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

CU Events Roundup Mar 26, 2021

Welcome to this week’s CU Events Roundup for Mar. 26, 2021, where we will look at the Credit Union community and bring up some of the events we see going on. Oak Tree loves keeping tabs and participating in these credit union events.

We are hopefully on the tail end of this pandemic that has disrupted so much, including the events that we often participate in for our industry. We know that there are some “LIVE” events coming up soon, as well as at least one Virtual/Live event. Stay tuned on those and more. Let’s look at CU Events Roundup Mar 26, 2021.

This Past Week

CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Virtual Conference

This past week was the big Marketing and Business Development Council Conference put on by CUNA. They held 13 sessions over three days to help their council members. If you were a part of it, let us know how it went!

NAFCU Virtual Regulatory Compliance School

NAFCU Virtual Regulatory Compliance School is wrapping up today and that means there are a bunch of upcoming Compliance Officers in the credit union field. I hope they all know how much Oak Tree puts importance on compliance for credit unions!

Next Week’s Events

We saw online at 10times that NACUSO Network Conference was supposed to take place at the end of March, but it looks like they rescheduled this for a live event in November. So who is ready to go to Las Vegas in November? We might have to check this event out!

Coming Soon

School of Business Lending™ II: Financial Analysis and Diagnostic Assessment put on CUES next week, it will be virtual.

The Ohio Credit Union League usually has their inVest48 event around this time, but don’t worry — we saw they have it in May this year!

Speaking of events moving to later in the year, we saw that the NCPCU is doing their Strategy Summit in October this year.

That will do it for CU Events Roundup Mar 26, 2021.

We hope you like this feature and we look forward to seeing how it can grow moving forward. If your credit union, credit union league, or credit union chapter has a big event coming up — drop us a comment or hit us up on social media.

CU Events Roundup Mar 19, 2021

CU Events Roundup

Welcome to this week’s CU Events Roundup for Mar. 19, 2021, where we will look at the Credit Union community and bring up some of the events we see going on. We love keeping tabs and participating in these credit union events. CU Events Roundup Mar 19, 2021.

We are hopefully on the tail end of this pandemic that has disrupted so much, including the events that we often participate in for our industry.

Louisiana’s Credit Union Connect

An annual event we like to keep up on and try to help out is the Credit Union Connect put on by the Louisiana Credit Union League and it is often around this time. Turns out it has been canceled for 2021, but we look forward to its return in 2022!

Check out their site for other upcoming events, though — including their 2021 Louisiana GAC.

This Past Week’s Events

There were a lot of roundtable discussions and annual meetings, so we can’t keep track of them all — but feel free to let us know how your Credit Union’s Annual Meeting or event went in the comments or our social media. We love engaging with credit unions!

Did you see that the NAFCU held their Annual Regulatory Compliance School event as a virtual event, did you participate?

Not exactly “credit union” related, but how was your St. Patrick’s Day? Did your credit union do anything special?

Next Week’s Events

Next week it looks like there will be the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council as a Virtual Conference, will you be participating? You know how much Oak Tree values marketing, and we know your credit union will only see its membership rosters grow with the right credit union marketing and the best credit union forms!

Coming Soon

Houston’s Credit Unions will soon be hosting their March Chapter Meeting, are you attending?

That does it for CU Events Roundup on Mar 19, 2021. We hope you like this feature and we look forward to seeing how it can grow moving forward. If your credit union, credit union league, or credit union chapter has a big event coming up — drop us a comment or hit us up on social media.

Don’t Get Left Behind in 2021

Have you and your #CUteam reflected back on the year 2020? If so, are you pleased with your marketing efforts and ROI? Or, is there room for improvement? If you’re like us, you know there is always room for improvement! When it comes to marketing, there is also room for innovation and creativity as to how you will get your credit union’s message and services out to your current and potential members. Don’t get left behind in 2021!

Innovation is what marketing thrives on and within the credit union industry, you and your team have ample resources to ensure that your strategy for the remainder of the year, will be successful. Oak Tree is here to guide you and your CU on how to be innovative and remain ahead of the game. When it comes to the financial industry, it is hard to be “unique.” With your competitors offering relatively similar products and services, standing out can be challenging. The following tips and suggestions can help your CU marketing team gain some leverage in an attempt to stand out from the rest.

Going mobile with your financial product marketing initiatives

You may have noticed, with the year we had in 2020, digital marketing is where the future of marketing will continue to go, and where your CU should focus its efforts. Going mobile with your CUs products and services while offering your members a seamless digital experience is where your CU can stand out. Doing business on the go is what your users are accustomed to, in fact, new research has found that we’re spending five hours a day on mobile devices, and 90 percent of our mobile time is spent using native apps. This means any marketing plans for your CU must include a heavy focus on mobile marketing, by ensuring there is a CTA (call to action), making sure any sign-up forms are short and easy to complete, and you have a solid and easy-to-read design layout. Your mobile marketing is about acquiring engagement and getting your brand out there. Making a sale is just the cherry on top.

Creating educational content

Creating educational content that revolves around your products and services will be very beneficial for your current and potential members. Making the content clear and easy to understand, for someone who may not have prior knowledge about finances should be your CU’s first step. According to a recent study, 45% of Millennials want financial products and services that help them with their budgets. Furnishing something that could assist users with budget-related issues that lead to solutions would set your CU apart from others, as well. Setting up a chatbot on your site that is available 24/7 to your users will also put you ahead of the curve while taking care of your members at the same time. People want instant answers and useful information, and you can give it to them!

Humanize your credit union through social media

As mentioned, social media and digital marketing are where your CUs efforts should lie. Credit unions are built on the relationships they have with their members and their ties within the communities they serve. Showcasing all the good your credit union does on your social media channels is a great marketing tool. Social media can provide a perfect medium to show the community that your CU is trustworthy, and it is a great way to humanize your credit union’s brand. Allowing your credit union to open up on social media also gives you an advantage if any negative feedback comes in, you can be sure to be on top of it. Connecting with the community bolsters your brand and tells your credit union’s story that could otherwise be left untold!

Don’t get left behind in 2021, Oak Tree can help your credit union lock down your 2021 marketing strategy, and we have all the best tools to help you analyze, plan, and optimize while bringing that strategy to life. Contact us for a free consultation!

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

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.

_{(note: this is an older blog entry and has been edited since originally posted.)}