LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Marketing is often among the first cuts when the economy is slow, yet most CUs aren’t looking to slash marketing budgets this year, according to a quick survey from one digital signage company.
What remains critical even with budgets funded, the company is reporting, is focusing staff on the right priorities to battle rising costs and get the most out of marketing dollars.
Brian Nutt, CEO of Captive Indoor Media here, is a proponent of daily “sales huddles” conducted through digital signage networks as a means of boosting productivity.
“More of our credit union clients are running what we call ‘sales huddles’ before the CU gets going in the morning,” explained Nutt, whose company works with credit unions nationally. “They are meant to be five- to ten-minute quick briefings about the products that are important to the credit union, what they are going to do for the day, goals, and where the credit union stands against objectives.”
Huddles are generally broadcast from the main office. “They’re about focusing on what needs to get done for the day,” Nutt explained.
Nutt said some of his client CUs are running huddles daily. And some are running separate huddles based on the objectives of specific branches.
Nutt says, in general, digital signage is being relied on to a greater extent as his customers understand the importance of cross selling and getting more out the existing membership in the tough economy.
“Our credit unions realize that they have to maximize their marketing dollars and current customers are the path of least resistance and ultimately can be the most profitable.”
Nutt acknowledges that cutting marketing budgets could occur as margins shrink, but that would be a “knee-jerk reaction” and something that the company’s survey of its clients indicates won’t happen at most CUs.
“We surveyed all of our customers in January and about 70% said they were going to continue with plans to expand branching within the next 12 to 24 months,” Nutt said. “Very few had cut their marketing budgets.”
Nutt added that the cost for digital signage systems is coming down, with the average per-branch price around $5,000 today.
For more info: www.captiveindoormedia.com
