Credit Union Marketing Corner
Ultimately, financial institutions all have the same sort of financial services on their menus. Presenting the quality of your credit union’s products through appetizing descriptions like rates and fees should be enough but won’t end up competing against the streamlined advertising efforts of big banks. Big banks have big bucks to promote a sort of fine dining experience and won’t have much trouble beating your discount deals. So how do you get more members to “dine” at your cu?
Luckily, as a credit union, your FOM (Field of Membership) will give you a community to draw members from. Your FOM defines much more than the parameters of eligibility for new members; it shows you how to market your menu based on the taste of the group.
For example, a select employment group that works in energy conservation or organic foods would not want multiple paper print items sent to them and would rather find your booth at a farmers market than a state fair.
Your FOM will provide for the places your credit union should be, to meet your members and clue into what financial services your current and potential members are hungry for.
Most of all, credit unions have a special advantage over bigger FIs: interpersonal and emotional FOM advertising to a group of like-members. Consumers are more likely to choose an institution or product it feels a connection to, through community and experience.
For example, a field of membership with a geographic range that includes close-knit communities is an advantage over big banks that don’t know the local traditions (like putting hot sauce on your pizza). You know the inside scoop on your members’ favorite ice cream, and that’s a huge advantage over big chain banks serving vanilla and chocolate.
When you find members to fill your table, reward them with benefits and referral bonuses. Always leave extra place settings for future members to enjoy the community you’ve built on premium products.
Oak Tree has a long history of helping credit unions communicate with their members and prospective members with our marketing services. We now are focusing on other ways to help credit unions market themselves such as our credit union blog which is always churning out a variety of articles for those in the credit union community. And finally, speaking of menus — when your members go out to actually dine they might want to use a credit card and that is a great product to attract new members. To help ensure they sign up, use our credit union consumer lending documents!
