How to 'Speak' Video

Some credit unions adding video to their marketing mix aim to tell a moving story, like a “day in a life” compilation of a member doing missionary work in Greece, providing food, clothing, and comfort to refugee families from war-torn countries.

Other credit unions go for humor: A series of short spots showcase Northern pride (don’t worry—the huge bear in the background is “just a metaphor”). A customer enters 1st National Gargantuan Bank and is stripped, piece by piece, of his clothing (“How much more do you want them to take?”). A person who is “tired of getting nickel and dimed” is followed around by the personification of 15 cents. A guy who has a meltdown over a malfunctioning printer is saved by his “DramaFreeDebit” card.

Still others emphasize member service “with a little marketing thrown in,” as in a series of videos featuring credit union employees explaining the basics of bill-pay, shared branching and mobile access.

Some credit unions, especially those investing in TV commercials, work with professional videographers, while others take a do-it-yourself approach. Almost all of their videos can be found easily online using the second busiest search engine on the Internet, YouTube.

“Video offers a strong emotional aspect that other media don’t have,” says Glenn Horn, associate creative director and “video guru” with the marketing agency ChappellRoberts, Tampa, Fla. “There can be huge power to small videos if you find a way to connect with your audience.”

Money is a topic that resonates with most people, Horn suggests, citing MasterCard’s “priceless” campaign as an effective example of tapping into the emotions associated with financial decisions. “Finances connect to emotional experiences in both positive and negative ways. Money matters are a basic and universal aspect of people’s lives.”

Connect With Your Community

Northern Credit Union, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, taps into the emotions of regional pride and community connections in 15- and 30-second videos designed to launch the CU’s “True North Strong” brand, cultivate higher awareness, and “tap on the shoulder of a specific demographic to drive down our average member age and get some traction moving forward,” says CUES member Tony Dunham, SVP/sales, marketing, and channel management for the $800 million CU with 55,000 members.

The light-hearted spots, which were produced as TV commercials and reformatted to share online, have garnered more than 18 million digital impressions originating from YouTube, the credit union’s website, and social media.

The eight videos also helped produce a 57 percent increase in website traffic. The credit union logged 138,000 views in the month after posting its first three spots on YouTube in the summer of 2013 and has achieved the rare feat of going viral with the help of extensive shares from viewers.

In addition, in surveys of 11,000 people across the CU’s market area before the ad campaign was launched and again nine months later, Northern CU saw a 13 percent lift in awareness and an 18.7 percent increase in the number of people who would consider opening an account.

One other sign of its videos’ reach was that within 30 days, big brands like Starbucks and GNC had picked up on the “true north strong” theme and began mirroring those words in their ads. “We figured we must be on to something,” Dunham says. “You can’t trademark these words—they’re the main words in the national anthem. Northern Credit Union is the first one in the financial sector to use that phrase, but we don’t have a lot of control over how other entities not competing in our space use it.”

TV ad production and air time accounts for about 40 percent of Northern CU’s marketing budget, and another 33 percent supports digital marketing. Dunham calculates the per-click cost of sharing video online at about 7 cents per click, since the content is repurposed, compared to $5 per TV view.

Still, the most common answers to a third question on that survey on what viewers found most appealing about the TV commercials was their professional quality and national perspective.

“TV is expensive but we knew we had to spend the money for a message and talent that aligns with our brand,” he says. “We knew we needed someone who knew what they were doing.”

Marketers at Northern CU spent a year and a half reviewing RFPs before settling on three independent professionals from British Columbia, in a partnership facilitated by Central 1 Credit Union, Vancouver, to plan, script and produce the videos.

Represent Your Brand

Sharing TV spots on your website and via social media optimizes your investment, but keep in mind that commercials don’t necessarily translate to the most successful online content. While TV advertising typically aims at a broad audience, the Internet permits “almost a one-to-one conversation to a particular consumer segment,” notes Jonathan Lay, chief content officer for CU Grow, Houston.

Investing in video production and sharing that content online presents lot of possibilities, for showcasing a new branch, featuring member testimonials, and offering educational content on buying a car or comparing mortgage options, to name a few examples. Just make sure the video you are posting reflects your brand and speaks to your intended audience, Lay advises.

The fact that you can produce a short video on Vine and post it on Facebook in less than the time it will take you to read this article “is not an excuse to produce poor quality,” he says. On the other hand, if you’re looking to connect with Gen Y members, the finished product “can be a little rough around the edges. People are smart. They know when you’re trying to sell them something slick.”

