To Email or Not to Email Credit Union Members

Important Tips on Credit Union Email Marketing

To Email or Not to Email

We already went into some important rules on email marketing in our Email Dos and Don’ts article, but there is always more that can be discussed about this powerful and cost-effective tool for reaching your members with your services and promotions. Email brings up many compliance risks, and so it is something that should be reviewed. So let us help you with knowing when to email or not to email credit union members.

Why should you continue or create an email marketing strategy?

Most consumers prefer email, and so marketing through their preferred media makes sense. Email is also one of the most cost-effective methods to get your message out to the masses. There is also the fact that email is permission-based. This means someone has to approve the emails, or at the very least, they have the ability to stop the emails. Email is also convenient for the consumer as well as the credit union since they can engage with the brand anywhere they go, and very easily.

What should I use email for?

Consumers love promotions and coupons. Who wouldn’t want to save money on a product or service they need or want? This is the same for contests or rewards programs. You can notify your members of news and updates about the credit union, or your products and services. There are many purposes that you can use emails for.

How do I do it?

There are many providers to help in creating your email blasts, and they are very cost-effective. When you are running your email campaigns, it is important to be aware of the pitfalls that could end up costing you, though.

Let’s go over some important rules when emailing your members marketing materials and creative content. Official rules can be found on the FTC website, and are required for email communication from businesses to consumers. The rules are pretty simple, and it is important that you do not try and work around the basic boundaries, as they are there to protect your members – just like you!

Compliance and Permission

Get consent from your members to use their email addresses for e-communication, and let them know that you are using their info for that purpose. Give them the option to “opt-in,” and always offer email updates and newsletters to your members when interacting in-branch, and in your online communities. Don’t miss opportunities to have members go paperless with the latest news your credit union has to offer.

No misleading information

Avoid misleading information, especially in your subject line! You need to be clear about the content of your email. Your members should not think they are opening an email from a known close friend, but a friendly neighborhood credit union with beneficial rates and services! With so many phishing scams and email hacking going on in the digital age, a clear subject line actually increases your chances of getting your email opened and read, whereas misleading subject lines are becoming more of a red flag.

Based on the FTC guidelines the following tips are very important:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future emails from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting an email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt-out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes it clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.

It can seem daunting to look at the many things involved in running a legitimate and compliant email marketing strategy. That is why Oak Tree Business Systems, Inc. is here for the credit union community. We are ready to help you strategize and create an awesome email blast campaign that drives your membership numbers and other lending growth numbers. If you have something to add about when and what to email or not to email credit union members, then please let us know on our social media or below.

Contact us today MarketingServices@Oaktreebiz.com or visit our website’s Marketing Services Page to get started.

Credit Union Email Marketing Do’s and Don’ts

Building a community through digital channels is very powerful in the advancing digital age. Accessibility to your members is easier than ever if you know where to look! As a credit union, it is a responsibility to your members to keep them informed and to promote financial services to qualifying members. Email marketing is a great tool to use when looking for engagement metrics as well as an automated contact channel. Email marketing has the potential to grow your credit union and its services when done well. Here are some tips to up your email marketing game. Check out our credit union email marketing do’s and don’ts.

Do’s: 

1. Be aware of your target audience—Speak the persona that you intend your email to be understood by using certain tones. Focus on your field of membership (FOM strategy). 

2. Define the purpose of your email—Use a good subject line that is most likely to be opened while avoiding spam words and sales-like terms. 

3. Deliver value for the customer—your credit union email should directly convey the value of your services in terms of solution and benefit. Finance literacy is key for your credit union members’ knowledge of what your credit union can offer. 

4. Leverage word of mouth—Use customer reviews and member spotlights as an added signifier of community and trust. Explore credit union referral programs. 

5. Use eye-catching language and UX design—Effective tone and design can make any email stand out! Have a creative team to back up your credit union brand and help your credit union members achieve their credit union lending dreams.

6. Add your headshot/credit union images in the email signature—This personal touch creates a “real person” feel to a bulk/automated email. 

7. Experiment with the call to action and promotions; A/B testing—Try different subject lines and promotions and track what is more successful while growing your email skills. Credit Union

Don’ts: 

1. Use redundant words/technical jargon (unless required)—Everyone favors certain words but no need to show that in an email, expand your vocabulary for your audience. Simplify your message for your members to something that can be understood by many ages and comprehension levels. 

2. Don’t share full blogs on an email—Give your members the option of going to your credit union website to learn more and follow your credit union blog. 

3. Forget personalization—Everyone likes to feel special now and again, include your recipients’ name to take away the “mass email” feeling. 

4. Make the email to long—Keep your email short and concise as to keep the attention and convey your message! 

5. Over promotional—Sales-y speak can often get your email deleted from many an inbox, try and make different connections between consumer needs and helpful service. 

