NASHVILLE, Penn.–Marketing is about help, not hype, according to one expert who urged credit unions to quit trying to be “amazing” and instead just be helpful if they really want to cut through the message clutter.
Jay Baer, founder of consulting firm Convince & Convert, told PSCU’s 2016 Member Forum that credit unions can better connect with consumers via social media and other forms of electronic communication by focusing on messages that help people.
“I call this principal ‘Youtility,’” said Baer. “It’s about making marketing that is so useful that people would pay you for it if you asked them.”
Baer gave the example of Hilton Hotels, which developed a blog that simply addresses travel questions people post on the web. For example, someone posting a question on a blog about the best restaurant in town, and Hilton responding by offering suggestions.
“The recommendation has nothing to do with Hilton Hotels,” said Baer. “There was not a pitch to stay at a Hilton at the end of the post.”
Baer said that kind of information is helpful and valuable to consumers, which builds trust in the company that shares it.
“So next time these people are looking for a hotel, they think of Hilton first,” Baer said. “Youtility is fire, social media is gas—you create something so useful that members would pay for it and use social media to tell people about it. It’s indirect marketing, you are embracing the power of eventually.”
Baer acknowledged the “sobering reality” that great marketing has become much harder with the rapid growth of smartphones, agreeing that the messages people receive on their mobile devices all look about the same, whether the communication is from a spouse or the credit union.
“Your members’ attention is much more fragmented today than it was a few years ago,” continued Baer. “With personal and business messages mixed in the same places—your inbox, Twitter, Facebook . . . So anymore it is not about you being better at marketing, it’s about you being more interesting to me than a message from my wife.”
The solution, reiterated Baer, is to stop trying to be amazing and simply be useful.
“Focus on being as useful as possible to people and they will keep you close,” said Baer, adding that the approach fits for credit unions. “You already behave this way. You act like a person to consumers as opposed to a big business.”
Baer said there are three types of “Youtility” communications:
- Self-serve information: Information consumers can browse to make better decisions, including FAQs.
- Talk triggers: Creating a consumer experience that is so useful it exceeds expectations and compels people to talk about it.
- Members are the media: “Understand that. The more you can get your members, and even staff, telling your story, the more believable, persuasive and compelling your story becomes,” Baer said.