Credit unions have a lot to offer – member-focused products, famed member service and a spirit of giving back to their communities. But as many have made digital transformations over the last 10 years, credit unions still face significant challenges when it comes to marketing in the digital world. How do you navigate compliance under digital regulations? How do you maintain personal touch while creating a digital community? These are the big questions credit unions face. The good news? You can answer them with the right support. Let’s dig into these top challenges and the solutions to surpass them.
Understanding Digital Compliance
For credit unions, compliance is a big deal. Financial institutions must comply with a multitude of regulations issued by various government bureaus and commissions. Compliance is essential to your company's financial health because it helps you avoid lawsuits and fines. But just as important, compliance is also good for your brand. It promotes transparency, trust, and a feeling of safety among your members.
Digital marketing requires compliance just like traditional marketing does – whether you’re updating your website, posting an offer on your Instagram or recording a podcast advertisement. Credit unions can benefit from working with a digital marketing agency that has experience in maintaining compliance when it comes to ADA requirements for web, FTC guidelines, and CAN-SPAM Act laws.
Read more: A Financial Institution’s Guide to Compliance in Digital Marketing
Maintaining the Personal Connection Credit Unions Are Known For
For decades, credit unions have been local institutions where members come to handle their finances with friendly staff they can relate to. Many credit unions have developed above-and-beyond in-person member service to set themselves apart from large financial corporations. But with the shift to a digital, low-touch environment, this strategy has to evolve. At the same time, you likely still have members who love coming into the branch and chatting it up with the member service representative or their lender.
Balancing this physical-meets-digital approach is a challenge, but it isn’t impossible with the right support. By working with a digital marketing agency, you can focus on what you already do well in your branches and in the community, and hand off the digital services to a team who can translate your credit union’s strengths to the digital realm.
Marketing a Variety of Products to Members and Non-Members
Loans, deposit accounts, credit cards – the list of products to market is as long as your child’s graduation ceremony. On top of that, some products are targeted to members, while others are meant to draw non-members in. If you try to do everything, you’ll end up with a lot of campaigns, and a lot of work. If you find you’re in over your head, a marketing partner can manage these campaigns for you with swift automation tools. These tools can also turn out data to help you prioritize your money and resources on efforts that bring the most return on investment. However many campaigns you decide to take on, having an extension of your team will make sure all execution timelines are met.
Growing Membership With Young Audiences
With Generation Z entering the financial market, credit unions are looking to this audience to grow and sustain their membership for years to come. But reaching younger audiences comes with new challenges – learning and using relevant mediums, speaking their language with the right messaging, and making sure digital platforms meet their needs. The good news is that this generation values local and community-based businesses, so there’s a lot to love about credit unions and their focus on giving back to the communities they serve.
In partnering with a digital marketing agency, you’ll have access to experts in targeting different demographics, whether it’s through TikTok, Instagram or other relevant mediums. They can also offer new tools and insights to help you understand how your target audiences respond to your campaigns, helping you refine moving forward.
Are you ready to face your challenges head-on? PRIME is here to help, with the digital expertise you need to meet your goals. Use the link below to schedule a time to talk with PRIME President Jason Johnson.
If you enjoyed this edition of PRIME Pulse, take a look at some of our other related articles:
- A Financial Institution's Guide to Compliance in Digital Marketing
- 10 Ways to Make Your Credit Union Members Feel Valued
- 7 Strategies to Target New Demographics for Your Credit Union
