As another year comes to a close, credit union marketers acrossthe country are busy working on their 2014 marketing plans.Credit Union Times asked experienced marketers who servedozens of small, midsize and large cooperatives from across thenation to give their insights about what they expect to be the topmarketing trends among credit unions in the New Year.

Responsive Web Design

It's commonly called responsive web design, but James Robert Lay, CEO of Pasadena, Texas-based CU Grow, has amore accurate term for it: responsive user experience.

As consumer usage of smartphones and tablets continues to soar,most of them expect to access accounts on the devices. While thelayout and design of credit unions' websites may be easy enough touse from a desktop, he said, they may be difficult to view andnavigate on smartphone and tablet screens, frustrating members'experience and leaving a bad first impression on prospectivemembers.

The solution is responsive web design, which improves thewebsite's view on the smaller screens of mobile devices.

Lay believes responsive web design will become a growing trendin 2014 that can help credit unions strengthen member loyalty andprovide content marketing opportunities to attract new members.

“After consumers see a credit union's ad on TV or hears its spoton the radio, they'll probably go to the website on their mobilephone or tablet,” Lay said. “When they get there and there is noway for consumers to take action, that potentially killsprospective members from converting to a credit union.”

Research shows the online experience is important for a goodchunk of consumers. For example, about 40% of consumers said theydidn't switch to a credit union because they were satisfied withthe online services their banks provided, according to a 2012Javelin Strategy and Research report.

But a good online experience still doesn't trump branchconvenience, at least not yet anyway.

About 42% of consumers said they didn't switch to credit unionsbecause their bank branches are conveniently located, showed theJavelin report.

The $397 million Educational Community Credit Union ofKalamazoo, Mich., reported that after launching a responsivewebsite designed by the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based technology firmBanno, site visits were soon spread more evenly between desktop,smartphone and tablet users.

ECCU's previous site was more than a decade old, and lacked theability to leverage analytics or add elements such as video orsocial media feeds. Social media connections on the new websiteincreased member traffic and engagement by 60% on Facebook alone,according to a release.

“Our new responsive design site and its associated capabilitieshave provided the evidence we suspected, that our members werehungry for mobile options,” Judi Burton, research and developmentanalyst said. “As a result, ECCU is confident in our direction ofmaking strategic plans to further substantiate our mobilepresence.”

ECCU said it has experienced particular success with itspromotions page, as well as seen growth in the use of informationalpages such as contact us, locations and search. The credit unionattributed the traffic to improved access on mobile platforms.

“As consumers rely on mobile devices to browse banking productsor check finances on the go, financial institutions cannot fallvictim to poor mobile site performance,” said Banno CEO WadeArnold. “The speed of mobile access and browsing directly impactshow users perceive the success of that interaction. ECCUunderstands that responsive design helps prevent abandonment bygiving members and prospects a reliably consistent experienceacross every channel, every time; a trust that will be critical asthe credit union moves forward with new mobile offerings.”

Next Page: Interesting Non-InterestRevenue

Marketing Non-InterestRevenue

While generating new loans is critical to every credit union,Nicolette Lemmon, president of Lemmon Tree Marketing Group in Tempe, Ariz., said she sees morecredit unions looking to grow non-interest income in the NewYear.

This is occurring because service charges on deposits havedecreased substantially from levels reported just two years ago,according to the Floyd Report, a financial services consultant inBaytown, Texas. What's more, ongoing regulatory pressures on twoproducts that produced the most non-interest income—debt cardinterchange and overdraft fees—have been greatly restricted, thereport said.

Nonetheless, Lemmon said, credit union marketers can play a keyrole in helping frontline employees pitch non-interest incomethrough variety of insurance products coupled with auto loans, forexample, or stand-alone products such as pet insurance.

“I'm working with one of my credit union clients to offer petinsurance to their members,” said Lemmon. “What a warm and fuzzy,right? But why not?”

After all, Americans spent $50.8 billion on their pets in 2011.More than a quarter of those expenses—$14.1 billion—came in theform of vet bills, according to a report in USA Today.That's up about a third since 2007, when vet fees totaled $10.1billion, according to the newspaper.

Lemmon believes these products and others can build the creditunion's brand value by protecting and growing members' financialfreedom and wellness.

“As a marketer within the credit union, it is important toencourage a cross-selling environment and to make sure the productsare easily packaged for the frontline employees to offer members,”Lemmon said. “The key is for marketing people to work really wellwith the branch staff and the call center staff who are workingwith members because that is the moment when you can provide brandvalue by offering them products that can protect them.”

