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Originally posted on September 2, 2019, this post was refreshed to highlight ways businesses can save money on Google Ads. Are you stretching your Google ads budget as far as it can go? Small and medium-sized businesses can't afford to throw away ad dollars trying to compete with large companies and must be strategic with their advertising spending. In our 2019 broadcast, we covered some important things to look out for that could be burning through your campaign budgets. Making adjustments to these 3 things could save you thousands of dollars.

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?

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.”

When B2B manufacturing marketers promote a new product, reaching the target audience takes an organized plan of attack and someone dedicated to managing the project. The frequency of product releases is different for every manufacturer so whether it is something that happens every few weeks, every few months, or every few years, keeping a documented playbook handy makes the process smoother for everyone involved. It also ensures no channel is overlooked and over time marketers hone the digital strategy that yields the best results.

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?

WebStrategies recently appeared on credit union talk show CUbroadcast. The show featured CEO Chris Leone and Head of Digital Advertising Emily Niedermaier discussing digital advertising pitfalls that credit unions should avoid.

We've talked about what factors cause credit union marketing budgets to be higher or lower. But once that budget is in place, how should it be allocated?

We've been playing the digital marketing game for many years now but Apple's recent iOS updates have changed the rules on us. iOS 14.5 and 15 have introduced privacy changes that make digital advertising and email marketing more challenging than ever before.

Auto loan campaigns have been the bread and butter of credit union marketers for as long as we have worked with credit unions. We would be hard-pressed to find a credit union that is not interested in advertising their auto loans and doesn't consider them a high priority. But suddenly, auto loan campaigns aren't effective and it's not the campaign's fault. The current vehicle shortage caused by the semiconductor chip shortage means that there is very limited inventory for those who do want to purchase. Thus, even a perfectly optimized campaign is going to struggle to result in auto loan applications (especially those that result in funded loans). Credit unions have to consider their options in such a tricky time and decide how best to proceed.

Marketers are still reeling from Apple's recent privacy change, allowing iOS users to opt out of app tracking. Now prepare for the next privacy change that has major implications for email marketing.