Credit unions in Puerto Rico are getting serious about social media.

On Friday, 51 credit unions from across the island will meet in San Juan for a day-long educational session on how to better leverage social media.

CUNA Mutual Group Media Relations Manager/New Media Michael Ogden and Senior Communications Specialist Holly Fearing have been tapped to share their social media journey at the Revolutionizing Traditional Marketing:Credit Unions in Social Media event. After introductions by CUNA Mutual Spanish Caribbean Leader Victor Alamo and International Leader Paul Treinen, Joel Villarini, president of Puerto Rico's Social Media Club/social media manager of Wapa TV will also present.

“Before Michael stepped into this role two years ago we were in the same shoes as these credit unions in Puerto Rico,” said Fearing. “We had a Twitter account, Google+ and LinkedIn but we weren't actively using it. So we'll walk through our story of how we went from there to where we are today and the success we've had in a few channels.”

Based on information provided by attendees, of those engaged with social media, many of their sites have not been regularly updated or are used to simply post promotional information.

At some credit unions, even the employees didn't know if their credit union had social media profiles. Driven by the credit unions themselves, the impetus behind developing the session was to help credit union executives and marketers identify how social media can be used to better communicate with current members while reaching out to a younger demographic as well.

“What a great stepping off point,” said Ogden. “We need to understand what's happening in Puerto Rico and see it as a model that should be advocated here.”

In addition to offering tips on everything from social media strategy to content execution, Fearing said they would also provide a few credit union best practice examples such as Madison,Wis.-based Heartland Credit Union's “Own It” campaign and an inside look at a few of CUNA Mutual's own creative campaigns such as Choose Your Own Social Media Adventure from this year's America's Credit Union Conference.

“At Heartland they are using social media to harness the power of cross-sector co-op collaboration by featuring videos of different local co-ops each week and offering prizes to commenters,” said Fearing.

“Not only is the video promoted on their sites, but the social media sites of all the other co-op businesses that participate in this campaign. So it's a great example of a credit union that has gone all in on social media and what can be accomplished,” she said.

Instant Insights /

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