"What's the expected ROI on that?" I remember hearing those words in my first marketing job in the credit union industry nearly 20 years ago. Back then, that question was usually asked in response to a direct-mail campaign or a series of print ads.
Today, that same question is asked even more ardently by credit union CEOs and CFOs in the wake of arguably the worst financial crisis of our lifetime. Making a marketer's job that much more difficult today is the rise of social media where success is tougher to measure and its usefulness almost impossible to understand by many board directors.
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One aspect that remains the same is that, next to being proficient in consistently delivering a unique brand message, knowing how to properly track your efforts. Return on investment is critical but before you can realize an ROI you must do the following:
Read your audience
Marketing today is about communicating with prospects the way they want. For instance, if you are targeting Millennials, odds are creating a digital version of an old direct-mail piece won't do the trick. You know those old "see and say" marketing efforts where the title of "We Have Monster Deals on Auto Loans" is coupled with a picture of a large furry creature eating an Oldsmobile. Current and prospective members you target for an auto- oan promotion today are much more apt to be attracted to a concise email, a direct message via text, or a short video posted on Facebook.
Optimize your delivery
You may think I'm talking about search engine optimization here. While that is certainly a good idea, I am referring to optimizing your digital marketing for mobile. If your website or marketing email looks great on your laptop but is virtually unreadable via your smartphone, that's a big issue. In order for any marketing to deliver ROI, it actually needs to be read.
Identify what works
Regardless of whether you're using digital marketing or traditional advertising, using a call to action that you can track is critical. If a marketing email is sent to 2,000 members using Constant Contact or Mail Chimp and only five people visited the landing page with the promotion tied to your call to action, then we have an ineffective message. If you're not getting the results you want change the message, change the tactic, change something. Review it with your frontline staff who probably know the members better than anyone else in the credit union.
Kenneth Bator is owner of Bator Training and Consulting Inc., and manager of the Police Officers' Credit Union Association. He can be reached at 630-854-6380 or [email protected].
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