Utilizing social media as a marketing channel has become increasingly popular over the past few years, because it allows brands to engage with a very specific audience at a relatively lower cost than most traditional forms of advertising.
As easy as this may sound, it’s not enough to just establish brand presence across platforms. Each social channel must be consistently maintained and monitored in order to achieve high levels of engagement, reach, and impressions.
From our perspective, the brands that are most effective in utilizing social media as a marketing tool are the ones who follow these best practices:
- Establish social media brand standards
- Post consistently
- Create engaging content
- Create variations of content
- Actively respond to messages and comments
In the Credit Union world, we identified Navy Federal, Mountain America Credit Union, and Coast Capital Savings as some top performers in social media. (And, no, none of these folks are clients.) Take a look at these stellar platforms and see what inspiration you can pull to apply to your organization:
1. Navy Federal | @NavyFederal
Facebook Followers: 1.1 million
Biggest Strength: Theme Consistency
As the credit union who serves those in the United States Military, the Department of Defense, and National Guard, Navy Federal’s commitment to a military/patriotic theme is present in every single post. Take a look at how their choice of visuals and tone resonate with their members:
2. Mountain America Credit Union | @MountainAmerica
Facebook Followers: 320k
Biggest Strength: Content Variation
Mountain America isn’t all products and services. They do an excellent job creating a variety of content that showcases different aspects of membership, community involvement, and inspirational quotes. Take a look at how these elements come together to create engaging content while staying loyal to their brand guidelines:
3. Coast Capital Savings | @coastcapitalsavings
Facebook Followers: 35k
Biggest Strength: Team/Member Features
Every credit union wants to showcase employees and members that are dedicated to furthering the credit union’s philosophy and giving back to the community. The tricky part can be incorporating photos of star employees and members while sticking to brand guides and maintaining a look that’s posed and professional. Take a look at how Coast Capital Savings approaches these types of features:
References:
https://www.facebook.com/NavyFederal/
https://www.facebook.com/MountainAmerica/
https://www.facebook.com/coastcapitalsavings/