NORRISTOWN, Penn. - Spending marketing dollars wisely will be a must in an ongoing tight economy that has banks moving in on credit unions’ checking account business, cautions one national CU marketing firm.
“The competition is really stiff,” said Bob Connor, president of CU ink here, regarding the outlook for the rest of the year. “Banks are getting as aggressive as I’ve ever seen in trying to buy checking accounts. They’re putting out offers that many credit unions will not try to match. We’ve seen deals where you get $100 to bring your checking business to the bank.”
In response to both competitive and bottom-line pressures, Connor said credit unions simply must make better use of internal and external data.
“Credit unions need to look to technology to help them deliver the most effective marketing,” he said “It’s absolutely critical that credit unions bring the CRM or MRM tools in-house, or outsource to assist with marketing programs and cross-sell recommendations among their current membership.”
Connor feels the issue is greater with small credit unions that may never have had to do targeted marketing since “business was moving along nicely. Now they have to do this.
“The smaller credit unions don’t always have the expertise and experience that the banks have,” Connor said. “And they don’t have the technology to get at the data. But lately we are seeing that the smaller credit unions are finally beginning to invest in the technology.”
Connor predicts market conditions will continue to challenge credit unions for the next 12 to 24 months, basing his assessment on his personal take on the economy and on what he hears in the industry.
“There is a lot of outright fear in some of the credit union folks we talk with,” Connor said. “They are scared about things drying up, lending specifically.”
CU ink is a marketing consulting firm serving more than 800 CUs nationally.
For more info: www.cuink.com.
