The awards keep on coming for Shell. It was only a few weeks ago that they were recognized by the Credit Union National Association as the Community Credit Union of the Year (click here to read the press release).
From the release:
"In today's turbulent world, extending a helping hand in the community is a top priority at Shell FCU. The sole purpose of the credit union is to meet the financial needs of their members, provide free financial literacy and volunteer for a stronger community."
Shell FCU's accolades are well deserved. Their iLife program encourages members and non-members to come and participate in events that will benefit others in their community. Whether it's bicycle drives, cell phones for soliders or a basketball tournament, iLife is dedicated to boosting community spirit, community giving, and volunteerism.
Shell is also celebrating a "great loan year" by offering a $15,000 store credit at Pasadena Honda to a lucky borrower in January. Pretty sweet prize, considering many lending institutions and banks are unable/unwilling to lend these days.
For marketers, making assumptions about your target audience is easy. But is it always accurate? It's tempting to look at a person's buying history, or review gender and age demographics, to help customize marketing messages. However, you should do so with care, as assumptions can just as easily backfire on your good intentions.
Just because someone buys a tricycle, don't assume they are married with young kids … it could have been purchased as a gift.
That's the point of Loren McDonald's message in a recent Email Insider article. (Loren is a "he" not a "she." And he doesn't have an ounce of Irish or Scottish in his genes.) In his article, "My Name Is Loren. BTW, I'm a 'He,'" McDonald warns of awkward and costly mistakes when you bring stereotypes and assumptions into your marketing efforts.
"The downside of wrong assumptions about your customers and prospects goes beyond potentially annoying them and even hurting your brand," he said. "It can also hurt your bottom line by continually sending subscribers offers and communications based on 'bad' data."
To steer clear of these situations, keep these tips in mind:
Collect key demographic data when members opt in. Case in point: McDonald received an email promoting engagement rings despite being married for 26 years - something that should have been easily captured by the marketing team.
Gather data useful to your key business lines. Credit unions can benefit from gathering financial preferences of its members, such as if they own or rent (mortgage products), recently purchased a car (auto loans), or have children approaching college age (student loan programs).
Collect members' basic interests and preferences. This helps you provide messages that are more applicable and well-timed, as well as member' preferred method for receiving messages.
DigitalMailer has the know-how to help you execute an effective email communication program - call (866) 994-4900, ext 103, visit www.digitalmailer.com/arb or email info@digitalmailer.com for more information.
DigitalMailer has found a new way to save credit unions money by cutting out print and postage, reducing man-hours and increasing customer response.
As mentioned in the CU Times article "Northwest FCU Cuts Delinquencies, Costs With E-Mails", DigitalMailer helped Northwest Federal Credit Union come up with a new way to reach members who were behind on their loan payments.
From the article:
The credit union had over 55% of its member’s e-mails on file and implemented a new policy that required members taking out a loan to provide a valid e-mail address.
The credit union works with DigitalMailer on other digital communication products, so [Cindy Cherry, Northwest’s collection manager] approached the provider with the problem.
"I listened to the problem and thought with that number of e-mail addresses, they could stop or knock out a lot of the accounts before they got to the 15-day mark," said Ron Daly, president/CEO of DigitalMailer.
"This is technology that bank and credit card companies have used for years, it’s just about getting credit unions to start using it."
Northwest’s success was self-evident. Of 1,605 collection e-mails sent, 845 members have paid before the 15-day delinquency mark. They were able to find bad e-mail addresses and follow up with members who had missed their notification. Even though the number of delinquencies is still high for Northwest, the process of dealing with them is getting faster, more affordable, and more effective.
DigitalMailer can do the same for you!
Are you dealing with a high volume of delinquencies and limited collection resources? The DigitalMailer Automatic Relationship Builder can give you:
Accurate reporting of e-mail opens, click-throughs and forwards
Easy-to-use template creation system
Easy list management
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