It’s a Chimed Life: Meet Stephanie Nordstrom and Social Media at Chime®
Do you remember life before social media was really a thing?
We don’t really either, but lucky for us, we’ve got Stephanie Nordstrom Chime’s Head of Social and Community. Stephanie brings with her a diverse range of experience in social media across various markets, including candy, music, travel, and medicine — and now uses social to connect with our community of members at Chime.
Stephanie’s beginnings
“I actually started out in PR, and I was a public relations major in college,” Stephanie says. “At the time, there was no such thing as a social media agency or social media roles.”
As many of the clients within her PR firm came asking for social media help, Stephanie became
the go-to person at her firm. Why? Because she had a Facebook account. “I happened to be one of the only people who knew about it at the time because I had Facebook — that’s how it was back then,” she says. “As social media evolved, I stayed knowledgeable about new channels so that I could advise those clients — it eventually became my expertise and, well, my whole career.”
Social media soon became not only Facebook but Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok as well. Stephanie’s ability to keep up with the rapidly evolving social media landscape transformed her regular PR job, becoming one of the firm’s first social media experts. “I started the Reese’s Twitter handle, I worked on Warner Bros., and then I started working on a couple of other consumer brands, like Air New Zealand,” she recalls.
Another client at the time was TIDAL Music, which prompted Stephanie’s jump into the music industry and working in-house for Fender Guitars. That’s when she fully experienced what a brand can do for people: “One of the things that I really learned at Fender was what cult-like brand love can be,” she says “When you have a brand with so much loyalty that people are actually getting the logos tattooed on their bodies — well, that’s amazing and creates incredible opportunities for social media to connect with and amplify their stories.”
It wasn’t long before Stephanie’s work was noticed, and another career opportunity presented itself; this time, it was another global powerhouse, Amazon Music.
“It was really interesting when I moved over to Amazon Music. Although Amazon is a household name, the reaction that I’d get when I first started out was ‘Oh, I didn’t realize Amazon had music!’ or ‘What? What is Amazon Music? Is that where you buy CDs?’ Trying to figure out how to build that brand voice within Amazon’s parent brand was a fascinating challenge.”
Enter Chime, with an assist from the Dallas Mavericks
There was no way for Stephanie to know that her husband’s LA Lakers season tickets would lead her to Chime. During a game against the Dallas Mavericks, Stephanie couldn’t help but notice the partnership the Mavs had with Chime, and the marketer in her couldn’t resist taking a peek. She first noticed the excited voices on our social channels and the love for Chime that our members clearly already had.
As Stephanie learned more about our mission, she was drawn to the fact that a fintech company was able to make a traditionally taboo and intimidating subject, money and finances, an approachable subject with authenticity and humor. “Our members need to feel like money is approachable and that somebody understands where they’re coming from,” Stephanie says. “The social team cuts out a lot of the lingo and inside baseball jargon that people need in order to understand financial conversations, making it accessible for everyone.”
Social and community at Chime
One of the first things Stephanie noticed at Chime was the existing strong strategy in place for social media and community — it was her job to scale it to the next level. To do that, she and her team put one of Chime’s values — Team Up — into practice: “We’ve partnered with our analytics team to understand how we’re impacting our members — in other words, are we creating content that resonates with them,” she explains.
With that valuable information, the social team is constantly thinking about different campaigns and how to scale content to reach and engage with members. “Social team members are constantly reviewing and revamping our processes and how we define success all the time,” she explains. “Instead of relying on the many outdated metrics that some companies cling to, we’re leveraging new platforms and emerging trends — and constantly adapting our metrics of success,” she adds. The team recently started Chime’s TikTok account and will keep iterating as it and other social platforms evolve.
On the community side, Chime has learned over the years that our members love to share their challenges and triumphs with each other on social media. Whether they’re shouting out a fellow member for spotting them money with SpotMe®*, congratulating each other on building credit for a big purchase, or sharing new tips, Stephanie and her team witness the engagement with their work every day. “We know our members love having a sense of community at Chime — all we’re doing is facilitating their open, honest, and vulnerable conversations about money,” she says.
Creating value and meeting our members where they are
“In order to create such open communication and a sense of community amongst our members, every piece of content we put out there needs to add value, entertain, inspire, or be newsworthy,” Stephanie explains.
Through posting such content, Stephanie has realized that one of the most beneficial aspects of social media is that it allows Chime to be where our members are. “We know our members use the Chime app and their email, but social media is where they spend the most time,” she explains. “We also know how valuable and important it is to have accurate information on topics like child tax credits, and we have an opportunity to get it in front of them before they may even know they need it. We can share information on Instagram or TikTok, and our members will see it without seeking it and benefit all the same.”
Another exciting way that Stephanie is proud to shine a spotlight on and connect with members is by sharing their stories, celebrating them with swag (such as Chime hats, phone wallets, and stickers), and connecting with our members in a more intimate setting with resources like Facebook groups. These pathways allow Chime to really listen and give our members what they want and celebrate their financial growth.
“We’re also getting really good at listening to what our members are saying,” Stephanie says. “I think it’s imperative that we understand them, what’s working, and what they’re excited about, as well as what they are struggling with because it’s how we build product improvements.”
This social listening is imperative for Stephanie and her team to really give our members what they want and need. It allows for our social channels to become a two-way conversation — an open place where growth, understanding, and connection become a reality in the often impersonal world of finance.
And who knows? Maybe this personal, engaging, and oftentimes FUN aspect of managing our financial lives will lead to a couple of Chime tattoos? Only time and TikTok will tell.
Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC. The Chime Visa® Debit Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
*Chime SpotMe is an optional, no fee service that requires a single deposit of $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits to the Chime Checking Account each month. All qualifying members will be allowed to overdraw their account up to $20 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals initially, but may be later eligible for a higher limit of up to $200 or more based on member’s Chime Account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other risk-based factors. Your limit will be displayed to you within the Chime mobile app. You will receive notice of any changes to your limit. Your limit may change at any time, at Chime’s discretion. Although there are no overdraft fees, there may be out-of-network or third party fees associated with ATM transactions. SpotMe won’t cover non-debit card transactions, including ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, or Chime Checkbook transactions. See Terms and Conditions.
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