'More scientific than creative': How CU marketing is evolving
March 26, 2019 10:18 AM
CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council conference
Technology has affected all aspects of running a credit union – including marketing. The importance of print advertisement is fading as targeted spots on social media gain in importance.
To find out what those on the front lines are seeing, Credit Union Journal asked several attendees of the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council’s recent annual conference in Las Vegas to share their thoughts on how credit union marketing has changed over the past five years to 10 years.
Read on for their responses.
To find out what those on the front lines are seeing, Credit Union Journal asked several attendees of the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council’s recent annual conference in Las Vegas to share their thoughts on how credit union marketing has changed over the past five years to 10 years.
Read on for their responses.
Amy McGraw, VP of marketing, $725 million-asset Tropical Financial CU in Miramar, Fla.
Absolutely everything! I am in grad school for digital strategic communications, because that is where everything is going. Ten years ago we did social media, but we wondered about the credit union’s place. Targeting has changed. We can now show an actual ROI by tracking conversions, rather than just relying on clicks. We target so we help rather than bother people. We can do what Bank of America does, but we do it on our own scale.
Vicki Aghajanian, director of business development and community relations, $1.2 billion-asset LGE Community CU in Marietta, Ga.
What is different today is our competition is not necessarily limited to banks. It now includes credit unions. Even though we collaborate, we have to have something to stand out and bring in membership growth.
Deidre Davis, chief marketing officer, $4.2 billion-asset Michigan State University FCU in East Lansing, Mich.
The biggest difference is the personalization needed to reach today’s consumers. We use data to pull out what is most relevant to a specific consumer. We try to talk about being ready with the right product at the right time. We had the data before, but we did not have access to it like we do now.
Michelle Hunter, chief communications and experience officer, $1.5 billion-asset Credit Union of Southern California in Anaheim, Calif.
The four Ps of marketing are completely different. They used to be: Product, price, promotion and placement. Today, product has become solutions, price is value, promotion is educate and inform, while placement is accessibility. You have to know your individual members, and you have to address their needs and wants. Marketers have to be savvy in the data we use. We are becoming more scientific than creative.
Paris Chevalier, chief experience officer, $974 million-asset USE Credit Union in San Diego
The overall digital experience is different. The term “digital” used to just be the website. Now, there are digital ads, targeting and more. Big banks are pouring so much money into technology, it is difficult for a credit union to keep up.
Patrick Shandorf, business development manager, $165 million-asset Guardians CU in West Palm Beach, Fla.
We have an outside company that does our marketing, which I never thought would happen. We used to serve just county employees. When I first started we did not even have the name “business development.” I just went to new employee meetings. About 10 years ago we started adding ZIP codes in West Palm Beach. Then, we merged with a credit union in Fort Pierce. Today, we do analytics that tell us where to go, rather than cold calling the phone book.
