By Mark DeBellis, PSB Integrated Marketing
About this time of year when budget numbers are being wrestled over and compromises are being negotiated in the board meetings, marketers are holding their collective breath as they wait for another year of reduced resources.
“We can do it in-house,” or “we can rely on social media” are quick responses in reaction to a management philosophy that is focused on saving money. However, do these strategies really generate the impressions needed to keep your business growing and prosperous?
One can save endless amounts of marketing money if they simply close the doors. But that isn’t why marketing departments exist.
When marketing is asked to do more with less, what occurs is a slow erosion of member impressions and reduced member penetration. The slippery slope starts by hiring more internal staff to help create the work that is poured into social media efforts… and pulling resources from other proven tools that have historically worked. It can mean that fewer members are actually being informed about the credit union than ever before.
Today the reliance on “free” social media outlets as a means to communicate with members is a dangerous panacea and is becoming increasingly ineffective.
Reviewing a collection of credit union Facebook pages from a sampling of major credit unions throughout the country, shows that the incidence of member Facebook “likes” is less than 10% of the membership. In fact, most are closer to the 1 – 2 % level.
Plus, if people don’t like you on Facebook, does that mean they really don’t like you? Or, as I believe, they just don’t want to engage with you in this medium. Looking at this from another angle, over 90% of your members are not engaging with you on social media. So let’s accept that as a constant and deal with the other alternatives available.
If you computed an ROI based on the time, energy, staff cost and lost opportunities how much does that really cost? How much does it really generate? Are you effectively communicating with the needs of many by focusing on just those few?
Many credit union marketers have, as a matter of necessity reduced, eliminated or scaled back their print mediums that historically have been sent to all members. Newsletters and annual reports are two notable outreach areas that have been markedly reduced in favor of “new media.”
Is that a good thing?
If it means many of the membership are not being nurtured, romanced, or touched on a routine, regular, and intentional basis, then it won’t lead to an improvement in the relationship. Every relationship requires an investment. A minimum investment must be provided to expect any type of return.
As the hype and far reaching promises of social media begin to come back to earth, we are starting to see a return to traditional methods of member engagement coupled with digital media. We see more magazine-style newsletters with greater article relevance and at-home shelf-life. Even the printed annual report is being reengineered to reinforce the credit union corporate story, engage the member and enhance relevance as the core financial provider.
Keeping the member informed and connected with relevant, timely information is a cornerstone of a “member-centric” credit union using all forms of relevant media.