6. Spam filters—Certain terms and titles can put your email directly into a spam folder, make sure you look into current spam indicators. 

7. No option to unsubscribe—Always provide the option to opt-out of receiving emails from your CU. Especially when sending emails about event campaigns. 

8. Not formatting for mobile/devices—Most emails and communication is through mobile devices so make sure to format for this. 

Do you know of any great Credit Union Email Marketing Do’s and Don’ts?

Digital is king and when used wisely can rocket your institution into success as well as grow your digital community! Contact Oak Tree today for a FREE consultation in compliant email marketing campaigns or visit us on our marketing services site. #MarketingTips #CreditUnionMarketing

Connect with Your CU Demographic

CU Marketing Corner

Connect with Your CU Demographics

It’s no secret that the best way to keep business consistent is to be in touch with your demographics. Today, that means connecting with Millennials by creating a sense of community. They have an estimated $200 billion purchasing power, and as such, they cannot be ignored. Most brands don’t want to ignore them but struggle with ways to connect. Companies find it hard to create meaningful relationships with Millennials. Part of the reason is that they thrive in the space we call social media. And while most businesses use it for marketing, Millennials use it to connect. You need to, as well. Follow the tips below to make your tweets and status updates more relevant and engaging. Here are a few important ways to connect with your CU demographic.

1. Be open and take a stand. 

This is perhaps the first rule when dealing with Millennials. They love transparency and authenticity. It makes your brand more human and strips away some of the inherent skepticism the group is known for. Since most brands use social media for the promotion of products and services, there is a tendency for Millennials to discount them as being dishonest or purely out for profit. When you allow yourself to be a bit more transparent, it speaks to your ability to be vulnerable. That will build trust among youth.

2. Make sure your brand is positive. 

Millennials need to have a very upbeat, exceptional experience with your brand. This means staff and employees need to be friendly (and they probably already are). Yet, on social media make sure your posts carry the same tone. Millennials are known for sharing their online experiences with friends, which translates into more potential members for you, as long as you maintain an upbeat, positive environment.

3. Put the focus on the friend factor. 

People buy, simply because they trust the person selling. Remember, people don’t buy from a brand; they make a purchase from an individual. Therefore, try to find a new influencer who has had a positive experience with credit unions, and mention them in an update, tweet, or Instagram post. It’s a great way to spread authority and connect with a group of people who are known to be skeptical by nature. Employing an authentic influencer strategy will elevate your social media marketing.

4. Use video the right way. 

Over the past few years, video content has been on the rise. The fact that Millennials love it has given headway to popular platforms, like Vine. You have to pay attention, though. While YouTube is known for producing quick 3 to 5 minute videos, Vine clips are typically six-second bites. They are easily digestible, and therefore must be content-rich. Make sure the videos you post employ the same tactics. Make sure they are relevant to Millennials, and you greatly increase the chances of your content getting shared widely.

5. Understand future expectations. 

It’s important to keep in mind that sooner, rather than later, Millennials will be part of the business decision-makers that run our world. It’s important to understand that what is now seen as a commodity, will become an expectation. Brand connections and seamless digital interactions will be expectations, rather than nutrients or fads. This could have a huge potential for business, but the implication here is to keep you on your toes so you don’t get left behind the curve. It’s all about creating a very personal experience for a younger generation. Our membership application package is perfect for beginning their relationship with you. We even have Spanish forms available. Our compliant, fillable forms are another way we help you stay connected with this demographic. They allow you to conduct business at a high rate of speed and speak to your understanding of the need for technology to keep transactions fluid. The moral of the story is: if you want to make an impact on a $200 billion market, you have to know how to speak the language and speak it well.

Chat with us for help increasing your credit union demographics by using Oak Tree forms or our marketing services. We know how to connect with the credit union demographic.

Dealing with Bad Reviews for SEO

CU Marketing Corner

The classic saying, “Any press is good press” continues to become more and more false with the reliance on online reviews to influence patrons. With the emergence of more and more review sites, blogs, comment sections, etc., it is impossible to ignore online opinions when considering SEO and potential members. There is no easy answer to dealing with bad reviews for SEO or even at all, but let’s delve in a bit more on this contentious subject.

There are great benefits of reading reviews as a consumer. One can learn from real experience by verified customers about what to expect. The ultimate negative for businesses comes with the misuse of internet speech to express anger, which unfortunately occurs more often than good experience reviews (without review incentive). Sadly, oftentimes complaint is stronger than praise.

No review, comment, or reference should go unnoticed. It’s imperative to engage your community both good and bad, though negative reviews from upset consumers take a bit more delicacy to turn things around in your favor. Bad reviews affect your SEO, online reputation, and ultimate conversion.

So now what to do with bad reviews?

