How to Share Your Bank or Credit Union Story and Why It’s So Important

Why you should share your story

 

Imagine this. Your team has just finished hosting a really awesome, super impactful financial education event. A dozen people showed up and you taught them how to raise their credit score and qualify for better loans. After the event, several community members came up to you and thanked you for teaching them. They know this information will be priceless as they do their best to get out of debt and build their dream life. 

 

Good job! Pat yourself on the back because having this kind of impact is difficult! It takes a lot of time, dedication, and effort, and you pulled it off with flying colors. You’ve made a difference in twelve people’s lives, and they will forever remember the good your institution has done for them. 

 

But…what if this impact didn’t stop at these twelve people? 

 

What if you could take this one event and impact hundreds of people? Even those who were too busy to show up or didn’t know they needed to learn this valuable information? 

 

Sounds impossible, but it’s not. By sharing your story, you can take one event and turn it into a lasting impact for hundreds of community members counting on you to guide them through their financial journey. This one event can build goodwill, strengthen relationships, and lead people to your financial products. 

 

Financial institutions aren’t typically seen as caring entities with a story to tell, but that isn’t true. And your job as a bank or credit union employee is to leverage that story to grow your institution.  

 

What does it mean to share your story?

 

“Share your story” may sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Sharing your story shouldn’t be difficult, time-consuming, or expensive. The main goal here is to show community members that there are people behind the corporate mask of your institution. Adding this human element to your brand will serve to humanize your institution as a whole. And that will help community members connect with and relate to your institution’s goals, values, and mission statement.

 

Remember that super awesome financial education event? Once it’s over, it’s time to share your story. Post pictures on Instagram, share your impact on LinkedIn, and include a snippet in your monthly newsletter. Show that your institution cares about the people who attended this event. You can even include a bit of what you taught so others can learn about raising their credit score and know that they should attend the next event you hold. 

 

See? This is how to impact more than just those who attended the event. Not very difficult. 

 

Here are some things to keep in mind as you share your story.

 

                                

 

Tips for sharing your story

 

Stories should be built around people, not products

 

As mentioned above, your story should be built around your people. Yes, your products are important, and there is a time and place to promote those to your audience. But when your intention is to share your story, nobody cares about the products you offer. They care about how you help the community, how you relate to them and their problems, and how you’ve managed to do so much good. So show them!

 

Photos speak a thousand words

 

While what you say about your institution is important, photos will draw your audience in and humanize your institution. Share photos of bank or credit union employees at community events, enjoying department parties, hard at work, and anything else that shows the heart behind your institution. 

 

Not every photo or post has to be professional and boring. Try mixing it up! Post pictures of the pie-eating contest your institution had last summer. Post pictures of employee pets. When you have fun with it, community members are more likely to engage with your content and understand your story. 

 

Encourage others to share

 

Your social media manager or whoever has taken on the bulk of sharing your institution’s story shouldn’t have to do it alone. To truly share a story, you need several people involved who believe in your institution’s mission and want to share it with the community. This may mean encouraging other departments to submit photos for social media, asking employees to share something on their personal accounts, interviewing community members who’ve been impacted by your institution, or anything else that takes some of the burden off your team. 

 

Play the long game

 

Your audience isn’t going to understand your institution’s story overnight. It’s going to take a long time of repeated information, catchy titles, and fun photos for even one person to understand what your institution stands for and the good you’ve done. 

 

And because community members come and go, there will always be fresh eyes and potential customers to share your story with. 

 

Don’t start sharing your story with overnight success in mind. This is a long game that should only be played if you’re willing to take the proper time and energy to consistently update your audience and keep your institution fresh on their mind. But when done right, the results are well worth it (hello lasting impact!).

 

Where to share your story

 

Social media

 

There are lots of ways to share your story, but possibly the most popular is on social media. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter…These are all great ways to share your story and connect with your audience. 

 

Representing a financial institution may make you feel as though you have to be professional and stuffy all the time. But people are more likely to connect with brands that get down on their level. Brands that are fun and inspiring and—occasionally—silly. If you can get the necessary approval from management, try and move away from being professional all the time. There’s a time and place for that, but for the most part, social media isn’t it. 

 

Post fun pictures, send out polls, use colloquial slang. The bottom line? Show personality. That’s how you form a connection. 

 

 

Website

 

Your website is another great place to share your story. This often comes in the form of a community involvement page where you highlight the good your institution does and show how you’re involved in the community. Remember to humanize the institution and heavily feature employee pictures and real-life moments, not some stock image you downloaded because it looks nice. 

 

Your website may not see as much traffic as your social media posts, since community members either have to seek it out or click a direct link to it. But it is still a powerful tool and a great way to highlight the amazing things you do.

 

 

Community pages and organizations

 

As your team works with various community groups and nonprofits, go ahead and ask them to help share your story. They can share pictures on their own social media pages and webpages, as well as on any other pages or groups they may be a part of. The more people you have sharing your story, the better!

 

In branches

 

An often-overlooked place to share your story is inside your bank or credit union branches. Tell customers about the neat event you just wrapped up. Hang posters for upcoming events and collect registrations. Display pictures on a digital screen that highlights the good you do in your community.

 

If your branches don’t have digital screens, check out Kiosk & Display. Digital screens can do a lot more than just share your story (although that’s a huge part of it). Digital screens can share impact numbers, images, volunteer opportunities, upcoming events, and more. They’re a wonderful resource for both your employees and your customers!

 

 

Newsletter

 

Does your institution have a weekly/monthly/quarterly newsletter? This might be physical or digital, but newsletters are a great way to connect with your audience and share what your institution is up to. 

 

You might share photos from your recent events. You might share impact numbers. Maybe you include a monthly financial tip and share that you taught this to a group of community members. 

 

There are so many things to consider when sending a newsletter, from figuring out how to grow your newsletter to what content you want to include. You need to find what works best for your institution, which often comes through trial and error. If your newsletter has low open rates, try spicing it up! But sharing your story in each newsletter should definitely be a priority!

 

How Kadince can help

 

Telling your story has a lot of moving parts. You have to plan events, find volunteers, track volunteer hours, document everything for CRA, post about your event on social media (after getting each post reviewed by compliance), and so much more. 

 

Sounds like a lot. But that doesn’t mean it has to be difficult. Kadince software makes all of this and more easy. No more manual spreadsheets. No more emails back and forth asking employees to fill out volunteer forms. No more missed marketing deadlines because someone forgot to review.

 

Here are some ways Kadince can help tell your story:

• Plan events

• Manage volunteers and automatically track hours

• Track community development services, loans, and investments for CRA purposes

• Submit marketing materials for review and approval

 

To learn more about Kadince and how to tell your institution’s story, schedule a demo.

 

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None of Kadince, Inc., its affiliates, or its respective employees, directors, officers, and agents (collectively, “Kadince”) are responsible or liable for any content or information incorporated herein. Read full disclosure.