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Advertising has been around for a long time. In fact, the first paid advertisement was a Coca-Cola ad in a French newspaper in 1836. Today, there are boundless advertising strategies that credit unions and banks can learn from and leverage. But, what makes a truly effective advertising strategy?

Your member service team likely shines at personalized service when members walk into the branch, but how does the credit union interact with members who perform a large percentage of interactions digitally? It takes a concerted effort to maintain relationships with members who aren’t frequent visitors and to stay top of mind for financial services.

Q4 is traditionally credit union marketing budget season, but in 2022 the uncertainty in the current U.S. economy and geopolitical setting adds extra complexity: Inflation. Rising interest rates. Lingering Covid. As economic decline is a concern, marketing managers are under tighter scrutiny to demonstrate credit union advertising spend is generating positive returns. The C-suite often reacts by cutting marketing budgets since few consumers are in the market for loans given the higher interest rates. But marketing remains a critical spend to stay competitive and accelerate out of the questionable economy. The Financial Brand observes that “The difference between budgetary surgery and unfocused slashing will depend on how well bank marketing chiefs can make their case to senior management.”

Marketing personalization has evolved far beyond using someone’s name in an email promotion. When credit unions have access to member information and the ability to retrieve data from a CRM, customized campaigns can target an individual’s current situation and reach that person at the time the need is real. A survey by Epsilon reports that 80% of consumers are more likely to engage with a company that personalizes experiences. Achieve higher rates of return by reaching the target audience when they are more likely to engage with an offer.

The US regained a sense of normalcy in 2022, until inflation became the primary concern - causing interest rates to rise and the volume of loans to decline for the financial sector. In the ever-changing economy, it was more important than ever for WebStrategies to conduct the newest edition of our annual survey pinpointing how credit union marketing dollars are being spent and what digital tactics reflect the strongest return on investment. Our survey found marketers are still growing digital marketing efforts into 2023 but as in-person events are returning, marketing dollars are also increasing to offline channels such as events and sponsorships.

To varying degrees of success, most digital marketing agencies can run paid advertising and write copy for content marketing purposes, so you may ask, “What makes WebStrategies a premier credit union digital marketing agency?” WebStrategies has operated in the digital marketing space since 2005 and credit unions emerged as a primary industry that we serve. We have over 60 credit union clients because we’ve become extremely knowledgeable about their business operations and the needs of our clients. In fact, we often shock the C-suite with our ability to assist, not just with marketing, but the ability to solve problems that arise from silo’d departments and nonintegrated systems.

Even as a digital marketing agency, we know there are benefits credit unions realize through direct mail campaigns to reach members and potential members. The keys to doing that well are using an integrated CRM that can provide information and working with a vendor such as Conquest Graphics to convert that data into advertising, tailored to a member, or potential member’s, current needs. Now that the volume of direct mail has tapered off in most households, it is easier to get attention than in previous years.

According to the World Council of Credit Unions, the average age of credit union members in North America is 53. Since the overall median age of people in the U.S. is 38.5, credit union members are squarely on the older side of the population. To build a member base that will grow over the next several years and decades, attracting members under age 45 is the goal for most credit union marketers.

It’s no surprise to those in the financial industry that credit unions and traditional banks are facing tough competition from digital-only banks and fintech. In our recent survey of 1,000 banking consumers and subsequent Consumer Banking Preferences & Behavior Report, we learned the value drivers for consumers under age 45. Number three in the primary factors list that people under 45 value in a financial institution are mobile app capabilities. Online (non-mobile) capabilities ranked in the secondary factors. Clearly, the online experience is important to the younger demographic, and fintech by nature delivers exceptional digital experiences. But what makes a fintech app better than credit unions’ websites and apps?

While credit unions have long been known for their low rates and trust-worthy business practices, younger consumers in this digital-first era have different priorities. In our exclusive, Consumer Banking Preferences & Behavior Report, based on a survey of 1,000 banking consumers, we learned that there is a wide gap between what consumers under 45 value and those that are 45-plus value in a financial institution. It is up to marketers to resonate with consumers on things that matter most to them which may require changing up the message as well as the channels in order to reach a younger audience.