The May 2010 edition of USBanker magazine features coverage of one of North Shore Bank’s brand-awareness promotions using the world of social media, citing it as a successful promotion with a cost of a mere $5.

eBusiness Coordinator and Webmaster Tim Gluth is a member of Foursquare, a social network that enables users to exchange tips on local hotspots and earn points as frequent visitors. Foursquare works on mobile devices, letting users share their location and recommendations of stores and restaurants. When a user makes the most “visits” to a particular business, he or she is deemed a “mayor.”

Tim came up with the idea of recognizing those who achieve the distinction of Foursquare mayor by offering each of them a $5 Subway gift card, compliments of North Shore Bank, using Facebook and Twitter to let them know about the offer.

The owner of a Michigan firm that consults with banks and credit unions about online marketing wrote a blog post about the promotion after noticing the North Shore Bank tweets. He remarked that one person with 29,000 followers tweeted about how “awesome” he thought it was to receive his gift card offer, giving North Shore Bank broad — and free — exposure.

One of the bank’s Foursquare mayors who makes videos about social media for a public relations firm in his spare time talked about the bank’s promotion in a video blog entry and on his own blog.

Tim’s technical savvy and creative thinking earned him a speaking spot with executives from eBay, Starbucks, Fiserv and other prominent organizations at the Mobile Banking and Emerging Application’s Summit in Las Vegas this month. He talked about the practical applications of social media for banks and other financial institutions, what it can do for other kinds of entities, and why it’s important to get into the game now.

Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Flickr, YouTube and the professional networking site LinkedIn have become an integral part of North Shore Bank’s marketing efforts. Marketing Communications Manager Kate Knox, who is intimately familiar with the latest bank news and promotions, works closely with Tim to ensure that important announcements and updates are considered for posting on social media sites.

The two team-up to review messages for bank compliance and brand consistency. “We need to make sure that all messages are in full compliance with our highly regulated banking industry,” Kate points out, “and we need to be certain that every message is consistent with the North Shore Bank brand.”

These two-way communication channels strengthen existing relationships, serving as a question-and-answer conduit, eliciting customer feedback, providing more timely responses to customers, and sharing bank happenings. “It’s less about ‘talking to’ and more about ‘talking with’ people,” Kate says, “enabling us to interact with customers and prospective customers on topics of mutual interest.”

Kate and Tim are components of a strong team that introduces a broad range of fans, friends and followers to the community-minded support and services offered by North Shore Bank.