Nexus Connection

Our Web Site More Fully = Us Now

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

Remember my post "Our Web Site = Us"? (If you do, thank you so much for your faithful reading!) In that post I talked about being embarrassed that our online index of articles for Credit Union Management magazine timed out when a member tried to access the "Trends" article category.

But we're a professional development organization. We believe in growth, learning and making things better. So about a week ago CUES' Web master, Jenny Jackson, sent me an e-mail saying:

"This is now working and it is FAST!"

And so it is. CUES members and non-members alike can now find--rapid-fire fast--past Credit Union Management about everything from ATMs/Kiosks to Lending to Web Design. And a good many of these are on line for your click-through perusal.

No more embarrassment here. This is a great resource!

(Also check out our archives of daily cues.org articles by topic. These include print magazine articles available on line.)

Tune in to a New CU Social-networking Site

Posted by Jamie McMahon

Last fall Lisa wrote a post on the "fun first, detailed explanations later" marketing approach, using examples such as the Young & Free Alberta campaign to illustrate how credit unions may be able to draw young people in with entertainment, then mix the "boring" financial-related information into that entertainment or even leave it entirely for later.

While the approach probably isn't ideal in all situations, I think Mount Lehman Credit Union's new online community The Mount Lehman Show is a perfect example of what could be a successful model. It draws you in with its own Facebook-like social network, providing members their own profiles as well as the ability to upload photos, videos and blog posts. That represents the fun.

The information part comes through the actual show, which has online episodes posted at the top of the Web site's home page. They themselves are tinged with a bit of wackiness: The inaugural episode features an introduction from Mount Lehman CU's CEO Gene Blishen, a "get to know an employee" segment, and a clip of the CU's mascot, Payday the horse, dancing on the credit union's lawn. The show, however, only constitutes a small portion of the site, which is dominated by member-generated content.

Why might an online community like this be successful in attracting young people to a credit union? For one, exploring the lighthearted bits and pieces of the site was a refreshing experience for me, a 22-year-old set to enter the worst job market in recent memory and tired of news of economic doom and gloom. But I also think it's important to look at the social-networking capabilities of The Mount Lehman Show as more than just entertainment. Here are a couple ways such capabilities go beyond fun and actually begin to promote loyalty to Mount Lehman CU:

They encourage aggregate behavior. It's easy, even for my me and my friends, to dismiss communities like Facebook and Twitter as nothing more than procrastination tools—as channels through which we generate the ridiculous notion that the world cares about what we have for breakfast every morning. Taken by themselves, for example, my Twitter posts are absolutely useless. But when they're added together, and added to the posts of my friends, they begin to form aggregate behaviors that we all use to guide our daily lives. We may not realize it, but when deciding how to act, what products to buy, and yes, even which financial institutions to trust, we rely more on our friends and these networks than we do on TV or radio ads. What's great about The Mount Lehman Show is it provides a very specific version of that sort of network, allowing young people to explore and gain confidence from financial behaviors of their peers—the most obvious and important behavior, of course, being joining the community and Mount Lehman CU in the first place.

They provide users the means to do something good. My friends and I also want to make the world a better place, and we want to know that we're doing it in significant numbers. (I've seen countless movements succeed on Facebook solely because members saw the sizes of certain groups and realized they could actually make a difference by joining up.) On The Mount Lehman Show site, users can view a video explaining how the CU helps the community, then scroll down and see all the subscribers who have become a part of that. This feeling of collective action is harder to promote if you're simply sending Tweets out to isolated subscribers. (And it's reminiscent of Vancity's changeeverything.ca.)

So I think The Mount Lehman Show adds another level to the “fun first, information later” mantra. Certainly people will stumble upon official information from the credit union through the site, but the information more relevant to them will be obtained through networking with their peers—while they’re simultaneously having fun, that is.

Could this represent the next movement in marketing to Gen Y? Other industries seem to think so: the free service used to create The Mount Lehman Show, Ning, is growing in popularity. Everyone out there is looking to harness the power of social networking, and this allows you to literally focus that power on your organization alone. You can decide exactly what you think fun is to your members, then design your online community to reflect that.

