. Here’s what your messaging should focus on over the coming weeks:

• Critical information on branch operations and/or canceled events.
• Reminders about specific online and mobile banking features that will be helpful during this time, particularly to members who aren’t enrolled or often visit branches.
• Changes you’re making to offer more remote support, whether via longer call center hours, extended live chat, remote teller options, new online or mobile banking features, new chatbots or video sessions for financial counseling.
• Products you offer that will help them through a financial crunch, including Skip-a-Pay, payday loan alternatives, refinance options or 0% intro APR credit cards.
• Concrete financial guidance, like how unemployment insurance and the new paid leave law works, assistance for homeowners and renters, information on tax payment extensions and other timely issues.
• Uplifting stories from your community — stories about businesses and people lending a helping hand. We could all use some bright spots during these challenging times!

How to Message to Your Members: Website & Digital Channels

Considering how fast the pandemic is evolving, and considering the volume of information that you might need to communicate, the next question on your mind might be, how? Now is the time to reevaluate your website messaging and to leverage all of your digital channels.

Homepage hero: Use this critical space to acknowledge the times we’re in and link to a page or resource hub with more information. Now is not the time to feature a happy stock photo model driving his or her new car. Focus on your members and their most pressing needs.

Alert bar: Use the alert bar for short, one- to two-sentence announcements that will display globally on your website. A scheduling feature is an additional enhancement that allows you to set up alerts in advance with a set start and end date — this can be especially helpful during understaffed periods.

Blog or news posts: The limitation of alert bars is that they only work for brief announcements. If what you need to communicate requires a lengthier explanation, simply include a link to a blog post, news article or page with detailed information.

Member login dropdown: Login dropdowns can be configured to include an announcement or promo spot. This spot can also lend itself well to communicating important information to members as logging in is the number one action your members will take on the website.

Slide-up announcement: When the alert bar is simply too limiting and a news article is overkill, opt for a short one-paragraph block of text that will emerge from the bottom of the website screen.

Pop-up announcement: Though pop-ups can make for a subpar user experience and should be used with caution, they work well for communicating urgent, timely information that you don’t want your website visitors to miss. These pop-ups can be global, or programmed to appear on specific pages — for example, announcing branch closures on individual location pages.

Frequently asked questions: Create a dedicated FAQ category related to the coronavirus. Check with your call center and/or any staff members responding to live chat requests and contact form submissions about the questions they are already receiving.

Dedicated resource hub: Between FAQs, announcements, financial health guidance, community stories and products/services to help people through challenging times, there is a lot to communicate. A dedicated hub (see this example from OnPoint), whether a page or a microsite, can help your members navigate the information from one central location.

Live chat: If you’ve been thinking about implementing live chat options on your website but haven’t gotten around to it yet, now might be the time.

SMS messaging and support: Text messages are a great medium for timely updates, if used sparingly, as they are more intrusive than email and social media. More and more companies are also turning to SMS solutions as an additional support channel.

Email channels: We’re all getting deluged by coronavirus-related emails right now, but at times like these, it’s far better to communicate than stay silent. As your own operations evolve and change, use this channel to share the most up-to-date information with your members. Despite oft-heard proclamations that “email is dead,” it remains one of the most effective communication channels for businesses.

Social media channels: Unless it’s member-only information, adapt your email messages to your social media channels to reach members who may be more likely to get their news from social media. Consider promoting important Facebook posts to your followers so they’re less likely to get lost in their newsfeeds. Social media is also a great channel for sharing uplifting community stories.

Webinars or live virtual events: People feel understandably isolated right now. Anything you can do to help nurture a sense of community and connection is likely to make them feel a bit better. Consider webinars on timely financial topics; virtual “office hours” with financial counselors or member service representatives; or community conversations, leveraging tools like Zoom or Google Meet.

Simple video teller tools: You probably have a lot of tellers who are either working from home or spending a lot of time at your branches without many members coming in to visit. Video chat is a great feature, but if you don’t have it already, you probably don’t want to go through a big vendor procurement process right now. There are numerous, high-quality video conferencing tools (see above) that could be linked through your website to give additional access to members. We are talking to multiple clients about setting up a simple way to link the website to these tools so that members who want that face-to-face experience can still get it. Our members and organizations will all be getting a lot more comfortable with these tools in the coming weeks and months, and it would behoove us to be out in front of this trend.

Perhaps one bright spot amidst the chaos and uncertainty is that credit unions have an opportunity to step up to the plate. You have always been a positive, consistent force for your community and for your members; now they need you more than ever. By leveraging your digital channels efficiently and consistently, you can keep the lines of communication open and show your members that you truly walk the walk.

Cameron Madill is CEO of web design and digital marketing firm PixelSpoke in Portland, Ore.