MADISON, Wis.—Digital marketing is a significantly overlooked path to growth by credit unions, according to one analyst, who believes digital can be more powerful than all of a CU’s branches combined.
James Robert Lay, president of CUGrow, said during a CUNA Mutual Discovery Conference session today that it’s time for credit unions to fully recognize that “the consumer experience and the buying journey have changed.”
Not recognizing that reality, he said, means CUs are locked into channels for attracting and serving members that are becoming obsolete at a time competitors are rapidly evolving.
Lay said his experience has found “three problems” in working with credit unions in a world that is increasingly a “humanized digital community”:
* CUs are giving away commodities such as T-shirts and brochures. “Do people even read them, or are they throwing all that away?”
* CUs default to promoting “great rates and service. You’re promoting the exact same thing as every other bank and credit union.”
* CUs lack the ability to track and follow up the leads that are being acquired to nurture from intent to conversion and beyond.
“There is a better way to do business development in a digital economy,” said Lay.
Lay reported that research by Google shows the average consumer takes between 30 to 45 days to make a decision when applying for a new account, and over that time they look to as many as eight different sources for information.
“So the zero moment of truth has really changed the way people shop,” said Lay. “But at the end of the day people do business with people. And credit unions have been built around this ideal of people helping people. One thing that has been expressed to me is a concern that as we move into these digital environments how will we still have human connections in a digital environment. The answer is a human digitized economy.”
In other words, bringing a human touch to digital interactions.
Lay said too many credit unions in their marketing continue to use broadcast-like methodologies that are one-to-many rather than one-to-one.
“One thing I envision is sales and business development will work much more closely with marketing,” said Lay. “They have traditionally bumped heads. But now with technology platforms, marketing and sales will work closer together to work toward the same goals of generating leads, closing leads, and building share of wallet.”
In his presentation Lay outlined six tools credit unions should be utilizing in digital marketing, but said a key tool is often overlooked or used poorly.
“You don’t need a website, you need a website that sells,” said Lay. “And that is vastly different from the majority of websites today. Most are just glorified brochures. In a revamp, all they do is put on a new façade, and how they view that site really hasn’t changed. The website hasn’t been optimized to be the number-one sales tool for credit unions, and I believe a website can do more for business than all branches combined.”
Lay said credit unions should use the digital behavior of users and visitors to their sites to better tailor the messages seen on any subsequent visits.
Other Points To Consider
* Digital referrals are such a “low-hanging fruit just waiting to be picked. It requires some planning and some journey-mapping. To me this is the biggest opportunity.” Credit unions, said Lay, need to get better at capturing member referrals, and the process should be frictionless and quick. “This is where you build trust, and these advocates can refer friends and family.”
* “Members are your number-one marketing tool. People trust people. People trust their friends and family more than they trust your credit union.”
* Video can help boost conversions on a landing page by 80%. “Video is what will humanize your business development efforts.” These include e-mail responses that have a link to a video; “it’s not just a name with a voice, it’s a face with a voice.”
* Get a personal financial management platform to allow the member to aggregate their third-party accounts in one location.
* The best place to start in mapping digital journeys is with a white board. “Start with your team and start small, and begin with your product, such as credit cards. Have a clear view of the journey to a product.”
* Assess your goals. “How are you looking to grow? New leads? Share of wallet? Knowing that means your next steps will be very, very different.”