Do The Math

Posted by Ron Shevlin, Senior Analyst, Aite Group

Unless you live under a rock (which might not be such a bad idea these days), you can’t help but be exposed to the constant barrage of hype about Twitter. Inevitably, when a new communications-oriented technology comes along, early adopters and evangelists extol its virtues as a tool for reaching – and in this case, servicing – customers and prospects. There’s (seemingly) no end to the number of gushing blog posts congratulating Bank of America and Wells Fargo for handling service requests through Twitter.

Should your credit union follow suit? My answer is NO – at least, not for now. To make my case, let’s do some math. I’d like to share with you the results of research my firm, Aite Group, recently conducted with the Participatory Marketing Network, which has yet to be published.

Marketers generally segment US consumers into four age-based generations: Gen Yers, Gen Xers, Boomers, and Sen… uh, Pre-Boomers. Aite Group and the PMN surveyed Gen Yers to learn more about their social media and financial services attitudes and behaviors.

On to the math: Assume for a moment that your CU’s member base is equally distributed across the generations (this is, of course, a wildly unrealistic expectation, since you’d probably give your right arm to have 25 percent of your member base come from the Gen Y community).

Next, here’s the first data point from our research: Just 22 percent of Gen Yers currently use Twitter. Could this percentage go up? Of course, but since this group is the most avid users of technology, and many see Twitter as something “older” consumers use, it’s anyone’s guess how high this percentage will go, and how fast. And by the way, of those Gen Yers that do use Twitter, 85 percent follow their friends, 54 percent follow celebrities, and just 29 percent follow companies (which, by the way, include credit unions).

More importantly – as far as I’m concerned – is Gen Yers’ response to another question asked in the survey. Of those Gen Yers that use Twitter, just 9 percent said that they’d have no problem sending service-related tweets to the financial institutions with which they do business. Granted, 24 percent said they might do this, but would need more information about how it work. But 65 percent said they wouldn’t use Twitter for service because it’s either not the right channel or they don’t trust their FI to reliably handle the tweet.

Shall we put our math equation together now?

25 percent of members from Gen Y times 22 percent who use Twitter times 9 percent who would use Twitter for service = ONE-HALF OF ONE PERCENT of your member base that you will be creating a Twitter-based service capability for. If your CU has 50,000 members, that’s roughly 250 members.

Now I realize that the Twitterati will counter this argument by telling me that I’m wrong, it’s about the future, about attracting Gen Yers, about establishing a brand image of being innovative, etc. And those aren’t bad counterarguments. But they all fail to address the question that any good credit union executive should be asking here: What are the other alternatives available to the CU to “attract Gen Yers”, “establish a brand image”, etc.?

In other words, could the same objectives be achieved by offering a personal financial management capability online, like Delta Community CU and Stanford FCU are doing with Wesabe and Geezeo?  Or is there another department or function within the credit union that could better use someone’s skills instead of having them focus on Twitter?

And let’s really think through the Twitter service process: Will service tweets have to be re-entered into the CU’s service or CRM apps? If a member calls the CU or walks into a branch, will other CU personnel have the ability to see what was tweeted?

One blogger writes:  “Think about how text banking works.  I text bal to MYCUBAL or whatever and 10 or 20 seconds goes by and my balance comes back. Why don’t we do the same thing with Twitter?  Log into online banking and link your Twitter username to your online banking account.” No security issues or concerns there, eh?

For now, Twitter is like a yo-yo. They both go up and down, they’re fun to play with, but if you’re not careful, you can get hurt. If you want to know how Twitter can hurt, ask the people whose Twitter IDs have been hijacked and have seen vile and disgusting tweets go out under their name.

If your CU’s goal is to attract and retain Gen Yers, providing service through Twitter is not going to be very helpful. I did the math.

Our Web Site = Us

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

Did you ever have one of those experiences that underscores something obvious? My recent work on the CUES membership campaign reminded me that the face of an organization may be just as much digital as personal.

Last Monday and Wednesday, I made calls and swapped e-mails with five credit union executives, with an aim for helping them take fuller advantage of their memberships. I was impressed how this group was definitely checking out cues.org as a first way to get to know the organization, and loved knowing that the CUES Members Share archives have a ton of information for them. Full transparency, though, I was also embarrassed when one of the Management magazine article indexes timed out for one member before it fully downloaded. (We're working on that directly, as well as taking an overall look at the effectiveness of our site.)

