While some in credit union management might view dollars spent on marketing as a negative, Amanda Thomas believes quite the opposite.
“Marketing aligns your entire organization. If done successfully, it can have a larger ROI than many other things the credit union does,” said Thomas, who worked in marketing and business development for two different credit unions before founding a marketing firm in 2014. She is president of TwoScore, which helps credit unions with $100 million or less in assets reach their strategic goals through marketing. Thomas spoke during the recent CU Leadership Conference in Las vegas
The process begins, she said, with good, old-fashioned planning.
“When it comes to marketing, the pre-planning work is just as important as everything else,” she offered. “Many credit unions have one-person marketing departments. However, everyone from tellers to board members to collectors are marketers, so they all need to be involved in the marketing plan.”
Thomas emphasized the importance of having open discussions with tellers, who talk to members every day. “They know what members want or need, what is working and what is not working. This uncovers opportunities you may not know exist. Having a philosophy that everyone does marketing creates buy-in,” she added.
Marketing must be adapted to local conditions affecting the CU, Thomas continued. She suggested having an outlook that looks ahead over a time horizon of one to three years. “This will help you think in advance about new products you are introducing, new branches you are opening, perhaps changes to a SEG and/or changes to your local economy. If you know what is happening in your community that will allow you to offer a product that sets you apart from your competitors.”
Speaking of the competition – Thomas recommends being as knowledgeable as possible about what other financial institutions in your market do, and how they do it.
“That does not mean copy what others are doing,” she said with a laugh. “But it is important to understand financial services is a very saturated market. Credit unions know they offer the best deal, but the public might not know that. Look at your processes to make sure you have everything in place to capture business.”
In business, perception is “everything,” Thomas declared. She noted every CU says their members love them, but for many the products-per-household numbers do not bear out that oft-repeated mantra.
“Know what people think about you. Look ‘under the hood’ by examining your recent call reports. Know what is successful: which loans, which products.”
A good marketing plan needs objectives. Thomas said good starting questions include: Why are we marketing? What is our overall objective? How are we going to deliver on the CU’s brand promise?
“The cheapest marketing is to deepen relationships with current members. They already chose you,” she advised.
Having a product focus will help keep a marketing plan on point, Thomas continued. She said every marketer needs to know his/her CU’s bread and butter products. “Even with a small budget, start with what you can. People love goals. Have branch goals, departmental goals, individual loan type goals, all types of goals. Account for ROI by calculating average income per loan, by loan type.”
Brand = culture
A credit union’s brand is synonymous its culture, Thomas insisted. She said even the best marketing plan will fail if the CU’s culture is not good.
“The logo is not the brand,” she informed. “The brand experience is what members see, hear and feel. If your brand is good, it is what makes people want to do their banking at your credit union. Credit unions have shared values with their communities, which makes them special. Know what makes your credit union unique. What are you best at as an organization? You don’t have to serve every person everywhere.”
A good goal for any CU would be: We want our members to love banking with us so much, they go out and tell all their friends and family about us.
“That is free marketing,” Thomas said. “The employees are the biggest asset of the credit union, but if there are employees working against the brand, they are the biggest liability. Reward good behavior and correct incongruent behavior. It only takes one person to ruin a credit union’s brand experience. Make sure you have the right people with the right skillsets in the right positions.’
Credit unions typically do not have the biggest marketing budgets, Thomas said. She suggested starting with one-tenth of 1 percent of assets, with the understanding there are different needs for single SEG credit unions versus those that serve a community charter.
“Try guerilla marketing. Don’t go after everybody, go after only those the credit union is best suited to serve.”
To bring all of these concepts together, Thomas said it is important to make marketing “fun” for employees to increase the chance of success. “Communicate results early and often and celebrate success,” she said.
