Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

 
 

View User's Journal

Report This Entry Subscribe to this Journal
arnold0pace72 Journal arnold0pace72 Personal Journal


arnold0pace72
Community Member
avatar
0 comments
5 Digital Marketing Themes for 2017 Strategic Planning Season.
Byline: Ryan Ruud

It's hard to believe the final days of summer are here.

As we kick off strategic planning season, how much focus does your

credit union put on digital marketing and member experience?

For credit unions looking to add digital to their 2017 strategic

planning sessions, consider these core themes:

Acquisition

As credit unions plan their 2017 advertising budgets, allocations

to digital acquisition must grow.

If credit unions want to be competitive in growing memberships,

deposits, and loans they simply have to participate in the media

ecosystem consumers are gathering their information.

Today's consumers moves seamlessly between multiple devices,

far in advance of a need driven decision. They collect answers to core

questions as they inform their decision and are often not brand

committed.

While the average North American consumes nearly half of all their

media via digital means, ad spend hasn't caught up. The average

spend only allocates 24% to digital leaving behind missed opportunities.

For credit unions in strategic planning mode, analyze acquisition

and advertising plans. Focus on where dollars are being spent, what the

return is and how well you can measure reach and return.

Finally, spend some time analyzing creative. The best performing

content in this new cross channel, information driven marketing system

puts brands up front and lets consumers get the information they need

quickly, helping to connect the dots on whatever journey they are on.

Also consider variations for each stage of the journey -- I want to know

vs. near me vs. I need.

Analytics

I've touched on data in past columns. Too often I come across

credit union websites that either have no analytics installed or

analytics installed that no one ever looks at.

Let's change that in 2017 so we can use the data to inform our

acquisition plans and other decisions. During your planning session

focus on developing a measurement plan.

At a high level it should answer: What do we want measure and why?

To answer this question, walk through the digital journey and make

note of the following: Any high value interactions: sign up for email,

contact us forms, member application download, member application

submit, rate page visit, etc.

These will be your events and goals.

In addition to your high value, brainstorm the insights and data

you'd like to collect.

Would you like to know more about the interests of the prospects

visiting your website? What kind of websites generally do they visit,

this will help you target your acquisition plan for example. All of this

data will be anonymous but very helpful in targeting and refining your

marketing activity.

User Experience

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.

Every stop on your prospect and member journeys is critical. So

polish them all.

For example consider how your website handles rates. Don't

make a potential new loan opportunity call or worse, drive into a branch

because of a standard rate posted, only to find out they don't

qualify for the posted rate.

Services like LoanTek make it easy to integrate real-time home and

auto loan rate data based on user feedback around credit data.

Empowering users with relevant data will increase your conversion

positive brand experiences.

Onboarding

When I joined my first credit union, it was at the urging of my

dad. I needed a car loan and he had been a lifelong member of a credit

union.

I made my minimum deposit to become a member, applied for the loan,

didn't get that great of an offer, and went with someone else. Fast

forward several years, I now have a membership at a different credit

union and would describe myself as well engrained in it.

I recently received a letter from the credit union I joined all

those years ago. My membership status was at risk. I joined over a

decade ago. The only communications I ever received was board voting and

this letter along with the occasional terribly un-engaging email.

My point? Even though I didn't get my car loan through them,

they missed a critical opportunity to fully bring me onboard as a credit

union member. During that decade I built my financial portfolio with one

of the big banks.

Credit unions, we have to think about what we do after someone says

yes. We can't sit on our hands. Even if you simply set up email

automation over the next 120 days to teach a new member about all the

services, benefits and great things being a member means.

Do something. Start planning for 2017 now.

Engagement

So once we have a new member signed up, they've brought on

deposit accounts, maybe a car loan too. Now what? We tend the field.

Engagement in 2017 comes in 4 forms. Social, Mobile, Email and

Branch. Yep, I said branch. Here's what you need to starting

planning for.

Social -- We've talked at great length in past columns about

credit union social media. The point here is plan. Too often credit

unions are executing social for social sake. If you can't answer

the question: Why am I here? with an answer that aligns to both your

credit union's business objectives and what your members want (i.e.

research tells you they are using a platform a certain way for X, Y or

Z) then STOP.

Mobile --Does your mobile app take advantage of notifications? Does

it take advantage of location sensing? Does it only notifiy me of a new

deposit? Is it providing context? For example, in conjunction with

beacon technology, I walk by a beacon in an airport and my credit

union's mobile app senses that I'm traveling. I get a

notification to tell me about the new travel rewards credit card

available. Bingo! We have context and relevance. The point isn't to

do this exact example, it's to think outside the box.

Email -- This may seem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK3QDKcdlng

so 1999, but many credit unions don't

do it, or aren't doing it very well. Don't email me because

you can. Email because you have something to offer. Bring me value.

Educate me. Learn about me. Segment me and personalize my email to my

needs and desires.

Branch --How well trained are the people working in your credit

union to handle the demands of a digital member? If someone gets a phone

call because your number is listed online, are they ready to respond and

help that person immediately or does it end in frustration for the

caller?

A common scenario is a call or visit by someone who starts their

search online, they end up talking with someone who doesn't have

the information, can't help them, or doesn't understand what

they are asking for. More often than not it's simply a matter of

speed.

The prospect started their search online with an assumption of

expediency and just wanted a quick answer, for example a rate or range

of rates for a new loan and when they encountered rate cards or someone

who wanted to take them down a full application process, they got

frustrated and gave up.

Opportunity lost. Make sure your staff are trained to close.

Final Thoughts

Any one of these topics could be a column all on it's own.

As your credit union begins 2017 strategic planning, the goal here

isn't to be overwhelmed. It's to challenge your team to ask:

How can we take a step towards each of our big audacious goals for 2017.

Some of these topics are heavy and will be difficult to tackle, but

just starting with something small gets you on the path to growing

membership and delighting the members you have today.

Here's to an awesome planning season and all the best for the

remaining dog days of summer!




 
 
Manage Your Items
Other Stuff
Get GCash
Offers
Get Items
More Items
Where Everyone Hangs Out
Other Community Areas
Virtual Spaces
Fun Stuff
Gaia's Games
Mini-Games
Play with GCash
Play with Platinum