So while I was the "face" of CUES for these five executives last week because I was calling and e-mailing, our Web site also played an important role in their perception of their professional development association. Likewise, I imagine tellers and member service representatives at a credit union are critical to its public perception. At the same time, the impact of its Web site should not be underestimated.

Web Video Success Tips

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

I like to say that the surest way to leave an editor without words is to stand them up in front of a group of people and ask them to speak.

So this day of Web video can be daunting for some of us. In contrast, CUES member Gary Easterling, CCE, seems to have taken in stride the shooting of the video for his credit union's new common sense Web site.

$850 million United Federal Credit Union's campaign, covered in more detail in today's CUES article, includes print ads and the common sense Web site, which showcase the credit union difference. The Web site features videos of Easterling, president/CEO of the St. Joseph, Mich., CU, answering questions about credit unions, TARP and how members can manage in these tough economic times.

He laughed a little when I asked him about his experience making the movies.

"It is a little intimidating at times if you think about it," he says, noting that things are easier once you realize you'll never get it right on the first take.

Indeed, Easterling says it took a half day to shoot the footage. While what he was going to say was scripted out in advance, he didn't want to read it. So getting it smooth took some time.

"You lose track of where you are, start, stop, cut and then edit later," he says. What you see on the site is the combination of several takes.

Anyone else have tips for success shooting Web video?

The Missing Link? Poken Bridges Social Media and Face-to-Face

Posted by Christopher Stevenson

Every once in a while, someone comes up with an idea that takes social media to the next level. MySpace did it. So did Twitter. Now there's Poken. (Hat tip to Cameron Herold.)

Like business cards, Poken allows you to exchange your information with others, but instead of just providing name, phone number, address, and e-mail, Poken helps you exchange your profile information from social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. How does it work? Each time you meet someone, who coincidentally also carries a Poken (which is an animal-shaped fob with a giant hand), just touch the Pokens hand-to-hand to transfer your profile information. Later, plug the Poken's freakishly large hand, which is really a USB device in disguise, into any Internet-enabled computer to upload your new friend's data to your Pokens page. Easy.

What do I like about it? Pokens help bridge the gap between online social media tools and real-life interaction and they make it easy. Rather than having to search for someone you met at a networking event in LinkedIn, all you'll need to do is upload your Pokens data. It's something that's been missing from social media until now.

What do I think is stupid? The silly animal shapes are great for junior high girls exchanging their Facebook info, but I wouldn't be caught dead asking someone to touch hands with my monkey at a business meeting. Plus, while the technology is cool, Pokens only work effectively if everyone you meet has a Poken--they won't.

Next steps? How about Pokens-enabled cell phones? It's the only way I can figure the Pokens model will work.

Do you Poken?

Wake Me Up Before You Gogo

Posted by Christopher Stevenson

I travel a bit for work, not a huge amount, but enough. The challenge for me when traveling is finding enough to do to fill the time I have to sit on the plane. I usually bring a book or two, my iPod, and some work. Unfortunately, I have a tough time doing the same thing for an extended period of time and by the end of a long flight I'm usually in a boredom-induced daze. I'm tired of reading and listening to the music on my iPod, and I've finished whatever work I can do without Internet access. What are my options? 1.) Closing my eyes in hopes sleep will come. 2.) Reading People magazine over the shoulder of the lady sitting next to me (No, wait. Don't turn that page; I haven't finished reading yet.) 3.) Eating the beef stick and processed cheese spread out of my $5.00 snack box.

But that was then and this is now.Gogo in-flight Internet access is changing it all.

Aside from the benefits of having in-air Internet, I love that Gogo took an obvious pain point for consumers and found a way to resolve it. Look around at the other passengers the next time you're on a plane and you'll see that I'm not the only person crawling out of his skin by the end of a four-hour flight. Everyone is looking for something to do. Gogo gives it to them. Facebook? Sure. Twitter? Yup. E-mail? Absolutely. It's full Internet access. Gogo has figured out how to scratch that itch that's been bugging travelers for years and they did it right.

In contrast, JetBlue launched a limited Internet service on some flights late last year but there were too many restrictions to really solve the problem. Passengers can't surf the Web or receive e-mail attachments. In my mind, all JetBlue managed to do is create another source of aggravation for travelers. Instead of scratching the itch, they just kind of tickled it.  

