Turn Your Management Into Movie Stars

MarketMatch has added a resource to our website that you can also do at your financial institution.

We've added a video blog.

With sites like YouTube, it is easy and free to create the videos and with Social Media like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, it's easy to have your message seen by your target.

My recommendation? Recruit your management and branch/market leaders to share their expertise. Have your Lending VP talk about improving your credit score. Have your Commercial VP talk about cash management. Have a branch manager talk about what's happening in the community.

By utilizing all of the resources in your bank or credit union, you can provide more content, relevant content, and you can position the whole institution as THE community expert.

An Aha Moment about Social Networking

A few weeks ago, I completed my first ultra-marathon. After running more than 31 miles in less than 6 hours and burning nearly 4,000 calories, I felt I deserved a beer!

So there I was, sitting in a local Applebee's enjoying the frosty, tall, amber sweetness of a Killian's and watching baseball, when I decided to "check in" on Foursquare. That's when it happened ... my first tangible benefit of using Foursquare ... my first online coupon. All I had to do was show my phone screen to my bartender and, like magic, I received free chips and salsa ... just for checking in on Foursquare.

I've recently had a bit of an "aha moment" concerning social media. In my mind, I've always classified "traditional" marketing, grassroots/guerrilla marketing and social networking in 3 separate marketing "buckets." But if you think about guerrilla marketing - interacting with the market in the places where they hang out - that's EXACTLY what social networking is. Applebee's interacted with me over a beer in their own establishment. Most people I know hang out more on Facebook than they do at the gym or at the grocery store or whatever "real" places they hang out.

Today, social networking is a MUST when you're looking at potential marketing tactics. October's ABA Bank Marketing magazine, talks about North Shore Bank (assets: $1.8 billion), in Wisconsin, who uses Foursquare to run "mayorship" promotions - offering free gifts to Foursquare "mayors" at each of their locations. They also use Foursquare to announce participation in local events and have posted "tips" about no-fee ATM locations. In the future, they plan on adding more promotions and offers - it may not be free chips and salsa, but I'm sure that North Shore customers will receive something cool for checking in on Foursquare.

As marketers, there are few professionals more creative than us! And social networking tools like Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, etc., etc., etc. offer unlimited ways for us to interact with our markets. If you're doing something great and fun, we'd love to hear about it. Tell us all about it by leaving a comment to this blog.

Take care,
Eric

Banking is Not Social

Banking is not social ... in fact, it's quite private.

Money is private too ... but it allows you to do social stuff.

So, if you want your Social Media program to work, you're going to have to focus on the social stuff.

Determine what your target likes to do. You can do this as simply as asking them in a questionnaire or you can use tools like P$ycle to segment your customers and determine their lifestyle preferences.

Consider focusing your Social Media messages on the social things that your customers or members like to do - then spin the message to discuss how you can better help them save/borrow the money to do those things.

What cool things are you doing with your Social Media program. Brag about it by leaving a comment below.

Take care,

Eric

Follow us on Facebook

Get our Tweets

Meeting Your Twitter Customers Face-to-Face

Wow, check this out. While researching for an upcoming conference speaking gig, I stumbled on this great example of Social Networking done right.

Addison Avenue Credit Union, a $2.4 billion credit union in California with about 150,000 members, has a heavy online following through their website and Twitter. They provide a forum and encourage members to share their thoughts, concerns and advice online. And I'm not just talking about boring financial stuff either! As you can see from the photo, there's a posting about a cheaper alternative to Odwalla drinks (whatever that is).

They simply have a few rules:

We implemented Groups for you, not for us. Rather than corporate-speak and glitzy sales offers, Groups are here to let you to chat with each other, and to find and provide answers cooperatively.

Groups are public. While some of the Groups can only be posted to by Addison Avenue members (such as “Make Addison Avenue Better”), the majority of the posts are part of a broader public network where people other than Addison Avenue members are discussing things together and helping each other out. The more the merrier.

Anything goes in the discussion groups, except for things you wouldn’t tell your grandmother or personal account information. So share and share alike, and if you do have a specific issue regarding one of your accounts, we’re only a phone call or secure message away.

Everyone has their own story. What’s so great about Groups is that everyone is at a different place in life with different financial needs, which means everyone has something unique to offer. We hope you find what you are looking for. Welcome to the community.

We’ll help things along. If you see a response with a little Addison Avenue fencepost next to it in some discussions, that means it came from an “official” here at Addison Avenue. We’re here to help!

But here's where it gets REALLY cool. Not only does Addison Ave. understand social networking and how to add value to a key demographic, but they took it to a level that makes perfect sense ... and I wish I had thought of.

Recently, the credit union hosted a "TweetUp" where they invited Twitter followers to an in-person get together at a local coffee house to discuss topics ranging from the economy to the credit union's new campaign. Not only did they attract their existing Twitter followers and members, but also locals "just passing by."

That's what I love about this job. When you have the perfect blend of common sense and creativity, it's divine!

Take care,

Eric

Communications...easier than we think!

Communications can be tricky...it can also be very easy! The challenge is knowing when the communication is clear and when the message is invisible to the recipient! I love this graphic...it tells the story of communication, where the sender has a clear message and the recipient sees nothing! This happens all too often...

I recently came across a string of conversations where both parties were "clear" in their intentions and needs, the challenge was both parties were talking in their own language and not in "universal speak". This is my own term...one that I use to describe simple terms, usually pictures or graphics are involved and there is nothing to "get" or interpret....it is what it is. We have to speak clearly, use common words, paint a picture of our intent, and ensure the recipient understands by asking for an action. This could be see us at www....; call us at...; come into to see us at...; we have to ask for positive action to ensure we are reaching our audience.

To my point on communications. How many times do bankers read other bankers or CU ads and articles and wander "at what point was THAT a good idea??" If you have wondered it aloud, chances are people have thought the same about your communications. In these times of uncertainty, economic pain, and universal distrust, WE have to communicate clearly and leave nothing to interpretation.

I encourage every marketer at every bank and CU to take a 2nd and 3rd look at your current communications...look at EVERYTHING. The web, your brochures, your emails, your memo's, your signage...

• Are you communicating clearly?
  
• Is it the message that is MOST relevant to your customer?
  
• Is the message one that elicits action?
  
• Do you provide value in your message?
• Does your staff "get" your message, too?
  

If you answered NO to any of these...you MUST retrace your message and present it more clearly. We have to be clear now, you have to provide value now, your message must be relevant now....change it Now!

Cheers!

Bruce