As credit unions get more comfortable with video, suggests Mike Lawson, CUbroadcast host, they will likely capitalize on opportunities to produce and deliver targeted video series via their websites and social media to members interested in home loans, auto loans, debt issues, investing and retirement.

With the ubiquity of smartphones doubling as video cameras and the Internet as a distribution channel, “we’re all sort of content creators these days,” Horn notes. Video produced in house can engage online viewers, especially if it’s touting a homespun or grassroots message and targeted to a younger audience who are more receptive to videos that are “less produced.”

On the other hand, “you’d be surprised what someone who does this for a living can bring to the table,” both in terms of technical expertise and “the knowledge to put together a story,” he says. “I don’t think money for equipment is the barrier. It’s more about the message and the talent behind the scenes and in front of the camera. That’s what people see.”

Strike the Right Chords

Using humor can be especially tricky, Horn cautions. It’s hard to pull off comedy well.

“Comedy is risky,” Dunham agrees. “You have to have a good writer. Everything we’re doing plays a part in the journey of this brand. For every version we signed off on and approved, we probably went through 100 others to make sure we had the right one.”

“You can’t be all things to everyone, but we knew we needed clean humor that is respectful of our environment and of the different cultures here in northern Ontario,” he adds.

In fact, Northern CU has experience with unexpected and unintended controversy. An ad campaign featuring a bearded baby with a message about growing your savings won awards—and drew a few irate social media comments that the image could offend the Amish and Mennonite communities. In fact, when Dunham reached out to members of those communities (who obviously were not behind the online comments), they laughed about the concept and said they had no problem with it. Still, Northern CU pulled the image from advertising in some markets.

Finding Video Talent on Staff

Interra Credit Union’s entry into video production was a happy accident. When Marketing Director Karen Steffensen went looking for a marketing coordinator two years ago, experience in shooting and editing video wasn’t in the job description, but Tim Vogel brought those talents with him, and the $685 million/55,000-member Goshen, Ind., credit union has put them to good use (see the videos).

The credit union has produced a series of marketing videos promoting the theme of not getting “nickel and dimed,” with two staff members personifying those coins. It also has produced helpful member service videos, but the most-watched entry on Interra CU’s YouTube channel, garnering almost 1,000 views to date, is a bloopers compilation from the in-house shoots. “It’s very engaging, and it obviously speaks to members who use social media,” Steffensen notes.

Interra CU spent about $2,000 for a “decent camera and microphone” and editing software. Employees write the scripts and serve as on-screen talent as well, so the videos are low-cost but deliver helpful information from familiar faces.

“They basically provide a member service, but there’s marketing going on there, too,” she says. “Video offers new and different ways to engage members. You can buy a lot of video services about credit cards and home equity loans, but they’re never about your credit cards and your home equity loans.”

If an employee has the interest and commitment to learn the ropes of video production, start small, and then assess the quality of the product and the member response, Lay suggests. “You should be happy with the end result. If you don’t feel it represents your brand, you should pull the plug and try again.”

On the other hand, “for most marketing departments, their plates are already full,” he acknowledges. “If you’ve got a tight budget and an already overloaded staff, consider contacting the video production department at a local university or community college to see if they have students with a demo reel you can review who are looking to gain some work experience.”

Nearby colleges might also offer access to on-screen talent, but you might find some engaging characters on staff as well. CU Grow filmed a series of video shorts featuring Arrieta Kacey and John Black, two employees of Proctor, W.V.-based $357 million/33,000-member Bayer Heritage Federal Credit Union. (For two examples from their DramaFreeDebit series, see http://tinyurl.com/bayfedslap and http://tinyurl.com/bayfeddrama; on the Bayer Heritage FCU channel.)

Video can also be a good way of connecting your CEO directly with members—as long as he or she feels comfortable in front of the camera. “If they’re uncomfortable, you can see that immediately when the camera starts rolling,” Lay says. “Videos allow credit unions to humanize their brand, but if people are just reading off the script or teleprompter, it feels inauthentic.”

Find a Message That Resonates

Videos add a powerful dimension to Evangelical Christian Credit Union’s digital channels, its primary marketing medium. “We feel that video allows us to share our members’ stories in a way that resonates with our mission of investing in ministry and being a part of the work they’re doing,” says Valerie Blaze, marketing manager for the Brea, Calif., credit union with $2.4 billion in assets and 11,600 members.