The question is, are there itches credit unions aren't scratching for their members? Or worse, are there points of pain the credit union should be resolving, but are only tickling instead? Now, more than ever, consumers are looking for real down-and-dirty solutions to their financial needs. Are credit unions providing them? 

Simplify 2009

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

This Sunday I kicked back a litte, "watched" some football I didn't care much about (for those who do care, it was San Diego @ Pittsburgh), and put my new Mac laptop in my lap. (Thank you, Santa!)

I took great pleasure in using this little bit of down time to unsubscribe. Since I was out for two weeks over Christmas, I had a ton of e-mail to sort and as part of dealing with it all, I took myself off many a mailing list. It felt really good just in the doing.

And then yesterday and just this morning, my e-mail wasn't so clogged with stuff I wasn't going to read anyway. I felt like I could focus more on the things that really needed to be addressed. (Good thing too, since I was officially off as my child recovered from a fever, but I also wanted to juggle working on CUES' magazine, which was going to press.)

I'm not saying I won't later resubscribe to any of those same e-newsletters and services, but it was time to send out some of the old to make room for a new mix.

What can credit unions do to simplify 2009? Is there anything they can stop doing, at least for a time, to allow them to focus on what's truly important?

Free, Madcap Technology Discussion This Thursday

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

I've worked with "the guys" from Cornerstone Advisors on CUES Tech Port and at CUES conferences long enough (coming up on a decade!) to know that they put on a really good, information-packed show.

That's why I'm pumped that CUES and Cornerstone are taking their partnership to the next level. It all starts this Thursday with the first quarterly installment of “The Quarterly Slant: Technology News with a Twist,” a free, madcap discussion about credit union technology brought to you by CUES Tech Port and Cornerstone Advisors' GonzoBankers Steve Williams, Terence Roche and Scott Hodgins.

Attend this debut event, slated to start at 1 p.m. Central time, and you'll hear segments like:

• "A Moment of Extreme Brilliance," a veritable combat zone of know-how one-upmanship;

• "The Vendor Whose Call We Might Return," a determination of the worthiness of a new vendor's product; and

• "Let the People Be Heard," an online poll in which you, the listener, decide which one of three absolutely unbelievable news flashes is actually true.

Interested, but already tied up this Thursday? Please comment or e-mail me, and I'll help you hook up with the free playback once it's available.

If Your CEO Were to Blog With Members ...

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

The "Ask Jack" blog, launched mid-October by Members Credit Union, can already boast almost 1,800 visits. And one post has garnered a dozen comments to boot.

The blog allows consumers to send questions directly to Members CU President/CEO Jack V. Braswell, Jr., anonymously if they so choose. It also includes video posts by "Jack" covering such topics as "Does the Current Financial Crisis Mean I Won't Be Able to Get a Loan?"

Director of public relations for the $200 million CU in Winston-Salem, N.C., Matt Davis is using Google analytics to measure the traffic to the site. "It's free, and amazingly deep," he notes.

How did Members CU score so many visitors so early in the game?

"For obvious reasons," Davis says, "our major promotional efforts have centered on 'electronic users.' We have posted the link to the blog on our Web site, included references to the blog on our 'Football Pick'em' videos and e-mails, and directed members to the site via e-mail and electronic communication within our online banking site."

Davis says he's been especially pleased with how the CU has incorporated the blog in the launch of its "Holiday Skip-a-Pay" program.

"I liked that ... members got to hear straight from our CEO why we launched the program"--to help members through these tough economic times, he explains. "We decided to use 'Ask Jack' as the place to get information about the program to help familiarize people with the site. It seems to have worked extremely well. We have about a dozen comments on the 'Holiday Skip-a-Pay' post, and have started getting quite a few messages through the blog's contact form.

"I could totally see us using this method again. Transparency is all the rage and there is nothing more transparent than having the person behind the decision explaining to our members why that decision was made."

Long term, Davis hopes to integrate the blog with Members CU's main Web site. "My goal would be to center all communications on 'Ask Jack,'" he explains. "Why? Searchability, ability for members to comment, and the format's unique ability to make communications informal, informative, and transparent."