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
Fast, reliable delivery
DigitalMailer is offering a new FREE webinar: Just a Reminder...How to make collections faster, easier, and more affordable
Paul J Lucas, national marketing and branding consultant and frequent CU Journal contributor, wanted to share some thoughts on brand management for credit unions. Visit Paul's website at pauljlucas.com,email at paul@pauljlucas.comor call (202) 320 5759 to learn more.
Going into 2010, the top brand challenges for credit unions will be:
1. Misunderstanding what a brand is and why it matters. It is important to have a brand strategy that is embraced by the entire organization. If your staff doesn't get it you can't expect your members to embrace your brand.
2. Lack of understanding in the marketplace that credit unions are ideal primary financial services providers - not just a good place to get a vehicle loan. This means that credit unions must explain both the credit union concept and their own specific brand stories.
3. Communicating that shared branching and ATM networks are competitive to the national presence of large banks. This is critical to a credit union's ability to compete against multi-branch banks (and credit unions). Yet most members have no idea what "shared branching" means or how competitive large ATM networks are compared to many large bank systems. Do not assume members know what "shared branching" means, or how to use it.
4. Bad advertising and marketing that obscure the brand and fail to communicate the credit union's benefits can erode brand value.
Your marketing/messaging must be clear, straightforward and benefits oriented.
Creative does matter - effective creative gets you noticed and it clearly states the benefits of using your CU.
All messages must be consistent building blocks for the brand: advertising; signage; brochures; newsletters; statement messages; eLerts - every member touch point.
5. Overemphasis on reaching new members at the expense of building more productive relationships with current members. Build brand loyalty inside-out! Your current members are the best prospects for increasing product and service penetration. That is key to building a successful, stable financial services organization
6. Letting impatience trump consistency. Throwing together ads, products, announcements, etc. without taking time to tie them to your brand strategy is counter-productive.
7. Constantly changing things in search of the "magic bullet." Changing offers, ad mediums, products, etc. in search of the one magic key to prosperity is a death spiral. There are no magic bullets beyond consistency and brand clarity.
8. Thinking business development reps will quickly and easily grow assets. Business development reps are only as good as they are managed and credit unions do not usually have experienced, effective sales managers on staff. Business development reps who are unskilled and untrained can do your Brand more harm than good.
9. Working with a marketing budget that is too small to achieve marketing goals. Some annual marketing budget benchmarks:
0.25% of assets at a minimum for small institutions.
0.50% for a larger SEG, near community or small market community CUs.
0.75 to 1.50% for large/urban community charter CUs.
10. Remembering that credit unions are chartered to lend money! That requires becoming a competitive retail marketer.
While some see red, Old Hickory Credit Union is seeing pink.
by Ron Daly
I'm sure football fans have noticed all the pink surrounding their favorite teams, cheerleaders and even stadium equipment the past few weeks. Sports Illustrated even "went pink" in its most recent issue, all to acknowledge the fight against breast cancer. I saw a great program go across the DigitalMailer production line this week and wanted to share it with everyone.
1. A team of Old Hickory CU employees will be participating in the Nashville Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event on Saturday, Oct. 24. Their goal is to donate $2500 to the American Cancer Society; 2. Old Hickory CU is selling pink umbrellas for $15, with $7 of that going to the American Cancer Society. These umbrellas also come with a set of coupons for credit union services that benefit members; and 3. All branches are offering information on breast cancer awareness, as well as supplemental cancer insurance policies.
When we inquired about the eLert topic Malinda Warchus, Assistant VP of Marketing commented “It might seem like a strange thing for a financial institution to send out an eLert about, but we are committed to improving the lives of our neighbors and making a positive difference in our communities. The outpouring of response from our members tells us that they like joining our cause.”
Not strange at all...and we agree with the members! In fact, I hear our DMI team is in line for any umbrellas that are left once the members are taken care of.
Most of the time, Credit Unions think they can only use member email addresses for eStatement notifications, newsletters or selling a new product or service. Those same email addresses can be used to communicate the difference between a bank and a credit union, as well as raising awareness among CU members the community outreach credit unions are involved in. Old Hickory CU has done just that by tying into a national promotion and using inexpensive methods of communication (email, electronic alerts, and monthly newsletter) and community outreach to reach members and potential members at a fraction of the cost.
Kudos and this effort speaks to the character of Old Hickory CU employees and management. Keep up the great work!
