8 Things Your Credit Union Needs to Have on its Website

Website design can be a tricky business. Having a well thought out website is essential for a good user experience. If your credit union is considering a website rebuild, here are the top things you should have on your website.

• Security – With weekly news reports of a data breach with another large retailer, security with personal information is at the forefront of every member’s mind. It’s important to let your credit union’s members know that your site is secure and that when they login they can be assured that their personal information will be safe.
• Good visual design – After establishing the security for your credit union’s website, the next big thing to look at is its design. Designing a visually pleasing website that is clean and simple in will ensure that your members come back time and time again. If the website lacks in visual design or elements of the site are hard to find, members will not use it.
• Search bar – Every great website has an easy-to-find search bar that allows the member to search the site quickly for exactly what they are looking for. For most users, the search bar is a faster way to find what they need.
• Social media links – If your credit union has social media profiles, make sure those links are on your website. Social media users tend to “like” or “follow” the organizations they frequent on social media – giving them easy access to information they post.
• Easy to find contact information – Most of the members coming to your site will be looking to check their balances or find a way to contact your credit union directly. Contact information that includes phone numbers, addresses and email addresses should be in a location that members can get to in one to two clicks. 
• Education – Financial information can get very technical, especially when it comes to the terminology. An education resource center that provides information about the products and services your credit union offers can help you and your members in many ways.
• Links – Your credit union website should include links throughout the site to other pages that are relevant to the content on the page. Not only should your site have links to other pages on your site but it should also include links to outside sources that are creditable and help your members have a better understanding for what they are looking for. 
• News section – Providing your members with the most up-to-date financial information will let your members know that you are in tune with the latest news.  The most important thing to remember is to update the section often with the correct financial news that will help your members.

If you are considering a website rebuild, let CU Solutions help. CU Solutions has the tools to help you make the best possible credit union website for your members. With our helpful website compliance review, content management system and website design and development products, we can take your credit union website for ordinary to extraordinary! 

What Makes Your Credit Union Unique?

When we work with credit unions on a marketing campaign, social media plan, website or an HR consultation we often ask them “what makes your credit union unique?” More often than not, they’ll say that it’s their member service, variety of products or mobile banking. While these are all great answers, if all credit unions say this – then these features aren’t truly unique, are they?

Sometimes you need to sit back and look at your credit union and its website, marketing materials and offerings as if you were a member and see if there’s something that would set you apart from the competition. Or you could always conduct a member survey to determine what your differentiators are in their eyes. 

If you’re still not sure what makes your credit union unique, here are some places to start in your search:

• Personality – Spread out all of your marketing materials and look at your website – do they have a common voice? Does the verbiage help convey a personality for your credit union or is most of it in business “brochure-speak?” Members want to feel a brand personality and a connection to the organizations they do business with. This is true especially for Gen Y and younger, they want to feel like they can identify with you, that your credit union “gets” them, so be sure to write your materials with that in mind.
  
  This common voice and personality should also be evident in your social media – one of the most informal forms of member communication. Share interesting non-financial related articles or fun staff photos from recent promotions or outreach events. Social media is a great outlet for showing off your credit union’s sense of humor and community involvement. Just make sure to keep all content business appropriate.
  
  
• Rewards – More often than not these days, people expect to be rewarded for doing business with you. No matter how great your rates may be or how few fees you charge, these aren’t enough. And everyone offers a credit card with reward points these days. It’s time to think bigger. Offer relationship-based programs that encourage members to bring all of their accounts to you. Many credit unions now give their members special yearly dividends on their accounts to boost wallet share.
  
  Another option is to help them save. Everyone wants to save money, and with the credit union credo of putting members first, a dynamic discount rewards program could be just what you need. Invest in America offers exclusive discounts on what people buy every day – from new cars and roadside services to monthly wireless service and satellite TV.
  
  
• Technology – Keeping up with the current website technology is basically a credit union requirement these days. How you do it is what matters. Your website is the first contact many people will have with your credit union – so make sure they can see it the way it was meant to be seen with responsive design. This lets your members have a seamless online experience whether they visit your site on a PC, tablet or smartphone. Speaking of smartphones, members are becoming more tech-savvy and expect their mobile banking app to be able to do almost everything they can do in your branches.
  
  Other ways you can set your credit union apart online is by offering online chat as a member service tool or a searchable FAQ section to get their questions answered. Financial literacy can also be a differentiator, so offer members helpful articles, videos or podcasts to help guide them.
  
  
• Staff – Sometimes it is excellent member service that sets your credit union apart. A happy staff leads to happy members and a happy credit union. Make your recruiting count and hire the right people for the right jobs. Once they’re hired, have a solid onboarding process in place so they can hit the ground running in their new position. Many credit unions have a “buddy system” in place so your new hire has a go-to person already on staff to help them smoothly navigate your credit union’s culture.
  
  Don’t forget about your current staff. Sometimes it’s easy to hire someone, train them and then have them fall off of HR’s radar. Stop that from happening by offering useful performance reviews and ongoing training, including your managers. The better your staff understands your credit union and their role in it, the better they’ll be able to serve your members.

Finding what makes your credit union truly unique is a complicated, continual process. But don’t be afraid to dive in and uncover things that set you apart from the competition – your credit union’s success could depend on it.

Negative Posts: Why Your Credit Union Needs a Social Media Strategy

Does your credit union have a plan in place if it gets a negative comment or post on one of its social media platforms? If you don’t have this best practices plan in place, you’re not alone. Last month research from Social Media Marketing University has shown that 48% of marketing professionals in the U.S. don’t have an effective plan for negative remarks online. 23% of the respondents aren’t even working on a plan, while 25% don’t have one but are in the process of developing one.

The company’s research also discovered that 21% of marketing professionals rarely or never even respond to a customer complaint on social media. Fortunately, 52% of those surveyed said they respond within 24 hours, and 18% said the reply to negative remarks within an hour.

While it may not always be feasible to respond within the first hour, you should have a social media plan in place that requires you to respond within 24 hours if possible. Credit unions are well known for their exceptional member service – this should also be the mantra for your social media interactions with current and potential members. Make sure someone is monitoring your social media channels every day and that you have a chain of command in place in case you do get that random negative post. All of your followers will be judging your credit union on how it handles these critical comments, not just the disgruntled member who posted it.

Creating a Social Media Strategy

Putting a plan together for how to handle negative comments or posts is just one of many factors to consider with a social media strategy. Chances are, if you don’t have a plan for remarks like these you probably don’t have an overall strategy in place either. Developing and implementing a social media strategy might seem a bit extreme for some credit unions, but it is a surefire way to ensure everyone is on the same page and emphasize that your credit union is taking its social media endeavors seriously.

To put a good strategy together you need to start with a social media audit. It’s a good way to take a pulse of not only what your credit union is doing, but what your chief competitors are up to online as well. Determine what platforms your credit union should have a presence on, who at your credit union is responsible for generating and approving content and what your current and future goals are. 

Once you perform an audit and answer all of those questions, put it all together in a formal document and you’ve got a social media strategy! If all of this seems daunting or you simply don’t have the time or resources to conduct an audit or put together a strategy – contact us at CU Solutions Group. We’ve helped many credit unions put together solid and achievable social media plans – including how to handle a negative post – and we’d be happy to help your credit union as well.