This Is How ICBA Keeps Community Bankers Informed

Keeping up with every change or new ruling in the world of community banking can be a challenge. 

That’s why ICBA prioritizes keeping its members informed. Whether it’s through this magazine, the association’s social media channels or the NewsWatch Today newsletter, there’s no shortage of resources available to members.

“There’s a lot of issues [within the community banking industry] right now,” says Thomas Warren, vice president and managing editor for ICBA. “The more folks can read about and understand these dynamics, the stronger the industry is going to be.”

Read on to learn more about each outlet and the content they share for ICBA members’ benefit.

Standing out on social media

ICBA’s social media accounts, managed by Vanessa Hanson, ICBA’s director of digital and social engagement, offer an easy way to get timely information to community bankers.

“Social media plays a huge role in our communications strategy,” says Hanson. “It’s a great way to keep our members informed.”

ICBA has an active presence across four sites—X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram—and posts daily on all platforms except Instagram, which typically gets weekly posts.

Each platform has its own content strategy tailored to the audience and what type of content gets the most engagement, but Hanson says ICBA’s other resources feed into the content posted across the channels. NewsWatch Today, for instance, dictates much of the content ICBA posts on X due to its timeliness. 

“It’s a matter of mapping it out and laying it all out in the platform that will make the most sense for that piece of content,” says Hanson. 

LinkedIn is the platform where ICBA sees the most engagement, so Hanson says if ICBA knows something would be particularly valuable to members, LinkedIn is where it will get the most visibility.

That means you’ll see a little bit of everything on LinkedIn: upcoming events, articles from the most recent issue of Independent Banker and much more. ICBA also makes a point to repost content from member banks to showcase the work they’re doing in their communities.

“Any time we feature people in our posts, they do very well,” says Hanson. “Whether it’s ICBA staff or our members, people love to see our people.”

NewsWatch Today

Since 2006, NewsWatch Today has been ICBA’s daily newsletter. Each morning, subscribers receive the newsletter in their email inbox and can catch up on the latest happenings in the industry.

The newsletter is designed to be a one-stop shop, including pertinent information from government agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, news about ongoing grassroots campaigns or other relevant issues, and information about other ICBA programs and resources, like webinars or readiness guides.

“We're not one of those email newsletters that has a little teaser blurb and then you have to click on something else to open it up,” says Martin Carr, communications manager for ICBA. “If you open the email, you’re going to get the whole scoop.”

The newsletter is free for ICBA members and easy to subscribe to. Plus, anyone at a member bank can subscribe, making it a great resource for bankers looking to advance their careers.

“You don't have to be in the C-suite or anything like that to pay attention to these kinds of things,” says Warren. “Any community banker at an ICBA member bank can subscribe.”

With the breadth of issues ICBA is working on at any one time, Warren and Carr look at internal metrics or talk with their ICBA colleagues to stay on top of the latest in the industry. But they both say they’re open to member feedback and finding new ways to reach them.

“If there is something [members] want to see in NewsWatch Today that we don’t currently cover, let us know,” says Carr. “We’ll take a look at it and try to get it in there.”

---