| JANUARY 2008 Newsletter
"Go Green" promotion grows eStatement adoption rates
It's no surprise that eStatements offer your customers many benefits, such as a more secure mailing process, convenience and anytime access. But they also are environmentally friendly. To help clients spread the news that eStatements save trees while growing their eStatement adoption rates, DigitalMailer launched a "Go Green" campaign for clients last fall.
In all, 25 credit unions participated in the DigitalMailer promotion, which offered clients bulk pricing for statement inserts, free email promotional messages, and iPOD Nanos for use in promotional drawings. A number of our clients also announced the program through links on their Web sites, ran "Go Green" stories in their newsletters and sponsored internal promotions.
The results had participants seeing green: More than 10,300 members made the switch to eStatements, with members from First Community Credit Union in Ellisville, M.O.; Suffolk Federal Credit Union in Medford, N.Y.; and Mayo Employees' Federal Credit Union in Rochester, Minn., leading the way. Congratulations to all participants on their successful campaigns!
To learn more about eStatements and ways you can help your customers go green, visit us at www.digitalmailer.com, or you may contact Ron Daly directly at rdaly@digitalmailer.com.
Teens, talking and financial services
It's a fact that many teens who join a credit union while in high school not only learn good personal finance skills, but also tend to remain members well into adulthood. So, what's the best way to reach this market? Youth savings plans and financial education classes are certainly helpful. But more and more, the research bears out that the best place to find teens is where they are: on their cell phones.
According to a Jan. 11, 2008, research brief by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 93 percent of teens ages 12-17 regularly use the Internet. While admittedly the bulk of teens' digital time is used for socializing, they nonetheless are very comfortable with - even devoted to - using electronic devices. In fact, 27 percent of tech-savvy teens have their own Web sites and 33 percent create or work on blogs for others, including for school assignments.
Land-line continues to be the most often-used communications channel for youth, but those adept at using digital communications prefer cell phones and texting. "Multi-channel teens are super communicators who will use any tool at their disposal," according to Pew's researchers, who note that within this subset, texting jumps from 27 percent to 60 percent.
Texting is becoming the preferred communications channel for most teens (outside face-to-face communication), but whether or not they will welcome or be annoyed by text ads remains to be seen. One thing, however, is clear: To a growing number in the youth market, digital communications is becoming as common and accepted as those other teen pastimes - sports, shopping and hanging with friends.
Keep an eye on the newsletter or our website www.digitalmailer.com for the rollout of our mobile messaging system in early 2008.
DigitalMailer & WesCorp partner to serve credit unions
Last month, we announced DigitalMailer’s newest partner in helping credit unions build and retain strong member relationships through the use of digital technology. WesCorp, the nation’s largest corporate credit union, has joined forces with DigitalMailer to help expand its technology footprint and grow its digital communications programs. Under the new partnership, DigitalMailer will serve as an "innovation arm" for the corporate.
Tony Kitt, WesCorp's Senior Vice President of Payment Systems, said, "We see this as a strategic investment in recognition of the evolution, really the revolution, of payments processing and settlement." According to Kitt, DigitalMailer will help WesCorp leverage its core competencies "to find new frontiers that will enable credit unions to stay ahead of rapid change, including business services and digital communications."
Under the new partnership, WesCorp will be a minor owner of DigitalMailer and have a role in developing our future capabilities, as well as providing valuable input. DigitalMailer will help the corporate with a number of online applications that will benefit credit unions.
WesCorp's decision to partner with DigitalMailer not only signals its confidence in our product and service offerings, but also in our capability to help financial institutions make powerful online connections with their customers/members.
Two recent articles in the Credit Union Times highlighted the new partnership. A Dec. 12, 2007, front-page article focused on changes made at WesCorp's related to Check 21, including the new DigitalMailer partnership. The second article, published Jan. 16, 2008, features Ron Daly talking about DigitalMailer's growth and the new relationship with WesCorp.
Click Here to view the press release announcing the partnership.
Blogging for Business
It sounds like a marketer's dream come true: Blogging as an inexpensive, easy way to raise a small company's profile and promote products and services? Well, maybe, according to prolific blogger, Guy Kawasaki, who is managing partner of Garage Technology Ventures. Kawasaki says blogs may not drive much business to clothing stores or grocery chains, but they can give a boost to organizations that rely on word-of-mouth marketing, and to those that are mission oriented or socially responsible. Enter credit unions.
One of the most successful blogs to come along is personal-finance-based: Free Money Finance. A story in the Dec. 26, 2007, issue of The New York Times highlights the personal finance blog, whose owner is Michigan-based Denali Flavors, an ice cream manufacturing company that licenses its flavors to other stores. Denali Flavors' blog has nothing to do with ice cream, but the company's marketing executive, John Nardini, found that personal finance is a one of hottest topics among blogs, both for people wanting to increase wealth and those wanting tips for getting out of debt. After launching Free Money Finance last year, the site now receives 4,500 visits a day on average.
Nardini posts to Free Money Finance some 4-5 times a weekday, but that's more than required for a good blog. Jessica Myers, senior media relations specialist for Kansas City-based Garmin, says to keep content fresh and spark discussion, bloggers should post at least 2-3 times a week. After launching the company's own blog more than a year ago, Myers says she has had plenty of opportunities to showcase Garmin’s expertise. "We have blog columns by leaders in different divisions of the company, both to share the posting workload and to add a 'human face' to our online footprint," she said.
For marketers wanting to promote their institution's financial literacy program or provide information about smart saving, the cost to operate a blog is modest, compared with other types of promotion. Free Money Finance has a marketing budget of approximately $4,000 per year.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR & COMPANY:
Ron Daly is President/CEO of DigitalMailer, Inc., a digital communication provider that helps clients gain a strategic business advantage through eStatements, e-LERTs, e-newsletters, email and other virtual tools on the Internet. You can email Ron at rdaly@digitalmailer.com if you want more information on any topic found in our newsletters or web site.
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Copyright 2008 DMI
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