10 Tips for Mastering Credit Union Marketing

From strategy to metrics, targets to media channels, culture to managing up, down and sideways, the options are many and success is a moving target when it comes to marketing.  Marketing may not be brain surgery but talk to enough of your marketing peers and you’ll find an increasingly complex matrix of considerations.

Having a check list of things to consider is not a bad place to start. Here are some of the items on my checklist:

1. Know Your Target

Having a target is a no-brainer. Finding the right descriptor that can drive all your marketing activities, however, is pure genius. The company Pet360, could have used the term “pet owner,” but instead they define their target audience as “pet parents” with all the challenges and needs of human parents. This profoundly simply target redefinition means they can focus on “solving un-met pet parent needs.”

2. Infuse Your Marketing with Service

It has always been said that actions speak louder than words. Marketers who focus on what they do versus what they say simply make more powerful connections with their members. When you’re in the service business, every interaction with a member or prospective member should be a service interaction.

3. Make No Bones About Consistency

Accomplished marketers know that crafting a singular experience across all marketing channels is essential for a successful brand. It takes a lot of time but is imperative to ensure that all your credit union brand voices are consistent and singing the same song.

4. Know the Member’s Problems

Most marketers could profit more by listening to their members than ignoring them. Member input is important to drive your marketing investments. There’s really no substitute for truly understanding your member’s pain points and how you can address them.

5. Turn Members into Promoters

Most credit unions will never have a millions fans on Facebook or get tagged in hundreds of Instagram photos, but if you can get members to be your cheerleaders you have a good place to start. Real success is defined by your ability to build meaningful relationships.

6. Rally Around Your Purpose

One of the biggest challenges credit union marketers face is aligning internal and external activities. What is your purpose and how do you drive it home with staff and members alike?  The makers of Louisville Slugger baseball bats, hit upon their purpose, “We exist to make players great,” to launch their first fully integrated marketing plan in its 129-year history.

7. Convert Member Service Into Marketing

More and more marketers are seeing service as the linchpin of their brand reputation, especially since a single “bad” experience amplified on social media can undo years of “good” marketing. Accordingly, many credit unions today have a much closer tie between member service areas and the marketing department. Doing will allow you to have one seamless approach to the member experience.”

8. Find the Moving Target

In the absence of a silver bullet, which most would agree simply doesn’t exist; marketers need to optimize the ongoing process of finding what works and building upon that foundation. You have to put something out there, monitor, test, and adjust (or not adjust) accordingly and find your moving target.

9. Cut Through with a Cause

Pragmatic marketers think in terms of campaigns and tactics while the idealists contemplate causes and movements. Today’s Gen Y population is loyal and has the quality of purpose.  They want to know “why” and “what” it means to be a part of the credit union. Motivate this part of your membership by helping them understand what it means to be a credit union and the seven cooperative principles.

10. Innovation and Experimentation

Ask any marketer and they’ll tell you that budgets are tight and there’s rarely margin for error. Nonetheless, innovation and experimentation are a necessity to find new ways to connect and engage with members. Always carve out a percentage of your budget to develop new ideas.

By Vickey Morris, SCMS, CCUE, CUDE, VP Marketing, Cornerstone Credit Union League