Lost in Las Vegas

Four months ago I was promoted from marketing coordinator to marketing manager at the credit union where I work. I recently made my very first hire. Her name is Nicole, and her first day is tomorrow. I feel like I may be as nervous as she must be. Why? Because I hired Nicole to be our social media coordinator, a role that I had been clumsily juggling along with many others, and I have no social media strategy or plan. So, how am I supposed to guide her?

Credit Union trade publications recommend marketers have a social media strategy, plan ahead and schedule social media posts in advance, but social media has often been an afterthought for me. Like, “Oh crap! It’s already Wednesday and I haven’t posted anything on social media this week. Quick! Let’s look at what’s trending on Twitter and I’ll copy one of those topics.”

Technology is improving by the day and there is no denying that social media is a part of our daily lives, which means social media is a part of marketing as well, because marketers have to post communications where their audience is.

I obviously recognized the credit union’s need for a social media coordinator, which is why I posted the position and hired Nicole. However, it wasn’t until last night, when I read an article about social media that I truly realized how behind we are as a credit union when it comes to managing social media. The article, written in 2012 (already six years ago!), explained how companies such as Wal-Mart use public posts on social media to listen to customers and identify current trends in order to plan their inventory.

On a related note, I’m personally very active on Facebook and it never stops to amaze me how Facebook seems to know me so well. One day I posted that I ran a 10k race in the rain, while carrying an umbrella the entire time; the very next day an ad for an umbrella appeared in my newsfeed. (“Sometimes it feels like . . . somebody’s watching me.”)

As a credit union, we need to step our game up. We have had direct reviews and questions from our members that prove we are behind the times (“When will you guys get Apple Pay?”), but we have the capability to spot these needs before our customers specifically ask us on a public forum, which makes us look antiquated (which, let’s face it – we are).

Although I am nervous – I am also excited. I am certain that Nicole has the ability to develop our social media strategy and take us to the next level!