More than 400 credit union executives from around the country are gathering for THINK 2010, this year’s most highly anticipated industry conference, and already, change is in the air. Seven CU-centric sessions kicked off this year’s agenda covering a range of industry hot topics. For those of you who aren’t here – you sure are missed! We thought we’d share a few of the highlights with you.
Here’s the play-by-play from the CU Marketing Best Practices session:
Offering insights into CU Marketing Best Practices, Brad Strothkamp, Principal Analyst from Forrester Research, stressed the importance of “seizing the credit union opportunity” given the current disenchanted mindset of consumers toward banks. “If I were running a credit union,” Strothkamp advised, “I would shamelessly promote the credit union difference.”
Because the recommendations of friends are a top method for researching PFIs, Strothkamp stressed, “I would integrate member reviews into my CUs web site.” Forrester studies show that primary customers of CUs are almost three times as likely to purchase additional products from their PFI than primary customers of banks. “It shows the appetite is there,” Strothkamp added. He encouraged CUs to look at online marketing beyond banners and buttons. “Consider integrating contextual links within your Web site to cross sell relevant products.”
Strothkamp outlined that by removing perceived barriers to membership, allowing current members to be advocates on a broad scale, and executing cross-selling flawlessly, CUs could increase membership and profitability tremendously. Duly noted.
Case studies from individual CUs included Ryan Zilker of American First CU who stressed the “importance of understanding the lifetime value of a new account” and even suggested the simple idea of Googling “lifetime value of a customer” to obtain online calculation tools. Zilker also found success in timing his direct mail efforts toward checking account member prospects to arrive on paydays. “This is the time when banking customers are likely to be most disenchanted with their financial providers.”
Presenting a poignant example of the “credit union difference,” Matthew Shepherd of Delta Community Credit Union gained consumer confidence with his “Standing Strong” 12-month CD. Offered at 50 bps above top competitors, Delta was able to offset the expense by reducing the year-end patronage. Positioning the CD as “our way of giving back,” the promotion attracted $288 million in deposits in 45 days and 1,209 new members – 1,143 of whom are still retained.
Lori Reeves of Financial Partners CU was able to compete against low intro rates and rewards programs by leveraging her sponsor’s rich heritage. By launching a credit card with proprietary licensed images reflecting her sponsor aerospace companies’ achievements, FPCU was able to grow their credit card portfolio by 1,200 cards in less than three months, attracting members with average FICO scores of 749. That’s 70 percent over goal – all without special pricing or promotions.
Zagging when everyone else zigs summed up Todd Kern’s philosophy at USA Fed when he was charged with lowering his average member age. With the full confidence and buy-in from senior management and throughout the entire organization, he was able to implement a bold, dynamic marketing campaign that permeated every employee and member touch point. Demonstrating that CUs are truly “180 degrees from banking,” Kern’s campaign proved that sometimes turning credit union marketing on its head could reap surprising rewards. After 12 months, the average member age was lowered from 53 to 43, checking accounts were increased by 14 percent, average checking balances were up 12 percent and credit card balances went up 13 percent. Not-the-same-old marketing yields not-the-same-old results.
How’s it working in your credit union? Please leave a comment via the icon below or Tweet us at http://twitter.com/coopthinkconf.