If you’re reading this as a marketer in the financial institution industry, you may have lost sight of the impact of your leadership. Well, let us encourage you: your visionary leadership, collaboration, creativity, and strategic thinking have the power to make a difference in your members' lives’ and drive profit for your organization.
Your leadership flex is layering marketing knowledge and strategy on top of a clear vision for your credit union's future, while building up your team, coordinating with multiple stakeholders, developing long-term strategies that are agile enough to handle the short-term pivots. And the list goes on…
But what happens when the strategy gets side-tracked?
Long-term strategic efforts get paused when short-term needs press in. Campaigns shift and new technology consumes bandwidth. If you’re feeling lost in the complexity that is credit union marketing, let us be your marketing North Star to get back to the basics.
Who, what, where, when, how, and why are basic questions that don’t falter. These basic questions (and answers) can yield big results for your brand. 
- Do you really understand WHO you’re marketing to?
Members are the lifeblood of your credit union. Empathize with your members’ pain points and aspirations and watch your messages resonate with your target audience beyond a surface level. You can’t sit face-to-face with each of your members and prospective members. But you can leverage digital solutions that keep them connected to your mission, products, and services 24/7 and solicit their feedback.
This feedback (even in the form of criticism) will serve as a compass, guiding you towards tailored marketing strategies that resonate with your audience. Implement feedback mechanisms and actively address member concerns, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
Ask these questions to assess how your audience is being impacted by your branding:
Do we know our target audience?
Does our name reflect who we serve (or desire to serve)?
Do our logo, color scheme, and typography effectively convey our brand's personality to resonate with our target audience?
Is our mission statement compelling to our audience?
Does it truly reflect the essence of our purpose?
Have we designed an appealing and consistent brand identity?
Do we need to take a step back to reposition who we are?
Your brand is what your audience comes to know and trust. Keep that Like, Know, Trust factor strong with a consistent brand image that conveys value to your target audience. - WHAT + WHERE: Are the right messages being shared on the right channels?
Your marketing messages should speak directly to the needs and interests of your members and appeal to prospective members. The goal is to convey value proposition, key messages, and brand identity to the target audience - all with clarity and consistency. But are these messages allocated across your channels in an effective ratio? Maybe it’s time to change up the percentage of total marketing messages through your website, social media platforms, and one-to-many channels like text, email and video. Don't forget the traditional channels either, like print media or direct mail. Perhaps 10% of the 60% of your social media strategy needs to shift to community ad space. Play around with the ratio of messaging on your channels. Don’t be afraid to get it wrong at first to get it right in the end. You’re likely already using the right mix of channels. Make sure these messages are allocated to those channels in the right amount. - WHEN/HOW: Does the cadence of messaging build and nurture relationships?
If you aren’t sure the right cadence of speaking your message to your audience, we’ll give you a little rule of thumb: Always. Your audience should be able to access and receive your message whenever, wherever. Creating consistent messaging creates trust. Consistent doesn’t equal constant, but frequent, well-timed, personalized messaging levels your brand up in the Attention Economy. Even more importantly, use digital marketing tools to personalize your communication based on member data, behaviors, and in accordance with your risk appetite. Avoid sending blanketed (read: impersonal) offers to those who don’t qualify. Leverage data-driven strategies like predictive forecasting to support timing cadences.
- WHY: Move past transactional to relational marketing
Go beyond transactions and build meaningful relationships with your members and community. At least that’s the goal, right? 78% of accountholders prefer to manage finances digitally, undeniably proving that digital transformation of banking services is the future of the industry.1 However, digitally transforming doesn’t have to be at the sake of impersonalizing relationships. Host a financial literacy seminar. Organize community events and volunteer activities that give back to the communities you serve. Implement loyalty reward programs. Collaborate with local businesses to cross-promote products and services. Show your people the credit union mission: people helping people.
- HOW is data telling us what to do next?
It’s vital to know what matters to your members most. Is it fast service or personalized service? Low fees or digital wallet support?
Stop searching in the dark for these answers. With deep future analytics, your marketing team benefits from actionable intelligence of your unique member persona. Success in marketing requires a data-savvy approach, and your marketing team deserves to have the intelligence to make strategic, data-backed decisions.
Avoid Extinction with Distinction
In a sea of credit unions, a strong brand identity is your beacon of trust and differentiation. Credit unions have many clear market advantages when it comes to how you stack up against banks. Remember, as you set goals, track, measure, and adapt to foster the growth of your marketing efforts, you are positioning your credit union as the trusted leader and partner in your members' financial journeys. That’s a powerful impact of your marketing ingenuity.
Ready to grab some low hanging fruit? (Sorry, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add to the overuse of that phrase.)
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