Social Media Content Ideas for Credit Unions

Your business depends on your relationships with your members, and you know social media is one of the most powerful ways you can stay connected. But how do you keep generating content for your social media platforms day after day and week after week? 

The trick is to remember that social media isn’t just a place for you to publish press releases and sell products. Its real power comes from telling stories — stories that will remind your customers why they chose you in the first place, and stories that will get them excited about ways they can partner with you in the future. 

Here are some tips so you never run out of ideas for new and exciting social media content.

Success stories

As a credit union, you work with people throughout your community to help them to achieve their diverse and various dreams. Thanks to you, someone was recently able to buy their first house, open up their dream business, or retire with financial security. Social media is a fantastic way to share some of the successes of your customers with your larger community. The content is personable, accessible, and will inspire other people to pursue their dreams, too.

Credit unions have long been a part of helping people to achieve their goals and get through hardships, and that’s never been more true than during these recent Covid years. Your credit union very likely has a whole set of success stories that came out of the changes that Covid brought upon us. Did the credit union help a local theater build an outdoor stage or help a restaurant finance a new patio? Did one of your customers renovate their attic to open an Airbnb for doctors or people in quarantine? All the ways that your customers adapted and learned to thrive during these recent years are good opportunities for showcasing your customers, and your role in their success. 

At Vibrant, we believe part of connecting with your community is putting your members at the forefront of your marketing. That’s why we featured member testimonials and success stories on our client NE PA Federal Credit Union’s website, digital marketing, and social media.

Events and partnerships

Does your credit union sponsor a 5K, a baseball team, or Shakespeare in the park? We want to hear about it! A credit union’s ability to engage with the local community is part of what sets it apart from a big bank, and your customers will love seeing the ways you are making your town a great place to live. 

Sure, you can promote these events with advertising copy that you paste directly from an event brochure, but if you want people to engage with your content, then you have to engage with people. Think beyond the press release and focus on the stories! Don’t just tell us about the 5K; also tell us about the woman who is running her first-ever 5K. Don’t just tell us about the baseball team; tell us about the kid who hit the grand slam home run! The more you can focus on the people, the less it feels like you are simply bragging or posting obligatory content. Showing us the things that your organization loves is how we see your brand in action. It’s how we understand who you are and why you matter to us.

Explainers and FAQs

The tellers and other customer-facing employees at your credit union’s branches probably spend a lot of their time answering the same questions, over and over and over. “How much money should I keep in my savings account?” “Should I have a money market account?” “Which insurance products should I have?” “Do you offer business accounts?” “What’s the deal with mobile check deposit?!”

Ask your tellers what sorts of questions they answer most, and then use your social media to answer these questions. If you like, you can even record videos of your tellers and customer-facing employees answering the questions! It won’t stop all your customers from asking these questions — but it will save some customers a trip to the bank, and they’ll be grateful for your help.

But you also don’t have to wait for your customers to ask. You can take the lead in offering valuable educational content: tips for paying off credit card debt, easy ways to start saving money, how to improve your credit rating, and so on. Make yourself a valuable trusted partner in your customers’ financial life by offering them useful, usable advice, regularly.

Behind the scenes and employee profiles

The people who make up your credit union are a big part of what makes you unique — so don’t be afraid to tell the stories of your employees. Feature a different employee each week or each month. How do they decorate their desk? What do they do on their weekends? How did they come to work at your credit union? Do they have a big birthday or anniversary coming up? 

Most credit unions benefit from a brand that feels personal and personable: small, when it comes to banking, is a feature, not a bug. Profiling your employees on your social media platforms means your customers will already recognize and know them when they walk into your branch. This can help build trust and makes the experience of banking more accessible and less intimidating.

You can also use your social media to show off your company culture — whatever that means to you. Did you recently take a company trip to a Six Flags park? Is there a new foosball table in the breakroom? Does the staff have a favorite place to go to lunch? All of this is fair game for social media brand building. 

New products

Social media is a tool for so much more than just trying to push products onto your customers — but it is also a great tool when you do have new products you want to announce or introduce. As always, your content will be most engaging when it is personal. Telling people you have a new higher-interest checking account is okay, but you’ll do better if you can find the stories behind the products: what will this new checking account allow your customers to do? Don’t just tell us that you have a new product. Instead, show us how your new product can improve our lives.

When in doubt, remember: social media works best when it is sincere, honest, and human. Less selling, more celebrating! As an advertising agency with experience in the credit union industry, we know content creation and social media management take time, planning, and seamless execution. That’s why we’re here to help. Think of Vibrant as an extension of your marketing department with experienced writers, strategists, videographers, and more. Take your brand to the next level by calling us today at (855) 946-2773!