Getting a picture of the whole "iceberg"

When credit unions prioritize the tip of the iceberg, they often forgo or delay investment in other stops around the digital ecosystem. Long before a member or prospective member interacts with a mobile or online banking system, they experience a multitude of touch points with your credit union's digital presence: Your marketing site, social media accounts and online advertising to name a few. These add up to the digital member experience and create a digital marketing funnel including an eventual stop at your online/mobile banking system.

Building a strategic and accountable digital experience

No part of the digital ecosystem can operate in a vacuum. For credit unions to achieve measurable and accountable success, a comprehensive optimization approach to the entire experience including both marketing funnel and digital member experience is required.

Digital marketing funnel

The digital marketing funnel looks at three things: Acquiring new members or share of wallet, service to membership and community and turning members into advocates.

Acquisition 

Starting with the basics: Social, search and remarketing, are absolutes. A recent report by Deloitte indicates advertising via social media is more influential on decision-making than endorsement, text ads or mobile app ads are. Meanwhile, search and remarketing offers an opportunity to reach individuals who show intent to acquire specific financial products. However, the often-overlooked asset is the creative your credit union has already invested in for traditional media. The same report indicates more than 1/3 of U.S. households now consume television and movies via a device other than TVs, and more than 73% of consumers multitask during TV ads but not digital ads.

Conclusion? Create a digital advertising strategy combining social with intent-based acquisition, and allocate media spend from traditional broadcast to where members' attention is. Spend on multimedia: Internet radio, video pre-roll and other interactive ad units. Paired with a strong call to action directed to an online application, the efficacy of these campaigns can out-perform traditional and turbocharge your digital funnel.

Education

A key pillar of the credit union movement is promoting financial health. This aligns to a key pillar in a strong digital marketing funnel. Developing a content marketing effort positions your credit union to provide financial health service to members above and beyond derived product value in loans and deposits. It also establishes your credit union as an online authority, aiding in building organic search presence and, ultimately, building member advocates.

Advocates

There is no other means of marketing more influential or effective than a referral or recommendation. Converting members into advocates of your credit union creates a marketing machine that outside of acquiring new loans and deposits, should be the goal of your digital efforts.

Digital member experience

Credit unions are savvy at creating a positive offline member experience. The digital member experience includes many of the same goals: Delivering value and fulfilling the needs of members while achieving credit union goals. However, the digital member experience presents different touch points, expectations and tools for the optimization process.

Credit union marketing sites

In a world where content management systems are abundant and mobile responsiveness isn't a far-away future concept, credit unions must update their marketing websites to provide easy to navigate and mobile-friendly experiences to members and prospects. These sites also need to be easy to use for your credit union team.  

User experience

What is the user experience like on your marketing site? Do you even know? Heat mapping, mouse tracking, surveying and user testing all provide ways to measure and analyze user experience and create a strategy for improvement.

Conversion

Test the conversion experience, because it can always be better. Test copy. Test creative. Test navigation. Learn which versions drive people to their goals more effectively and implement the winner. Instead of just declaring "I think our digital experience should be this," we can let the data tell us so everyone wins: Members and our credit union.

A strategic digital resolution for credit unions

This isn't an exhaustive review of what's below the surface, but to be accountable and fully effective, start with connecting your digital effort to your credit union's overall goals. Taking a comprehensive view of digital allows credit unions to sail through the sea of opportunity with the greatest likelihood of success.

Ryan Ruud is the CEO and founder of The Credit Union Consulting Group. He can be reached at 612-799-0803 or [email protected].