In today's attention economy, it's vital for credit unions to devise creative campaigns that grab members' eyes and gain traction on social media, according to industry experts.

To launch the swashbuckling loan promotion, ElecTel tapped the talents of Greenville, S.C.-based Your Marketing Co. When asked what prompted the concept, Bo McDonald, president of the firm, couldn't resist trying out a bit of pirate jargon ahead of the big day.

"Aye, it's a constant struggle for brands to differentiate themselves from the competition," he quipped. "Avast! These themed one-day loan promotions are always successful. Shiver me timbers. That's what sets ElecTel apart from the competition in a very crowded financial services market."

McDonald pointed out that Talk Like a Pirate Day, which began from a Dave Barry column about a dozen years ago, has grown in popularity, branching out to major social media sites.

"It's a great tie-in to market credit union products," he explained. "Most of our credit unions clients are small but mighty, and whenever they get a chance to shine against the much larger peers, it's a good day."

ElecTel is already accepting applications, but all the approved loans will be funded on Sept. 19, McDonald said.

"We used to only allow applications on the day of the promotion, which turned into some craziness for our loan officers," he recalled. "Our response to these promotions is usually so successful that we decided last year to start opening the window in advance so we could handle the member requests."