How Might Credit Union Marketers Take Action?

These changes in consumer preference for and loyalty to small businesses open doors to several smart strategies and tactics your organization can take to grow bigger, reach further and change more people's lives for the better.

Increase marketing expenses. This idea might lose some readers – yes, credit unions are existing on the thinnest of razor thin margins today. But when you downsize your marketing engine, you downsize your earning horsepower too. Now is not the time to go from a sedan to a moped. And data from the past 40 years consistently links a correlation between marketing budget and income.

"Factors Contributing to Credit Union Asset Growth, 1979-2016" reported that increasing marketing expenses by just 0.1% of assets increases asset growth by 0.79% on average. You get an eight to one return on your marketing investments – take it or leave it.

Do market research. When the economic landscape changes, consumer patterns change too. Understanding behaviors during these times, and how to respond, turns unprecedented situations from anomalies into strategic advantages for your business. How confidently do you understand your members' needs this month? Or anticipate them next month? When did you last do market research to validate what you know? Now might be a good time to reassess. A case study from Kern Schools Federal Credit Union lays out for marketers how to conduct market research, run focus groups and assess brand loyalty.
Update your digital home base and messaging. The 2019 study, "Who Do Credit Unions Belong To?" sought to understand how credit unions are perceived in times of social and political polarization. The research found that 83% of credit union websites were indistinguishable from any other financial institutions' websites and lacked visual cues representative of their membership. Credit unions whose websites did differentiate with a mission statement and custom images performed better in asset growth, ROA, member satisfaction and quantity/quality product performance measures. Are you speaking the language of your community members looking to support local? Reach out and ask! Accept you don't have all the answers, invite a conversation where you listen more than speak, and don't try to fool your audience.
Rethink your product and service offerings for a new world. Necessity is the mother of invention and in today's world, that looks like breweries and distilleries making hand sanitizer and clothing companies making face masks. As needs continue to evolve, what new offerings have you pivoted toward? RV lending, cannabis banking, evacuation loans? The more creative a brand is, the more it can still meet consumer needs regardless of our changing world. And the most successful brands will co-create solutions with those who will use the product or service. Dennis Campbell of Harvard Business School conducted extensive member experience research for credit unions in which he concluded some areas of the credit union need to underperform for other areas to shine – this is the best way to meet the targeted needs of your members.

Credit unions exist at a critical pivot point in many people's life stories, the point where a life is turned around and things get back on track. It is the nature of the work that credit unions do that makes these life pivots possible. How marketing professionals are able to tell, share and reach more with these stories is what makes a credit union's impact in the community much bigger.

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