Comments on: No ROI on Social Media? Here’s Why

By: Why Social Media Is a Waste of Time for Most Banks & Credit Unions : The Financial Brand: Marketing Insights for Banks & Credit Unions

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 14:13:23 +0000

[...] This is why the financial industry has been experimenting with social media for at least five years and yet there is still virtually no hard evidence demonstrating a clear, measurable and direct ROI. [...]

By: Editor

Editor — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:43:48 +0000

To continue the analogy, is social media a tool that’s as essential as a hammer? If you were equipping a financial marketing “toolbelt,” where would social media fit in? Is it the first tool you’d put in the belt?

By: ACU Frank

ACU Frank — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:26:33 +0000

I understand the hammer analogy, and it’s a good one. However, when you need to go to the garage for a hammer, there had better be one there. Likewise, if you don’t start your social media efforts until you have a problem to solve, you will be sorely disappointed in how long it takes to see the results.

By: Luke Owen

Luke Owen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:07:59 +0000

Love the post Jeff. It will fit well with the one I’m working on now about content marketing. The simple fact of the matter is that people don’t want to just follow anyone on social media. They want to follow those who will entertain them and provide them with something of interest based on their stage in life. If bankers just start using social media to spout messages about their branch hours, open houses, parties, and other little things nobody really cares about then they’re missing the whole point of social media. But as you stated, social media alone isn’t the answer. It’s a combination of traditional with social that can help you achieve your goals. And hopefully those goals are to sell more of your products and services, not just to talk online.

By: Jeffry Pilcher

Jeffry Pilcher — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:23:52 +0000

Besides Currency’s “Young & Free” program, can anyone name a social media project from a bank or credit union that has brought in 1,000 new customers/members? Or resulted in 1,000 new checking accounts?

Currency’s “Young & Free” program is successful because (1) they integrate products, services and offers — despite how many social media experts say this is a major no-no, and, to DallasAdMan’s point, (2) they use as much (if not more) traditional media to support the program as they do social media.

By: Editor

Editor — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:20:59 +0000

Thanks for the comment Jason.

By: Jason M. Dias

Jason M. Dias — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:46:51 +0000

As some of you know eloquent online began as a “shadow” CUSO for Chetco FCU in 2007 to study the viability of social media. I have to agree that even at Chetco where we stay on the cutting edge we have not seen any dramatic results from our social media sites. I think SM is for us, the vendors and non-industrial CU types that are out there shaking things up. For all the gee wiz stuff about Twitter and Facebook, Chetco FCU is looking at the use of traditional media this year; radio, TV and though it hurts me to say it….newspaper. We are however going to meet today to explore the idea of sponsoring a musician who in turn will allow us to put a 2 dimensional bar code inside the CD cover which when photographed with a smart phone will take that person directly to our site. Not sure what kind of media that is, but this article was the first one I have printed out since 2001. Bravo.

By: John Mathes

John Mathes — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:47:05 +0000

Denise Wymore — congrats on the blog traffic. Some businesses or services are naturally going to do better with SM than others. As everyone has stated, it takes a mix and an assortment of tools to market effectively. Not sure why you singled out direct mail as your “add on” question… but yes, I believe direct marketing (not necessarily direct mail) would boost your business. It all depends on the accuracy of your contact database coupled with the predisposed awareness and understanding of your brand that the recipient has for your services.

By: CU Water Cooler » Blog Archive » CU Water Cooler 3/3

CU Water Cooler » Blog Archive » CU Water Cooler 3/3 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:55:11 +0000

[...] • The Financial Brand » No ROI on social media? Here’s why [...]

By: DallasAdMan

DallasAdMan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:06:55 +0000

We need to do a better job of talking to the C level guys about UNDERSTANDING SM and its many uses. Some are not quaifiable (read: ROI). Some are yet another channel for comunication and BRAND flow. Sometimes its for cusotmer service. Sometimes its a Brand monitor and Yes, sometimes its good for integrate offers and promotions.

By: Editor

Editor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:04:45 +0000

The trick isn’t to find some fancy formula or calculation based on new metrics. The solution is simple: integrate offers, promotions and products into your social media programs.

By: Editor

Editor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:01:57 +0000

Mikal, you’re talking about pumping up the “Investment” (the “I” in “ROI”). There still needs to be an “R” — “return.”

By: Mikal

Mikal — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:44:55 +0000

This presentation by Olivier Blanchard validates the importance of ROI in social media and discuses how to achieve that goal.

The number one reasons Credit Union’s fail in delivering ROI in social media is because of not investing enough resources to be successful.

http://www.slideshare.net/thebrandbuilder/olivier-blanchard-basics-of-social-media-roi

P.S. Highly suggest reading the Brand Builder Blog!

By: Jeffry Pilcher

Jeffry Pilcher — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:42:17 +0000

Think about this. If there were a ton of social media projects in the financial industry with a huge ROI, The Financial Brand’s readers would have definitely heard about them. Between all the conferences, webinars, trade media, bloggers and Twitterers out there, there are very few truly successful ideas that escape mainstreamification. Look around the web and you’ll see that whenever anyone has cracked the social media ROI problem, they’ve shared their results loud and proud. No one can keep a secret, especially when they’ve been successful + innovative (in a socially/wired space!). Social media ROI is like marketing’s Holy Grail right now. People are falling over themselves to solve the mystery and claim immortality.

By: Editor

Editor — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:40:27 +0000

Thanks for the comments and feedback everyone.