Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

I really don’t know what is so special about social media. It is nothing more than talking, albeit via new technologies that allows you to speak with a boatload of people all at one time.

Let me say it again.  Social media is nothing more than a conversation. I’ve met many a person at a cocktail party who really liked to converse. But they were terrible at conversing. Which drove me to drink.  And that was fine, as I was at a cocktail party.

Let me say it again. Social medial is nothing more than a conversation.  To be successful, you have to converse in a way that other people will like, want, or need. A good conversation is a two-way street. But with social media, it is more of a 10,000-way street.

I fear that many people put the cart before the horse when it comes to social media.  They rush toward starting a blog or Twitter feed, without really know what they want to say. Or to whom.  Or why.  They forget about that conversation.  Without a good conversation, social media efforts will fizzle. 

Let me speak from experience.  The NAFCU Compliance Blog was born in 2007.  It now has more than 3,500 daily readers. Is that a lot? I don’t know, and I really am not all that caught up with the numbers. But it works for us. Since we’ve started the blog, our direct phone calls from members have actually increased. Then again, the CFPB and Credit CARD Act may have contributed. People use the blog to stay on top of issues. But when they dig down into the details, they’ll often need to contact us to clarify a finer point.

The NAFCU Musings from the CU Suite blog started earlier this year.  And we're creeping toward 1,000 subscribers.  

There's also the NAFCU Services Blog, which now has nearly 700 subscribers. 

We've had more than a few people ask us what was the secret to our success in blogging.  I generally respond with this thought: There is no secret.  It takes quite a bit of work. 

But if I had to lay out our social media values, it would be the following seven rules.  (And a word of caution.  NAFCU is a trade association.  We use social media in a way that might not work for credit unions.)

1. Know your audience.  For us, it could be a compliance officer, or someone in credit union management.  Who is your audience?  Or audiences? Until you answer that question, how can you begin the conversation?  Or conversations?
2. Give them what they need. For us, that’s easy – compliance information or interesting management ideas.  But what do your members need?  And can you give it to them better than someone else? 
3. Don’t waste their time. We always blog on something related to the core audience. I may talk about my twins, or a trip I’m planning. Or Penn State football. But that is always secondary to some blog-related nugget. If you mix in too many topics, or try to cover everything, you’ll lose focus – and the usefulness of the blog/message will falter.  So, don't waste your reader's time.  
4. Make it as entertaining as possible.  This may not be fair, but life often is not.  If I had a choice between fantastic information in a dull format, or good information in an entertaining format, I'd choose the latter.  Seven days a week and twice on Sunday.  
5. Be consistent. If you want to grow the audience, you have to consistently deliver content that hits on all of these rules.  Quite a few blogs start posting quite a bit, but then fall off.  Or, they start to "outsource" postings to other parties in a way that detracts from the blog's focus.  
6. Create a Czar.  Someone has to own the blog.  One person.  They have to worry about these rules and follow them.  Be careful who writes for your blog.  Without energy and focus, postings will start to become dull.  And there's enough dull information out there. 
7. Acknowledge that it takes work.   Writing a good blog post isn't easy.  Following issues closely for Twitter isn't either. It takes a good deal of time and resources.  You won't build a huge universe of followers overnight.  Again, it takes time, sweat, and typing.  Unless your credit union owns this fact, you may not devote enough resources.

If you'd like to read more about this debate, here are a few articles or websites that might be worth your time.

• The Credit Union Social Media Disconnect.  (CU Innovators).  This article, along with the comments, show both sides of the current debate.  My entire article is based on a comment I wrote in response to this blog posting. 
• TheFinancialBrand.com.  This website is all over the social media issue.  There's a ton of great reads here on a weekly basis.  Such as this one on how credit unions can get the most out of their Facebook efforts. 

So to summarize, I don't think social media by itself is all that special. But I truly love it, all at the same time.  If you have a compelling story to tell, it is a mighty tool to add to your marketing arsenal.   But it isn't a magic pill or silver bullet.   Find your audience, and your voice, and you're off to a good start. But it also takes a lot of hard work. 

But that's true of all worthwhile efforts.