Evangelical Christian CU produces and posts videos of the work its organizational and individual members are doing overseas and domestically. Because these stories are a central part of its marketing, the credit union recently hired a professional videographer with experience in documentary filmmaking to travel to Greece and create a video profile of the missionary work of members Lisa and Kenn Dirrim. In a separate video, the couple talks about how banking with Evangelical Christian CU helps them manage their finances while they travel for their missionary work.

Other videos showcase churches and ministries that rely on the credit union’s services. As Evangelical Christian CU widens its focus from primarily serving churches and ministry nonprofits to offer individual accounts, it will use online video to help promote a special offer for members who sign on for new direct savings accounts and certificates unveiled to mark the CU’s 50th anniversary. When they open a new account, members can select one of four member ministries to receive a $20 donation from the credit union; each of those organizations will be featured in an online presentation.

About 5 percent of Blaze’s marketing budget is devoted to video production. Sending a film crew overseas can be expensive and time consuming, “but we think it’s worth it,” she says. “We have plans to continue developing videos both of international ministries and missionaries and those closer to home.”

In-House and out and About

Video is a versatile tool, useful not only in traditional marketing like TV ads but in communicating with employees, sharing simple presentations, and showcasing the credit union’s participation in community events, notes Kate Lee, marketing manager of $1.7 billion/180,000-member Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union, St. Paul, Minn.

YouTube still features a “ditch your bank” commercial Affinity Plus FCU posted three years ago set in the afore-mentioned fictional Gargantuan Bank, which has more than 64,000 views. The CU has also posted presentations it has created for community events like the Polar Bear Plunge and new employee orientations for its Preferred Partners (see http://youtu.be/S1fi7dMvUvc and http://youtu.be/NFZCDdxqUT4).

The Gargantuan Bank commercial dates back to an era when big banks were being widely criticized for poor service and high fees. “That’s not the way we run our business, and we saw an opportunity to share our model while at the same time giving people the knowledge to take a stand for themselves and expect something different,” Lee says. “Ultimately, the intended end result was for people to take a closer look at their banking relationship—and then make a switch” by navigating to a special URL at the end of the video.

This year, Affinity Plus FCU shifted its marketing focus to improving communication and feedback channels, including social media, with existing members. “Social media has been a great tool to leverage because it makes it easy for people to see our videos as well as share them,” she adds. “We also used our social media channels to recruit volunteers to be in our most recent commercial. In the future when we begin to externally advertise with commercials, we’ll look to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social channels to share the content.”

Internally, Affinity Plus FCU uses video to communicate with staff about new and existing products and services, changes in procedures, employee appreciation and recognition, services, charities the credit union supports, and upcoming events.

Even in in-house video, humor plays a role: “One of our most popular internal videos was our skip-a-payment video in which we parodied the Brady Bunch intro,” Lee says.

While the CU works with professional video production firms for its TV spots, the staff-focused and community events videos are produced internally with a marketing staffer doubling as the videographer.

Measure Your Reach

The number of online views is one metric to gauge the reach of your videos, but “don’t get too hung up on this,” Lay cautions. “If you have people watching your videos in the local community, that’s one thing, but if most of the views are from South Korea or a distant state, that doesn’t translate to the bottom line.”

Audience engagement is another useful metric. Are viewers watching the entire video or clicking it off halfway or less through? “If people are dropping off at a certain point, you might want to refine it,” Lay suggests. One tool CU Grow uses are “heat maps” designed by the video hosting platform Wistia that show which parts of a video viewers are watching and rewatching and which parts they’re skipping. Wistia also allows users to set up an email capture as part of a video.

Click-through traffic from the video to your website or a dedicated page is a clear sign of engagement, he adds.

Bang for the Buck

The cost of TV advertising varies widely from market to market. Some local stations may bundle production and air time, so it’s worth checking out those costs. “Consumer TV watching habits are changing, so make sure the people you want to target are actually watching,” Lay recommends. “These days, about half of viewers are watching during commercial breaks. The other half are fast-forwarding with their DVRs or just ignoring the breaks.”

Horn advocates for the effectiveness of TV advertising, especially in competitive markets. With the broad range of network and cable channels, credit unions can aim for either a broad or narrower audience. And digital venues for TV programming, such as Hulu, offer additional options, especially for reaching younger viewers.

On the wide-open Internet, “your messaging has to shine,” Lawson says. “If a boxing cat video can have 3 million views, certainly your credit union can produce something decent online to get a mere fraction of those numbers and be a success.”

Karen Bankston is a long-time contributor to Credit Union Management and writes about credit unions, membership growth, marketing, operations and technology. She is the proprietor of Precision Prose, Stoughton, Wis.