I got mad so you don’t have to
Wow it has been quiet around here. But there is a good reason.
I have been busy flattening the top of my forehead by slapping it repeatedly on my desk. It was slightly involuntary, but I call this tried and true practice “Launching a website”.
Yes, I know my methods are controversial, but aren’t most genius-like endeavors? Ok, enough, if I keep slapping myself on the back, my arm will fall off.
What I did was not really that spectacular, but it is something close to my heart. It is something important to me. It has to do with customer service and providing your members with a true value.
I think customer service trumps almost all marketing and branding efforts. See, you can prop yourself up as being the biggest and best, but when the chips are on the table, you have better have the deck stacked with solid customer service. Otherwise, you have just wasted a lot of money on marketing.
Second most important is having a product with value beyond its price. As a mentor of mine once told me, “Overpriced garbage may look like a great deal, but it still stinks”. He meant was that there has to be a true value beyond perceived value. You can’t create true value where there is none. Now this is an arguable position (Starbucks, Evian and Overpriced Foreign Cars to note a few) but the sentiment is clear. If you are going to charge a premium, then you had better have a premium product.
This is what brings us to where we are today…
Customer Service vs. Product Value vs. Your Competition
It started almost a year ago with a phone call from a client who asked me to sit in on a conference call with a vendor that was going to provide web development services. I know why credit unions use these services (instead of going through us). It is easy and convenient as they already have some sort of internet-like relationship with the vendor. I don’t take it personally and I try to help as much as I can to facilitate the process in the advantage of my clients.
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Popularity: 8% [?]
Friday Fun - The best of the CU blogosphere
Ok, I have to admit that I pilfered a bit of this list from Jeffry Pilcher’s new blog called The Financial Brand. But the reviews are all mine. If I left anyone out, blame Jeff.
Blogs AboutCredit Union News and Marketing
- Currency Marketing’s CU Brand Blog - I like Tim and Nala and all the Currency gang. This is definitely a site to check out. Tim has a real handle on the credit union industry in Canada (America’s Hat). Their claim to fame is the incredible Young and Free Alberta campaign. Also as far as marketing companies go, I guess they are all right. I mean if you aren’t going to work with us, I suppose they would be a good second choice
- Netbanker - Excellent source for news on all things financial. I dont know how these guys find the time to do this. Excellent read.
- Trabian’s Open Source CU - This was the first CU Blog that I have ever read. When I posted, Trey Reeme sent me an email welcoming me to the party. I try to take that attitude and put it forward. They are still one of the top CU blogs out there and definitely worth of subscribing.
Popularity: 38% [?]
Social Media and Credit Unions: A Recap from MAC 2008
To the folks who regularly tune in, thanks – I hope you find this helpful.
To the folks who attended the Marketing Association of Credit Unions 2008 Conference and Awards, I am compiling a list of the links that I mentioned in my presentation. I hope it helps in your presentations to your board and executive staff.
I will also be posting some of the slides with a short audiocast as a “mini presentation” that you can use to show to the folks who need more information on social media.
Now to the links:
Protecting your credit union’s reputation: A User’s Guide – This is where we talk about things like Google alerts and how you can use them to see who is talking about you, your staff and your credit union.
How to: Create your own credit union blog – This is a bit of a step-by-step on how to go about setting up your credit union blog.
Credit Union Web Design: What are your options – It is not as complicated as you may think.
Credit Union Podcasting: The Great Site Hype - If you are going to podcast, make sure you know what you are getting into.
CU Blogging 2: Rules for the road – More tips for setting up your credit union blog
Customer Service Millenium Style – There are a huge assortment of sites that act as consumer activists. Here are a few sites and examples of how companies suffer from and responded to online criticisms.
How To: What to do when your credit union gets blogjacked – This is where we show you how to do a little crime-fighting to find out who is out to get you or who is using your good name to line their pockets.
Another credit union blogjacking victim – This is where I talk about what happened to the folks at AFCU. Someone used their name to set up a fake blog that steals news about their credit union to sell Google ads.
Credit Union Blogging is not for Everyone – It really isn’t you know. But if you want to start looking into the costs and technology required to get the ball rolling, take a look at this post.
Free content for your credit union blog – You don’t have to write your own stuff all by your lonesome. There is plenty of good stuff out there that you can use free and clear!
Welcome to Stupid Life CU – Wonder why I left Second Life out of my social media presentation? This is why.
Friday Fun: FreecreditReport.com Makes me laugh – Yeah, it has very little to do with credit union marketing. But this post still gets 60 to 70 unique hits a day and exposes my company to potential clients all over the world. Has it resulted in any business? I don’t know. Does it hurt? Absolutely not!
