Social Media Efforts Not Excelling?

Director of Marketing Lindsey Hefta has some tips
​to remain relevant to both your company and your audiences’ interests and needs. 

by Lindsey Hefta, Director of Marketing

Is your credit union active on social media, but your social channels aren’t excelling like you thought they would?  This could be a result of a few variables:

1) Time of day you post.
• When are your readers most active and engaged? Test posting content at various times of day to see what gets the most engagement. When I worked directly for regional financial institution, best results, regardless of content, was always between the hours of 7:00 am and 8:15 am.

2) How often you post.
• Facebook and all social channels, like Google, have individual algorithms they follow. The right posting frequency helps to keep your audience engaged without bombarding them with too much content. The frequency in which you post should be driven by a couple of factors:
a.) How many followers are on your channel. Hubspot found that pages under 10,000 followers experienced a 50% drop in engagement per post if they posted more than once per day.
b.) What channel are you posting on – each has its own best practices for frequency in which you should be actively publishing content. 

3) How long is your post.
• Use shorter subject lines. Use shorter sentences. People like when a message makes its point quickly and concisely. People are constantly scrolling. Catch their eye. Make them stop and quickly review your content – not read an entire blog post – they won’t do it, not on social. 

4) What content you are posting.
• While posting additional content may help to some extent, the more relevant and useful your content is, the better your social channels will do.
• I encourage you to have an even mix of content – all with supporting images! Your posts should have a good mix of products/services (calls to action), videos, news/blogs, and stories – about your brand/credit union, staff, members, your community, etc. Other content to post could include testimonials, podcasts, and events – just to name a few.

Social algorithms have begun to place emphasis on the types of content which will provide the follower with value, rather than just showing the follower everything that is posted. Be selective about what you’re publishing. Link back to your website. Remain relevant to both your company as well as your audiences’ interests and needs. And most importantly, don’t be afraid to test various ideas and theories to see what works best for your credit union! 

I’m happy to answer any of your marketing questions or concerns; don’t hesitate to reach out to me at lhefta@dakcu.org. 

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