1. Don’t let a review sit idle and forgotten. It will show a sort of admission of guilt and poor care and trust within your business.
2. Good-will gestures: Make some suggestions on how your institution can make it right without encouraging a “cry for treats” mentality.
3. Be honest, polite, and attentive. Your tone should be of utmost service: apologetic and true to brand voice.
4. Multiple modes of contact: respond directly and offline. This allows open communication with opportunities for public display as well as private interaction.

Oak Tree’s marketing team can be your SEO partner in combatting the ups and downs of online communities. Contact us today for a free consultation!  #creditunionmarketing

Credit Union Financial Fables

Credit Union Financial Fables

CU Marketing Corner

Once Upon a CU: Members and Financial Fables. Every credit union is unique in ways that are generically defined by its FOM. Unfortunately, the basic facts and figures that define membership eligibility do not convey the magical community and beneficial services that can entice potential members to grow your financial realm. Building a narrative can change the imagery of facts and figures into metaphorical flowers and fairies. Tell a tale about your Credit Union Financial Fables today!

Here are a few steps to get story-telling:

Step 1: Create Your Timely Stories

Your credit union has a rich history, a thriving present, and a limitless future. Before you continue to step two, take time to consider the special traits and qualities that made your institution what it is today and consider the possibilities of how it can connect to the bright future of your community. Take into account what makes your community special and identify connections in order to tell a story that you’re membership will want to engage in and pass on.

Step 2: Define Your Characters

A credit union’s members keep its story alive through the generations, they could/should be the hero/heroines of your Credit union story and their financial journey provides the parts of your narrative.

The antagonist (i.e. financial illiteracies, empty retirement funds, upcoming tuitions) will vary but is a strong tool in conveying a meaningful message for your credit union. Your credit union is the slew of story aspects that create a happy ending for your protagonist members.

Step 3: Give Your Story to Your Members

Even though your narrative is so masterfully written it should be in the general curriculum along Homer’s, Odyssey was told through a sort of ‘banana-phone/campfire flare that depended upon the storyteller until someone decided it best to write it out.

Let your members have the story to tell and participate in. It may provide insight into characteristics that your credit union didn’t realize or will shift importance on dramatic aspects of the narrative.

Oak Tree Business Systems Inc.’s team of creators and marketing specialists can help you write out your story and build a strategy to get your pages read by potential members. Contact marketing services to discuss our marketing packages today by emailing marketingservices@oaktreebiz.com.

Member Social Media Engagement Best Practices

Credit Union Member Social Media Engagement

In an expert opinion article posted on Credit Union Times, our CEO, Richard Gallagher discusses some great advice for credit unions seeking to use social media to engage with their members. It is time to look at credit union member social media engagement best practices.

Any form of credit union marketing now requires social media to be part of the equation. Consider these recent demographic statistics from the Pew Research Center as they relate to social media trends in 2018:

● 73% of male internet users and 83% of female internet users are on Facebook.

● 38% of female internet users are more likely to use Instagram than men (26%).

● 81% of millennials check their Twitter feed every day.

● 91% of all social media users check their platforms from a mobile device.

So, are you convinced that social media must be a part of your marketing plan? With that in mind, let’s highlight a few ways credit unions use social media to engage with their members, as well as some tips and tricks you can incorporate into your own marketing plan.

Richard Gallagher

To read more about how your credit union can better engage with its members online go check out the CU Times article and then check out our membership documents for your credit union so you can find even more members to engage with and apply these member social media engagement best practices.

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Best Practices for CU Social Media Marketing

Best Practices for Compliant Social Media Marketing

In a commentary article posted on Credit Union Times our CEO, Richard Gallagher, discusses Best Practices for CU Social Media Marketing to stay compliant.

Compliance authorities are bringing their A-game, and so should you.

Is your marketing compliant? Do you know what you can and can’t say? What about your social media posts? Are they compliant? These are big questions and they won’t be ignored. The compliance authorities are bringing their A-game, and so should you! Catching one examiner’s eye could end up costing you thousands if your marketing efforts breach certain parameters, and it doesn’t even require them to visit you onsite. Let’s take a closer look. It all begins with basic guidelines set forth by the CFPB.

Basic Marketing Guidelines

The guidelines were established by the bureau as an effort to protect consumer interests. Here are general guidelines to follow when advertising on print, television, and radio. All marketing and advertising efforts must: Be factual and accurately represented, clearly explain the product or service being offered, give no misrepresentation of cost or terms, make sure all disclosures are prominently displayed, and avoid using unfamiliar terms.

Keep in mind these are general guidelines. Essentially, the idea behind the guidelines is to make sure you communicate your message clearly and to describe the product or service being offered in an accurate, honest manner. This allows the consumer to make the best possible decisions regarding the product or service being offered.

Richard Gallagher

To read more about how your credit union can be compliant with their social media marketing go check out the CU Times article and then check out Oak Tree Marketing Services for your credit union.

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