CLARK, N.J.—Aspire FCU has found a way to more than quadruple the number of monthly unique visitors to its blog, which the credit union says is generating business for the CU.
Less than two years ago Aspire redesigned not only the look of its blog, but changed the focus of the content as well. “The Dream BIG!” blog’s content now reflects a new strategy in which it has moved away from providing general information and news about the credit union to providing content aimed at helping consumers in their everyday lives.
That move increased traffic dramatically, as the blog’s 300 monthly unique visitors soon became 2,000.
“You can’t have a blog that promotes your products and services; that simply is not the kind of information members and non-members are looking for from the credit union on its blog. What we are putting out is valuable information consumers often have questions about, such as cyber scams, car buying, saving energy…,” said CEO Thomas O’Shea, noting that the topics are often those that can be related back to financial services.
Driving Business Back To The CU
Some of the categories listed on the site include Advice for Life, Spring Break, Security, Money Management and Home Ownership.
For instance, a recent post on taxes states: “Before going out and spending your tax refund check, take some time to understand where that refund comes from…Review your taxes and see where you can be saving money. Be aware of where your money is going and develop a plan to keep yourself from falling into debt.”
“In the end the purpose is to drive business back to the credit union,” said O’Shea, recognizing that the approach is indirect and can take time for a consumer to act. “But we feel we are becoming a friendly, trusted resource for members and non-members, so we are top of mind when a financial need arises.”
The blog also has a pop-up window so consumers can chat live with an Aspire Credit Union employee.
CMO Laura Harding said the blog works especially well for members’ life events, such as sending a child to college.
“When members hit a milestone in their life, and need to do some research on a topic, we want them to think of our blog for information and then the credit union for the services,” said Harding. “We want them to think of us first.”
New Articles
To keep news fresh, Aspire posts a minimum of three new articles a week, and often updates the site daily. Harding said the digital marketing specialist on staff manages the site and the content, and gets an assist from a journalism intern from a local college.
In the last few years Aspire has moved away from bricks and mortar to become largely a virtual CU. Aspire just closed its sixth office and now has only one location, which will remain open. The $183-million credit union has a strong digital platform that allows members to manage all of their banking needs online, including opening and closing loans.
But as CUs move more to digital service and away from face-to-face interaction with members, experts have stated that they fear credit unions may lose their competitive advantage of friendly service that cannot be easily conveyed via the Internet.
O’Shea hopes the blog can deliver some of that friendliness and personal touch members are accustomed to receiving from the credit union directly.
“The friendly, informative information we have on our blog carries the tone of the conversations members might have if they came into our branch and spoke to a teller or MSR,” said O’Shea. “Since we don’t have as many of those kinds of conversations with our members anymore, the blog is a perfect way to do that.”
Messages That Help People
Jay Baer, founder of consulting firm Convince & Convert, recently stated that marketing on social media is about help, not hype, adding that credit unions are positioned well to stand out by adopting this approach. During PSCU’s 2016 Member Forum he said credit unions can better connect with consumers via social media and other forms of electronic communication by focusing on messages that help people.
“We are in the business of building trust and credibility among our members and the community,” said O’Shea. “And that is exactly what our Dream BIG! blog does for us.”