Guest column contributed to Credit Union Times
One of my first professional mentors loved the saying, “Plan your work, work your plan.” As a young marketer, it was a response to everything I wanted to do. I hated it at the time but grew to love it throughout my career.
Over the years, it has served me well. When it comes to social media, it’s an adage that couldn’t hold more truth.
Of all the content I produce and consultations or services provided by the Credit Union Consulting Group, social media is far and away the highest in demand topic.
The frustration with social media, I’m convinced, comes down to a lack of results.
This is often due to strategic planning for social media efforts being hurried, not well executed or neglected all together.
A winning social media program should achieve two results, in no particular order: Drive value for your fans (your members or potential members) and create growth and opportunity for your credit union.
At the end of the day, taking pause to develop a thoughtful plan will go a long way in pre-empting resource fatigue on social media execution and the inevitable, “So what’s the point of this anyway?” question.
For those of you in the middle of strategic planning season, consider these four steps as a guide to developing a social media strategy that will grow your credit union.