Podcast Episode 12: Shari Storm, Trey Reeme with CU Guide to Social Media
Posted by Charlie Trotter on March 11th, 2008
Here is the next installment from the 2007 Partnership Symposium sessions. This time, it’s Shari Storm and Trey Reeme presenting A Credit Union Guide to Social Media, with a brief cameo from Tim McAlpine. This episode is packed with heavy hitters.
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Last one to register for the 2008 Partnership Symposium has uncompetitive interest rates and doesn’t even care about it!
Dang my voice is piercing in this one. Sorry about that.
I looked at Verity’s blog and almost all the comments seem to be from other credit unions or vendors selling social media related stuff to credit unions. Of the 1000 or so unique visitors Shari said view their blog, how many are from people in Washington State who can become members? Shari says she would be happy to have 1000 people read her newsletter, but I would think not so much if the readers could never become members. Enough time has passed with credit union blogs to start providing quantifiable metrics that can be scrutinized for the payback they provide.
This blog also seems to be primarily made up of people who have an incentive to get people excited about social media, either because they make money from selling something around social media or because they get to travel around the country talking about how they used some form of social media to do a good job for their credit union.
Tim in Canada seems to have something going on in Canada with “Young and Free” and I am excited to hear about the payback, but it’s time for the rest of you vendors and credit union bloggers to call out quantifiable benefits that credit unions have realized using blogs and other social media. Anything less would start coming off as insincere and self motivated.
Karen,
I can only speak for myself, not the other social media “peddlers”, but the first thing I tell credit unions when I speak at conferences is that most of them shouldn’t start a blog. That’s not what they want to hear, usually. They want to know how to start a blog and what their MySpace page should look like. My goal with credit unions is to encourage them to participate in the conversation that happens online, whether it’s with their members or with fellow credit union evangelists (don’t think that this isn’t important!). This can happen by reading, commenting, twittering (tweeting?), and numerous other ways. Since we started Open Source CU we’ve been able to meet some incredible people who share our passion for the credit union industry and inspire us with their ideas, and we want to encourage the industry as a whole to learn from each other. We’re not here to tell credit unions to jump into blogging and podcasting—we’re here to help credit unions collaborate to be the most effective they can be at fulfilling their core mission: promoting thrift and providing loans for provident and productive purposes.
Having said that, there are credit unions that can benefit from having a more open conversation with their members. Verity has an open culture that enables them to blog with their members, employees, and industry insiders at the same time without having to change their message. It’s like inviting their members to participate in the watercooler conversation.
Karen, please keep challenging us to provide value. I just want to make sure you know that most of the people who are contributing to the conversation aren’t making much (or any) money from social media. Even Trabian, the sponsor of Open Source CU, makes very little of our revenue from “social media” projects, and we’re not looking to get rich off of blog building or Facebook profile making (shudder). We try to help credit unions be less stiff with their website and invite participation, whether through commenting on news articles or the CEO’s latest thoughts, or by inviting reviews and ratings for their product offerings, but that’s an evolution rather than a separate initiative.
Also, on a side note, I had to laugh when I read “get to travel around the country talking,” especially since I just drove through a snow storm to get to a small hotel room north of Flint, Michigan. I also know that Shari would rather be home with her children than traveling around the country talking. If I’m wrong, she can correct me.
Still waiting to see my first dime from social media. Truth is, I read credit union blogs to become a better credit union thinker. Fellow CU bloggers motivate and and inspire me to take on different perspectives in regards to the way my credit union serves its members.
That said, I think Verity’s blog is successful even when a reader does not become a member of Shari’s credit union. If a Texan, a Hoosier, a Kentuckian, or anyone else sees her blog and decides “hmmm, a credit union seems like a neat place to call my financial institution,” the industry as a whole benefits. We (credit unions) have a compelling story to tell. Verity is telling it. The more we as an industry embrace this channel, the better we can define for those who do not know the “credit union difference” the unique features that make us the clear choice for folks who want to save money, help their community, and actively participate in the process.
Wow, what a cool conversation!
I too am a “Social Media Peddler”. While we have consulted with and educated our clients on what blogs are through our website and regular conversations, I don’t recall actually charging any of them for my advice.
The act of setting up a blog is mostly free. I think Verity’s first incarnation was a blogger site. If you wanted to go “Whole Hog” you could spring for paid hosting running a wordpress backbone at a whopping $5 a month. The only thing I could imagine charging for is a custom wordpress theme which would cost less than the design of a monthly newsletter for the same credit union.
That being said, why not reach out to your members? Why not communicate in every way possible? A blog is not the whole answer, it is only a tool. And like all tools, it is only as good as the hand that wields it.
I think the days of a “Brochure” web site for credit unions are coming to an end. That is just not the model for current websites. Modern sites are living breathing communication tools that permit direct contact with people that want to use your service and THAT is what makes it social media.
Blogging/social media/web 2.0/twitter/social networking/yelp/digg are all different manifestations of what the Cluetrain Manifesto laid out in 1999. Markets are conversations. These conversations are happening whether you like it or not, whether you are aware of them or not. It’s time for everyone to get on board the Cluetrain. It’s nine years later, and this train ain’t coming back to the station.
ROI is indeed very tough to measure. This stuff is still in its infancy, although there are many working on measurements. And as hard as social media efforts are to measure, harder still is measuring the cost of not participating in your members’ online conversations, and engaging them on the relevant issues that they are concerned with.
@ brent – You are wrong.
@ karen – Thanks for the feedback. I do need to keep in mind that I should be more clear that my love of social media does not translate to a recommendation that everyone blog.
But for me to try to act like I don’t love social media would be insincere. I just returned from America First Credit Union in Utah. They are considering jumping into the fray. All the folks I met there were intelligent, creative, good people. I am thrilled that I now have the means to keep in contact with them on a more regular basis (I’ll drag Rich Syme into twitter if it kills me – - that, by the way, was a joke).
@ matt – you are right, all things being equal, staying home with my children is the best.
@Matt – Well said. You framed it more clearly than I’ve ever seen it before, and thanks for that.
Social media is a tool, which we should all have in our toolkit, but what we really need are clear strategies on how we want to show up. We need to engage staff, members, and the community, and social media is often an excellent vehicle for that.
I am amazed that people are so negative on social media and cast us all as flogging this solution. When it works, it’s amazing. When it doesn’t it falls flat. Just like if I tried to make pancakes with a bicycle pump.
Some of us are exploring these issues, using the very tools that excite us. If social media doesn’t excite you, fine, stick to the tools that work for you. But I would caution against limiting your toolkit because in order to engage consumers in this noisy marketplace, we need all the tools we can get our hands on.