MARLBOROUGH, Mass. (3/30/16)--Marketers and communicators from the Cooperative Credit Union Association’s (CCUA) Marketing and Business Development Network gathered March 24 to share their knowledge and sharpen their expertise of social media as a tool for member and community engagement.

The meeting, conducted though CCUA’s Video Conference Network, brought together groups in Marlborough, Mass., Manchester, N.H., and Smithfield, R.I., to hear experts and veteran users share their comments and insights on such social media platforms as Facebook, Twitter and Hootsuite.

The discussion addressed numerous issues during the two-hour session, which included ways to schedule posts directly on Facebook, balancing television and radio advertising with digital content, and how to best persuade a CEO, the credit union’s top ambassador, to become a social media user.

Topping the discussion was creating strategies to report to management how social media contributes to the bottom line.

Similar to public relations, social media is primarily a way to engage, build and foster relationships with an organization, tell the company’s story and share its values, explained Walt Laskos, CCUA senior vice president of strategic communications and moderator of the panel discussion.

“It’s a precursor to the sales process,” Laskos said. “Like public relations, social media’s strength lies in its ability to build a trusting relationship with consumers, setting the stage perfectly for the sales process.”

Judi Window, community outreach coordinator at St. Mary’s Bank CU, Manchester, N.H., one of the three expert panelists participating in the discussion, echoed Laskos’ comments. She recommended comparing social media and PR contribution to the balance sheet to a mother’s day-to-day value. “How do you put a price on your Mom when you consider how many diapers she changed, meals she cooked, beds she made, and lessons she taught, which contributed to the person you are today,” she said.

Window was joined on the panel Meg Sisco, vice president of marketing at Westerly (R.I.) CU, and Kanisha Hans, an adviser with Venly, a social media training company.