Take Your Message to the Web

CU360
March 5, 2010 | COMMENTS

Since last December, The Huffington Post's Move Your Money campaign has provided an example of the Web's value as a communications channel between financial institutions, consumers, and potential members.

In a January article, huffingtonpost.com notes that Move Your Money has rapidly evolved from a New Year's Resolution into a national movement.

Press coverage spans the spectrum from advocacy blogs to mainstream outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, and major cable and broadcast television channels.

But press coverage hardly captures the whole movement. Across social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, a surge of grassroots organizing shows how Americans are making the Move Your Money initiative their own.

Just minutes after Arianna Huffington announced the campaign, Facebook users became fans of the project—over 7,000 in seven days—and started sharing their stories through the Move Your Money fanpage. One exuberant Facebook user commented on her experience reclaiming all her money from Chase and moving it to a local institution: “…very happy with the move. It's like going to Cheers...everyone knows my name!”

On Twitter, a similar grassroots trend has surfaced. Supporters of Move Your Money claimed a hashtag—#moveyourmoney—almost immediately after the campaign was launched, which has since been appended to thousands of tweets.

Ultimately, YouTube may prove to be the most powerful medium through which disaffected Americans share their stories. As of this writing, the original Move Your Money video has been viewed on YouTube's site nearly half a million times.

The movement has inspired conversation, and it has incited many people to act. Fed-up consumers have closed accounts, posted their own videos, and stimulated others to action. While the Move Your Money campaign won't put the large banks out of business, in the age of social media, it does send a message.

Community banks also fight for business

In addition to boosting credit unions, the Move Your Money message has not been lost on community banks, reports Bank Systems & Technology magazine. They too have seen success in efforts to differentiate their public image from that of bigger banks, whose financial woes drew the ire of both politicians and the public, according to the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).

"ICBA has been working really hard to separate the community banks from the larger institutions, and we've had significant media coverage," says Karen Tyson, the trade association's SVP of communications.

Large banks have a distinct advantage when it comes to leveraging traditional channels to win the hearts and minds of consumers—the big banks have more money to play with and typically are more politically connected. By its nature, though, the online channel helps level that playing field, giving equal weight to competing messages from financial institutions large and small.