Blogs are like asses, everyone has one – find out what your employees are saying about you. This is in reference to my comment that your employees or customers could be out there damaging your brand. Creating a forum to discuss issues gives you the power instead of outsourcing it to one of these sites.
Bank of America beat us to the punch again – creating a small business forum with social capabilities has turned Bank of America into a small business resource. It creates an affinity to BofA as well as exposure to their brand of being a bank that cares about small business.
Hang in there. I have more info on the way. And always, if you have a question – feel free to give us a shout!
Popularity: 56% [?]
Twitter is your credit union marketing wingman
Hello ladies, have you met my friend Twitter?
Twitter is the perfect marketing wingman. He will tell everyone around you about the things that make you great. He will even go out and bring cool people to you. He is awesome like that. But not only is he a great wingman, Twitter makes a pretty good partner.
He likes to talk for hours and hours about all the things that you are interested in and listens when you want to talk about yourself. He wants you to tell him about your day. He is always there when you need him. He always wants to chat online – when you are ready to chat. He wants you to text him all day long and tell him about the minutia of your day.
Jokes aside (for now), I have fallen back into Twitter. At first I didn’t care for it so much, it was kind of pointless and slightly dumb. I mean, why would someone care if I were at Target buying rash cream for my daughter? Plus I didn’t know anyone on Twitter that I wanted to hear from while they were shopping for rash cream.
Then something funny happened. The other CU people that blog or leave comments here were talking about being on Twitter.
Not being one to miss out on a party, I showed up. It was a whole new experience. There were three or four conversations going on. As my buddy list grew and more people got involved in the CU Twitterverse it became a tool. We would discuss immediate and current happenings. It created a filter for the bloggers to noodle out ideas before committing them to the interwebs. It became a sounding board where we have discussed outdoor credit union concerts, social media, branding, books and news.
Some of us have promoted current or interesting blog posts, web links or each other when there is an accomplishment that is noteworthy (like the Currency Marketing and Commonwealth CU hat-trick at CUES this year).
Twitter has become party central with all the people you like to hang out with. Because of this, Twitter has been experiencing some growing pains.
With the adoption of various third party twitter scanners that run as Instant Messenger like applications and the influx of users – twitter use has exploded. This growth has caused a few glitches – but overall, it is a regular part of my daily communications with the “outside world”. And if I am in conference with a client or “Twitter Silent” for a day, I can log in and look at the whole day’s conversation to catch up.
Why is this important to credit unions?
Well, for one, look at Washington Mutual. After they launched the WhooHoo campaign, a snarky individual set up a WhooHoo twitter account, which has satirized WaMu’s new marketing strategy. He has been leaving posts like
“WaMu. We don’t nickle and dime you, we overdraft you. Whoo-hoo!!!”
That’s funny, well it made me laugh. But what if someone started doing it to you? But for every guy like the WaMu guy, there are some legitimate folks have started tweeting (the verb form of “Twittering”)
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Popularity: 62% [?]
CUHype.com makes it to the “Top”!
I just found out yesterday that CUHype.com was given a spot on the Alltop Marketing Blog!
For those of you who do not know, Alltop is the newest project from serial entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki.
Ok, you might not know Guy Kawasaki. He started with Apple way back before LCD monitors and iPods. Then he grew into a small business kingpin with books like “The art of the start” and blogs like “How to change the world“. Now he is a Venture Capitalist who gives start-ups the funding to get smart projects off and running. So, now he has a project called Alltop.
Alltop is a list of the “Best of the web” in a variety of subjects. That’s why we are honored to be included in the ranks! We appreciate the vote of confidence and hope that the folks, who stop by here, throw some support to Alltop. It is a very cool site to find the best stuff out there on the web.
It also wouldn’t hurt to check out Guy’s personal blog and read up on him, he is a smart guy and really has something to offer those of you with an entrepreneurial spirit and drive.
Popularity: 60% [?]
Why is your credit union website so ugly?
You know who you are. You had your site designed 5, 6 or 7 years ago. It was designed for an 800 pixel wide screen, or even worse, 640×480.You may not even know that your “drop-down” menu systems (if you even have one) don’t work on the new browsers because your IT department won’t let you upgrade your browser past Internet Explorer 6.0.
Now IE is on the way out as the primary browser platform. With the popularity of Apple, Safari and Firefox have new life as prominent web browsers (Internet Explorer makes up less than 40% of my site visitors). Do you even know what your site looks like in different browsers?I am not going to point out any particular credit union as having a bad web site – but here is a checklist to find out how bad your site may be and if you need a redesign:
- You do not have drop down or a hierarchical menu system.
- Your NCUA logo is big enough for you to read the small type in the logo – or – the NCUA logo is almost as big as your credit union logo.
- 25% of the text on your home page is disclosures or disclaimers.
