Mark Weber, president of brand consulting firm Weber MarketingGroup shared his take on the top marketing musts and areas to watchfor the new year.

Here's what the Seattle-based marketing veteran had to say:

1. Ensure your brand and culture are fully aligned forgrowth.

Led by a desire to increase market awareness and drive thegrowth of new, younger members, the industry saw a wave of namechanges and rebranding programs. Unfortunately, manywere focused merely on lip service with a nice looking designupgrade of brochures, posters and lifestyle photos, or what wewould call “brand light.”

Senior leaders looking to make their brand aligned to theculture, raise the bar on quality brand service experiences andbuild a relevant value proposition need a strong process ofengagement across functional teams. They need meaningful internal,member and non-member research to realistically gauge theperceptions of their brand image in the market and uncover whatprospects are looking for and confused by amidst competitive bankchallengers.

2. Upgrade your website to a CMSsystem and consider Responsive Design.

Many credit union websites havenot been significantly upgraded in years, so they areunderperforming to key issues like search engine optimization andsocial media integration. That means precious marketing dollars arebeing wasted.

Besides upgrading to a manageable CMS system and more dynamiccontent, consider upgrading websites to Responsive Designplatforms. RD sites automatically scale, resize and adjust allcontent and visuals to match whatever screen the user is on. Soyour website can be viewed just as easily on an iPhone or Droid, asit can on an iPad, Kindle or laptop.

3. Rethink and improve the role of social media in youroverall mix.

There are now effective Web tools to help track new visitordemographics and behaviors, increase the results of visits andimprove SEO and actions of sites like Facebook. These must be linkedmore closely to a balanced media mix of interactive and traditionalmedia from SEO, improved web traffic building SEM, to directresponse marketing and media.

As new members are landed, effective onboarding programs mustrely on solid matrix based email marketing, traditional MCIF matrixmarketing and a blend of very personalized email, snail mail, phonecalls and behavior-based cross-selling CRM software for tellers andmember service representatives.

Integrated platform software can track member channel actions –including social media visits, ATM, POS, mobile and Web behavior —and link that data to actionable responses in marketing, branches,call centers for follow on service contacts. This will raise thebar on the value of social media.

4. Prepare for the next wave of mobile and paymentevolution.

The first wave of mobile banking,PFM tools and iPad apps have rolled out – and some are coming upshort of expectations and usage. There will need to be dollarscommitted to solid work on improved app and tool functionality,relevant upgrades and options like P2P transfers, integratedpayment systems, enhanced applications, etc.

Enhancements to iPads, growth of Kindles and Windows8 Surfacetechnologies will change the landscape and require shifts at creditunions. As mobile wallet platforms like Google Wallet continue togrow, credit unions will need to respond with viable options thatkeep members connected. 5. Optimizebranch networks for higher performance.

Branches are not going away for about 45% of the US populationwho still pick their PFI based on having them, and sometimes usethem for some form of advice, problem solving, productand account opening, transaction and social relationships.

The real problem is that branches are designed on an antiquatedmodel that has shifted radically from teller transactions to awired, mobile, fast-paced lifestyle. Many branches today arepoorly located, oversized, inefficient, and have no business modelto create a relevant and dynamic experience geared to younger Gen Yand Gen X members and prospects.

Credit unions need a solid geo-demographic analysis of theirmarkets and shifting member patterns, and a branch optimizationplan to identify how many, where, how big, what type and what to dowith their existing locations – close, consolidate, relocate,renovate or shrink. Then they need relevant design.