2 minutes
From the Editor
This month’s Marketing Section feature, “Content Marketing,” makes me smile. Does anyone else see the irony in this lead? “Not unlike the credit union industry, marketing has evolved greatly in recent years, allowing more precise targeting and engagement through the emerging practice of content marketing.”
The irony is in the “emerging practice” phrase, and don’t feel bad if you didn’t catch it—a minimum of 30 years in the movement is required to understand this could easily have said “re-emerging practice.” The fact is, credit unions are in prime position to ace this “new” marketing tactic. It’s in their DNA.
What I mean is, 30+ years ago, “marketing” and “marketer” were just becoming acceptable terms in the industry, replacing “education” and “newsletter editor.”
Jump ahead to 2014 and education is a big component of content marketing. It’s mainly about “delivering information that helps your audiences,” explains author Scott Gattis, senior digital strategist for ChappellRoberts, a Tampa, Fla., agency. “If traditional marketing is about selling, content marketing is about helping,” he writes.
Based on their pasts and their missions it’s not surprising that many credit unions already excel at content marketing. A quick look at the credit unions @TheRealCUES follows on Twitter reveals tweets on cleaning up credit, protecting against identity theft, and not outliving your retirement savings.
These topics work equally well on Facebook, websites, e-newsletters, even printed newsletters if you still have one. And the beauty is you don’t have to create all the content yourself—in fact, you shouldn’t! Become a content curator, pointing your members to key information they might not see on their own—then add your own insights or a note about how a credit union product or service fits into the story.
That last bit—about how your credit union can help—is a crucial but sometimes overlooked, even shunned, piece of content marketing. Yes, it’s about helping, but the objective is “driving profitable customer action,” notes the Content Marketing Institute. Achieving that balance is the key for today’s successful content marketer, just as it’s always been.
Mary Auestad Arnold
Editor and Publisher
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