BREA, Calif.-Credit Union of Southern California knows its marketing dollars can't be spread equally among all 142 communities it serves, so in 2011 it decided to become more focused.
"We strategically focused our marketing efforts in areas that help to drive our economic engine," explained Michelle Hunter, SVP of marketing & development at CU SoCal and vice-chair of CUNA's Marketing & Business Development Council.
Hunter added that "part of this strategic focus was to target and blanket specific communities among the 142 within our field of membership while considering product profitability and ROI."
No specific geographic markets were discussed. Instead, Hunter said, "we leveraged doors that were already open for our credit union, concentrating on deeper penetration rather than casting a broader net."
Hunter declined to give any specifics on the location and socioeconomic make-up of that focus area, but said that the two branches that produced the highest number of member referrals for 2011 were in that region. Overall, 44% of CU SoCal's new memberships in 2011 were the direct result of existing member referrals, and it achieved 13% checking account growth. Additionally, monthly Visa credit card applications increased by 218% over the previous year. In its targeted geographic areas, a loan promotion open only to a SEG group in three cities the CU serves brought in 104 new memberships and 314 new loans funded.
"While we are not attributing the success of our campaign to individual initiatives and specific tactics, we are seeing the campaign's overall success as a result of an integrated approach using various channels," said Hunter. "Through our collective efforts as a whole, we have seen and continue to see growth."
CU SoCal varies its marketing strategy depending upon the campaign, but utilizes everything from in-branch signage to web ads, along with billboards and direct mail. Hunter noted that direct mail volumes are declining, and it does only one such campaign per quarter.
One area where the 42,000-member, $552-million credit union doesn't put much focus is Facebook.
"That medium is one more channel, one more outlet, to touch members and potential members," said Hunter. "We can certainly count the number of 'Likes' and quality posts to help determine engagement, but what we cannot conclude is how it grows the credit union. We've been very laser-like in focusing on particular areas that are measureable and can drive the revenue for the credit union, so (social media) has been placed on the backburner for us at this time. We need to be clear as a team internally what our purpose is and what the expectations are."
Hunter suggested that one way to help CUs gain marketshare is to focus on making sure consumers "get" credit unions-and that starts with using less jargon.
"Generally speaking, consumers don't understand terms such as 'join,'" she said. "We need to use language that, while preserving our heritage and our unique difference from other financial institutions, speaks to a relationship that resonates with consumers and that they understand."
Avoiding A Certain Word
Rather than "join," CU SoCal members merely "open an account," and its website and other collateral reflects that messaging. But while the wording may be non-traditional (by CU standards), CU SoCal's theory of communicating the credit union difference is old-school.
"At the onset of the recession, credit unions were viewed as a safe haven. Now, we have an opportunity to expand that role to become financial partners," said Hunter. "They're looking for advice, for information, and they want to well-educated financial decisions. We've transitioned from being that safe haven to being that trusted financial advisor."
