Umpqua Bank Stays Active with Social Promotions
Umpqua Bank is running a new social promotion, and we think it’s a big improvement over the bank’s last effort.
In December 2012, we wrote about Umpqua’s Joy of Giving Facebook promotion. For that effort, Umpqua asked Likers to nominate non-profits on its Facebook page, and the bank selected winners randomly for grant awards between $1,000 and $5,000. It was a great feel-good promotion that supported the Umpqua brand and was especially relevant around the holidays. However, it lacked a viral element… and was in violation of Facebook’s promotion guidelines.
We’re happy to see that Umpqua is back, and this time its social promotion is both feel-good and in line with “the rules.”
Umpqua’s Show Us How you Give promotion asks customers to submit photos of schools or non-profits they support in their communities. From the entries, Umpqua selected 20 finalists and is now asking those contestants to share their photos with friends and family and ask for their votes. The five non-profits and five schools with the most votes will each win $2,500.
There are two big improvements from Umpqua’s last promotion. First, the promotion operates through an app on Facebook, so it’s now within the guidelines. More importantly, Umpqua is also encouraging sharing this time which means customers are helping to promote the bank and highlight its community-building efforts.
If we had helped Umpqua with this promotion, Media Logic might have recommended a voting period up front, followed by a random drawing or a panel of judges to pick winners from the top vote getters. Asking everyone who submits a photo to share and seek votes (instead of only the 20 finalists) would have meant more sharing, adding to the network effect and increasing both the reach of the promotion and the exposure for Umpqua.
It’s a great effort by Umpqua, and we love seeing financial institutions use authentic promotions that are on-brand as part of their social media strategies.