Lemmon suggests marketers leverage content from third-partyproviders to educate members about how products or services canbenefit them.

Next Page: Branded Entertainment

Branded Entertainment

Samantha Strickland remembers what Don Draper, the leadfictional character of the popular cable television series MadMen, said about what advertising is: the idea of what we aredoing makes us feel good about our decisions.

“I think anytime we can build an emotional connection with ourmembers and let them feel good about making the choice to be amember of a credit union, you are hitting a home run,” saidStrickland, CEO of The Pod Advertising in Tallahassee, Fla.

That's why she said she believes branded entertainment willemerge as a marketing trend in 2014. Branded entertainment istelling the story of the credit union and how it differs fromconventional banking.

Strickland's marketing firm produced an online video for the $95million Community South Credit Union in Chipley, Fla., which wasnominated for an Emmy award by the Suncoast Chapter of the NationalAcademy of Television Arts and Sciences.

“Rather than doing the traditional commercial for loan sales, weinstead produced a commercial that creates an emotional connectionthat we want to have with our membership to build credibility,trust and loyalty,” explained Strickland.

The video, which features a grandfather fishing with hisgrandson who later becomes a father and takes his daughter fishing,illustrates Community South CU's core brand of “good naturedbanking,” that supports family, tradition and the good naturedpersonality of the community.

“There is always going to be some competitor who is going tobeat your rate. There is always going to be some competitor who isgoing to have more cutting-edge technology,” Strickland said. “Butif you can build that emotional connection, which is reallyimportant to Generation Y and younger, you are much more likely tobuild that relationship with them, because the other stuff is allabout the me-too marketing.”

Next Page: Rediscovering SocialMedia

Rediscovering SocialMedia

When credit unions began to jump on social media sites aboutfive years ago, they generated a lot of excitement that this newmedium could be leveraged to potentially become a marketingbreakthrough. Everyone was on social media sites, especially theBig 3—Facebook, Twitter and YouTube—and everyone seemed to lovethem.

But a study by the Financial Brand found last year that one infive credit unions had abandoned their Twitter accounts.

Jan Simon, executive creative director and president of Simon+ Associates Advertising in Los Angeles, found that some creditunions also had abandoned their Facebook and YouTube sites aswell.

“Many credit unions rushed to social media, but the strategy onhow to leverage the medium was never thought out,” Simon said.“Everybody has a huge interest in adding online/digital componentsand social media to their existing marketing campaign goals. Thebiggest hurdles we are seeing are the lack of understanding, whichleads, therefore, to a lack of planning and the lack of budgetingto effectively venture into that space.”

Nevertheless, Simon said credit unions want to revive theirsocial media efforts next year because that is where theMillennials hang out.

According to a recent Pew Research study, about 16% of U.S.adults use Twitter for news, and close to half, 45%, of Twitternews consumers are 18-29 years old. On Facebook, 35% of newsconsumers are 18 to 29 years old.

“Just as credit unions do a lot of work to determine where toput a print ad based on demographics, circulations and costs, theyhave to take a similar approach in the digital field,” Simonexplained. “You have to keep tweaking it and figuring it out andgive it the same sort of professional evaluation and strategicconcepting as credit unions do with pre-approved direct mailpieces.”

Chris Quereau, president/CEO of Vibrant Creative in Oneonta,N.Y., believes credit unions may start investing in social mediaads next year because Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have made majorchanges to their advertising platforms to help businesses targetconsumers at a much lower cost than traditional media. He also saidcredit unions will be able to assess their ROI more quickly thanconventional advertising.

“I believe the online (advertising) tools are going to be a realgame changer,” Quereau said. “Though people in general are tryingto figure it out right now, the early adopters could reap thebenefits.”

Next Page: Don't Bury Print Print is Not Dead

Simon said she expects to see a resurgence of newspaper andmagazine advertising as well as billboard and bus wrap marketingnext year.

Even though most credit unions drastically reduced their printadvertising budgets during the recession and the subsequent sloweconomic recovery, Simon is seeing more cooperatives looking to getback into print because they have more marketing dollars and it's amedium that still works.

What's more, publishers also offer deals to post print ads onthe publication's website, which gives credit unions—not yetcomfortable with online advertising—some exposure to digitalmarketing and how it can work for their cooperative, saidSimon.

The billboard or outdoor marketing advertising spend is expectedto reach $7.2 billion in 2014, up from $7 billion spent this year,according to eMarketer, a marketing data firm in New York. However,newspaper advertising is expected to decline to $17.1 billion in2014 from $17.8 billion in 2013, while magazine advertising isanticipated to stay steady at $15.1 billion next year, according toeMarketer.