ICYMI: In case you missed it

In Case You Missed It (v14)

Why GA4 is worth learning about. What science can teach us about emotional intelligence. Plus plastic that is stronger than steel, and FREE resources! Here are the items that caught our eye, in case you missed it:

How a CU can live up to its true purpose

“Someone’s financial well-being is as much about how they feel about their money as it is how they use it. Unless we ask, we may never know.” Kudos to Michelle Christie at the National Credit Union Foundation for providing a 4-step plan for CUs that want to live up to their true purpose.

“Financial Well-Being for All isn’t a thing we do, it’s the thing.”

If you still aren’t convinced about the true purpose of CUs, then you might want to read up on BCU. This $5B CU sees themselves as a financial wellbeing organization and employee benefit to SEGs such as Target and UnitedHealth Group. Their Life. Money. You.® is the core of their strategy and “ingrained in all employees. In-branch Goal Consultants provide individualized financial counseling, call center staff are trained in empathy to root out core financial issues.”

Get GA4 ASAP & PDQ

The big news in the website world lately is that Google Analytics is moving to a whole new, better, shinier, and more lovable platform called Google Analytics 4. Call it GA4 if you want to sound like you’re “in the loop”. Everything is different, and mostly better. But it is different, and it takes getting used to.

Here’s the cool part: on most websites, you can start using GA4 and learning about it without the need to switch from regular Google Analytics. Simply add a new Property in your Analytics account, and during the process you’ll be asked if you want to use your existing tag. Then you’ll have two Analytics Properties, and you can switch between them.

Some websites might have older Google Analytics tags, so check with your web developers if you have questions or need to update.

Build Emotional Intelligence with Science

I subscribe to several non-credit union email newsletters, blogs, and such. There’s a lot we can use out there from other specialties. One of my favorites is Behavioral Scientist, which sends out a weekly email. The articles are always thought-provoking, interesting, and timely. And I always learn something I didn’t expect about human emotion, minds, and behavior. Required reading for all of us in the people helping people business.

“I’ve got one word for you, Benjamin: plastics.”

While that immortal line from The Graduate came out way before plastic also became known as an ecological nightmare, a career in plastics might actually be an option again. One startup has created a plastic that is truly compostable, while MIT Scientists have recently discovered a plastic that is 2x stronger than steel. Meanwhile, yet another startup is turning non-recyclable plastics into building blocks for construction. “There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?”

It all comes back to Member Experience

This recent article featured in the CU Times points out user experience can have a large impact on how long website visitors stay on a page. The lesson here extends well beyond your website, however: So much of what your members do (and don’t do) can be traced back to their member experience. Is getting a loan, opening an account, paying a bill, etc. as easy as we all want to believe? When your members have a bad time, it goes all the way to your bottom line.

Budget-friendly (aka Free) Resources

It can be tough for a 1 or 2-person marketing team to get things done, especially when you don’t have much of a budget. Here’s a list of 100 free resources for images, videos, templates and more.

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