The rise of digital technology and marketing are moving fasterthan anyone could have imagined a few years ago, and credit unionsfor the most part are adapting to the changes. For those who arestill resisting, here are a few tips to help you change your mindand engage consumers in the way they are expecting to be engaged in2016.

1. Big Data – Big data can help credit unionsdelight their members and increase profits in the process. It's asmart tool that every credit union marketer can—and should—be usingright now. Several studies have shown that data-drivenprograms can greatly increase profits. A Nucleus Researchstudy found that businesses can achieve a 241% ROI increase byapplying data to business decisions.

With big data, you can reactivate old members, retain existingmembers, create cross-selling and onboarding programs, and startposting more profits. The business opportunities are endless, butit's not something that is put in place overnight.

Diane Bauer of Bauer Consulting in Los Angeles, CA, said, “Bigdata is a technology that has great business value but still notwell understood. They need to take the time to talk to experts inthe field and truly understand how to maximize big data. CreditUnions have the opportunity to leverage better and deeperconnections with their members, but credit unions should not beafraid to seek help in figuring out big data or data analytics fromthe experts. There is a lot of information to be sorted thought,but in the end it's worth the investment.”

2. Social Media is still Hot- The credit unionindustry is expected to continue investing in social mediamarketing over the next five years, according to eMarketer, andresearch from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business revealedthat financial marketers are allocating around 4% more of theirmarketing budgets to social media in 2016 than last year.

Filene, has identified distinct social media personality typesin their report, From Presence to Purpose: Developing SocialMedia Strategies and Metrics for Credit Unions. In the report, 40 %of credit unions are described as social media “Monogamists”—thatis, they exclusively make use of one platform (e.g. Facebook) toengage their target audience while completely ignoring othermediums (e.g. Twitter and Instagram). Another 27 % of credit unionsare “Integrators,” who establish a presence on multiple socialmedia platforms but post the same content throughout and, thus,create an integrated presence.

The most successful group—known as theMacGyvers (7%)—utilizes social media to its full potential. Derivedfrom a popular 80s television series of the same name, MacGyvercredit unions are creative, resourceful, and capable of engineeringtools that serve the unique needs of their members. Specifically,MacGyvers:

• Maintain an active presence and frequently engage social mediausers
• Provide valuable, rich content that differs from platform toplatform
• Use words such as “we” and “us”
• Post from the perspective of a human rather than anorganization

Fun can also make a difference in social engagement and yourbottom line. You don't have to go over the top, but marketingvideos such as the $1.7 billion Affinity Plus Federal CreditUnion's 2011 video to entice consumers to switch from a bank to acredit union brought a lot of attention- and business to this St.Paul, MN, based credit union.

3. Digital vs. Physical – Market ForceInformation found that 72% of consumers whose credit union offers amobile app have downloaded it, an increase of 7% compared to 2014.Those in the 18-24 year-old range are the most likely to have giventheir institution's mobile app a try, at 93%, but there areincreases across all age groups. In fact, nearly half of those overage 65 say they have at least downloaded the app offered by theirbank or credit union.

The most prevalent app activities are checking balances,checking payment history and transferring funds. Very few are usingthe app to apply for new bank accounts or withdraw emergencycash.

Knowing which technologies credit union should choose can stillbe confusing.

In September, Ent Federal Credit Union recently offered onlineaccount opening and mobile optimized loan applications to itsmembers. 16% of members who opened an account online in proceededto open a consumer/mortgage loan versus only 8.9 percent of memberswho opened their account in person or through a call center.

But, as mobile banking applications continue to replace dailytransactions and inquiries, 88% of American adults feel they stillneed a physical branch location to go to for banking needs,according to research by CARAVAN® Omnibus Surveys fromORC International.

“As consumers continue to embrace digital technologies forsimplifying daily tasks, consumers want the ability to interacton-the-go and on their own schedule via mobile and onlineofferings, as well as the option to be able to have face-to-faceengagements for more complex issues such as investments andmortgages. The future of banking lies in the right mix—branches andtechnology—enabling a true omnichannel experience,” states MarinaStein, senior research analyst for ORC International.