A credit union connects with the local biking community

Posted by on Tue, May 25, 2010

bike light 2 A credit union connects with the local biking communityWhen it comes to content marketing techniques, one of the golden rules is to provide content that isn’t always tied to one of your products and services. You have to know when providing content for the pure sense of being informational to the end user is the right thing to do. For example, many banks and credit unions don’t offer health insurane but it may not be a bad idea if you dedicated some space for content related to the recent changes in health care on your website or in your next newsletter.  You may not win new business directly from this approach but you will build your brand as a resource and not just a place to conduct daily banking transactions.

An example of this was well executed this past Friday when Salal Credit Union in Seattle, Washington decided to take advantage of the national Bike to Work Day to connect with the local biking community. The credit union had three what they called “commute stations” setup at various points in their community. They handed out ”refueling snacks” and drinks.  The best give away were free bike lights, an important saftey item for those biking home in the dark, especially in a busy city. A tag line they used in their blog post that I thought was creative said “we care for your physical AND your fiscal saftey!”.

While the credit union is by know means selling biking services to their members, they are developing new relationships with each biker, jogger, roller blader or walker that stopped by the stations this past Friday. And knowing that it would be a busy day for such active bikers, they made the smart decision in promoting this event.

It even caught the eye of this here Bostonian. I was a bit jealous and responded to them by twitter that I wished a local financial institution here in Boston was handing out lights because it just so happened that my fiance and I were in the market. Within minutes they replied to me and said “Tell you what. You send me your address by direct message, and I’ll make sure you get a few!” Wow. Here I am on the opposite side of the country, not even a potential member and they’re offering to send me a few lights. And what do they get in return you may be asking? My praise here on our company blog. For those SEO and online marketing folk, you know the importance this has on your campaigns.

Follow Salal Credit Union on Twitter

Bookmark their blog

Related Posts

  1. Banks and credit unions, make sure you brand your content
  2. Examples of Content Marketing by banks and credit unions
  3. Banks and Credit Unions: An introduction to Content Marketing

May 25, 2010 | Filed Under content marketing, credit union, informational content

Comments

  • Luke Owen

    Avoiding the sales talk is key. Consumers can smell a sales pitch a mile away. One thing consumers do like is helpful information. When you tie in services like the one you did here with this content marketing approach, you can build your brand as a resource. Promote both your physical locations and online presence as places to visit when looking for answers to financial questions. They won’t see this as a sales push because you’re not promoting any particular product. The health care idea where you have a take away that highlights some key areas of the new law may have worked here since active people like bikers are often aware of the importance of having health care.

  • Shannon

    Thanks so much for the nice comments on this post! Like most credit unions, we do try to find opportunities to connect with and serve our community, and since so many of us are bikers, this one seemed like a natural!

  • Luke Owen

    It’s our pleasure Shannon. And thanks again for the lights. By the way, do you have any good stories from this event? Any feedback from either existing members or even non-members that stopped by the stations?

Read previous post:
Lost – A lesson in what NOT to do in customer service
Close