Credit unions are taking a toe-in-the-water approach to social media. This strategy typically involves asking a young staff member to set up a Twitter profile and a Facebook fan page and to upload a corporate video or two to YouTube. And that’s it.

Before long, the virtual dust bunnies collect and social media is deemed as a complete waste of time. The sad reality is, it is a waste of time unless you have a long-term integrated commitment to it, something relevant to talk about with your audience, and you do it up in a very unique and big way.

The Social Media Myth

Social media advocates will tell you that traditional media is dead. They will have you believe that TV, radio and print can be completely replaced with social media and word-of-mouth marketing. The promise of Web 2.0 will conquer all. To perpetuate the myth, credit union marketers are being bombarded at industry conferences and in trade publications with the notion that all they need to do is start a blog, a Twitter profile, a Facebook fan page or a YouTube channel and the millions (if not billions) of people on line will find and flock to their lovable credit unions.

While I agree that the social Web is extremely exciting and presents an opportunity to connect like never before, I do not agree that social media is a replacement for all other forms of marketing. What’s missing from all the buzz is the notion that social media is a great addition to other media that marketers have at their disposal. The real power lies in integrated social media marketing. There is a huge opportunity to marry many different marketing approaches.

The Business Case for Integrated Social Media Marketing

Social media as an island-unto-itself offers little ROI—in fact, it can be quite costly. While the social media tools and channels may be free to use, the time commitment to do social media well is definitely not free. Because of this, there is a paradox at play. Unless you are actually getting products and services sales through your social media efforts, it is difficult to justify the expenditure. But to-date, credit unions that have entered the social Web have primarily concentrated on listening to members and have consciously avoided any type of selling. It is widely believed that social media is only to be used to listen and to connect with members and potential members; by being open, transparent and conversational you will demonstrate that your organization cares about its members, and this display of caring will compel people to do business with your credit union.

While this approach has merit, it’s extremely passive and will not satisfy your CEO, CFO and board of directors who want to see a return on investment. I strongly believe in listening and learning from your members on line, but let’s be honest, everyone who is on line representing a company ultimately has something to sell. Why should we feel bad about that? I don’t believe that marketing and sales are off-limits in your social media outlets.

A legitimate business case can be made when you combine “listening + engagement” executed with “care + conviction” in an open and honest way, set against the backdrop of a really relevant product offer and a really compelling social media challenge. Within this framework, members and non-members will be receptive to your marketing and sales messages. You can actually measure your campaigns by counting up the total products sold and the total deposits, loans or investments made. This is the simplest way to measure your expenditure of time and energy in such a campaign.

One Way to Make Noise

You need to ignite a following and create real excitement. One way to draw considerable attention to your credit union is by throwing down a unique challenge stoked with significant rewards, and by encouraging people to creatively participate, compete and connect.

In the case of our Young & Free Spokester Challenge, the idea is to compete for a dream job with a great salary, great gear and total freedom to be creative on line. This gets young people fired up and really moves the campaign beyond passive contesting and throw-away promotions.

Your challenge should drive a select group of people to action. Ideally, it should grow naturally from your credit union’s focus and brand while aligning with your credit union’s goals and objectives.

Challenge Site Needs to do a Lot

I am a big advocate of a having a dedicated microsite for your program. It really comes down to features and functionality. To successfully host an integrated social media program, the site needs to do a lot. Your site must have the ability to embed videos, podcasts and other widgets from various Web services. Your layout must incorporate various ways to reveal all the great content within your site.

If your program will include a public vote, your site will need to allow for quick layout changes between phases and you will need to design a voting system that is easy to use and completely secure. In addition, your site will need to include prominent links to mainstream social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others. And finally, a blog with an RSS feed is a must.

If you can do all that on your corporate Web site, go for it. However, corporate IT departments prefer to keep their networks as closed as possible. Your IT department would probably not be very open to embedding third-party code from YouTube, providing direct links to Twitter, Facebook or MySpace or allowing site visitors to leave comments on your primary corporate Web site.

Even though the security risks for doing so are low, most IT departments are intentionally conservative when it comes to Web 2.0. I completely understand this position, as IT’s first priority is to keep your network up and running and to make sure that your members have uninterrupted access to your online banking system.