- Your home page content is comprised of only graphics or banners
- You have a flash animated “Intro Page”
- Your site has “Frames”
- If the main window of your credit union’s home page is a few bullet points of copy with no real message, valuable information or marketing purpose.
- You have a “What’s Hot” button in your primary navigation.
- You have less than 3 designated marketing areas on your web site.
- You have a “Portal” site
- You have a clock, weather conditions or hit counter on your site.
- You have animated dancing animals on your credit union website.
- Your site has no analytic software running to capture user activity.
- Your design is more than 7 years old.
- Your web site graphics consists of “Bright and Shiny People” (Thanks Denise)
- You have to scroll (vertically or horizontally) - (Thanks Denise)
- You do not show up on a Google search, anywhere, even under your for your credit union name! (Thanks Denise)
- Your Site is not achieving its objectives (or you have none to begin with - Thanks Ron)
If you have more than 2 of these things, you need to bring it up to the CEO or board at the next meeting. If you have 4 or more, then you need to get your site into emergency care STAT!
But why is this important? A website is a website right?
Popularity: 75% [?]
Friday Fun - Is all press good press?
I know I have been out of the fray a little. Between preparing for MAC and Twitter and a bunch of new projects, I am afraid the blog has been neglected. Hopefully this story will bring a little smile and like a dozen roses, allow you to forgive me for my absence. A few weeks ago the Office of Government Commerce in England unveiled their new logo.
Clean, simple and easily recognized in a FBI or IRS fashion. They printed the logo on everything for their big reveal. Mugs, pens, shirts and mousepads.
Ahhhh the mousepads. Some got ahold of a mousepad (I presume) and tossed it on the desk allowing them to see the logo from a new perspective.
Wait, what the heck is that? Yep, the logo that the British government just spent 14,000 Pounds on, when looked at from the side, appears to be a person… well…. I will let you see.
This reminds me of the WTF Credit Union name change a little while ago (wish I had a shirt - maybe I will make one for kicks.) It also reminds me of being in high school when it was the thing to do to get an “THE IN AND OUT BURGER” bumper sticker and take a razor to it to make it say “THE IN AND OUT URGE”
Now don’t hold this against me.I am not the first to notice this. Ok, maybe it was a little much to draw in the face, I will give you that. But this story is making the rounds in the UK.
I just thought it would be a fun way to end the week and to make sure you know how your logo may be represented when you arent looking. Dont forget to get a good look at that new logo. Spin it around. Show it to your kids and see if they giggle. You never know when you might end up with one of these looking at you in the news —–>.
Popularity: 62% [?]
Free content for your credit union blog!
The Federal Trade Commission has released three videos to illustrate how folks try to phish you for your personal information.
While they aren’t passing around the videos for use, please feel free to use the graphic I clipped
from their site (I think that’s legal right?). Just drag thisgraphic to your desktop or click the image with your right mouse button and select “Save image to desktop” and there you go.
Then link the image to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/multimedia/video/ogol/phishing/index.shtml and you are done. This information may seem a little goofy but people are still
falling for these phishing scams.
Popularity: 76% [?]
Enough already! Credit union blogging is not for everbody!
Anyone who reads credit union blogs, likely reads OpenSourceCU. Yesterday they had a comment that said:
If I hear one more vendor referring to their social media clique members using terms like “cool kids” or “big brains”, I am going to puke. Just take a look around at some of the posts on this site and the sites of active contributors to see what I am talking about.
Instead of talking about results, folks here seem to like to feed each others egos about how “cool”, “innovative”, “creative” and “smart” they obviously are. Of course, only these “big brains” get it and do not need validation of some payback and getting together to pontificate is more than enough.
Please, please, please quit breaking your arms patting each other on the backs and focus on the results that can and has been achieved by credit unions using social media. It’s really not about any of you; it’s about making credit unions more competitive and able to differentiate themselves in a very competitive market.
This post is not really about the barcamps, which may be very cool and worthwhile, and is more about accountability and getting real stuff done.
Wow, so I wont bore you with my response. You can read it here.
As I was driving home from the agency, I tried to wrap my noodle around the three big questions that are constantly asked pertaining to getting a blog started at the CU level.
- Has a CU blog ever been effective in creating membership?
- What is the typical CU blog ROI?
- How does a CU protect itself from exposure?
So, lets tackle some of these big bad questions.
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Popularity: 90% [?]
What makes a great credit union logo?
There are five critical elements that can be seen in every great logo design:
- It must be describable
- It must be memorable
- It must be effective in black and white (and at low resolutions – say on a fax)
- It must be scalable (this means it will work well on pens or other swag)
- It should never include a photo or raster image (yes, never)
The first elements points are a little obvious, because if you can’t describe what a logo looks like then how will you be able to remember it?
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Popularity: 92% [?]
