So, how can credit union marketers and the managers who support them respond to this shift? It will require change from both the individual marketing professional and the C-suite leader.

For marketers, having multiple skills is no longer a differentiator; it's a necessity. Known as hybrid professionals, these individuals seek out the training to become experts at delivery across search, mobile, social, content, analytics, web, PR and email marketing. An understanding of data analytics and its impact on channel selection is increasingly important as well.

When marketers are comfortable across disciplines, their recommendations become less about what they know and what has worked in the past, and more about the credit union's success with stakeholders of the future.

As Robin Lewis of The Robin Report writes, "With every mall, store and brand in the world sitting comfortably in consumers' pockets (smartphones), all businesses must now be digitally and physically accessible to each consumer whenever, wherever, how and how often they so desire, and only if they have granted you permission to enter their space."

Securing that permission will require a new type of marketer. He or she will understand how to segment an audience, use data to model behavior change across segments and then design triggers to achieve the credit union's desired outcome.

Whereas marketers themselves must step up their game by stepping out of their specialties, so too must C-suite and HR managers set a higher standard when designing and filling marketing roles. It's imperative for these leaders to analyze the internal state to determine what's needed for a modern marketing team – one that will be sustainably successful with an omnichannel consumer who expects a consistently extraordinary experience across channels.

This may require a new way of thinking about how to build a marketing team for the future. What the marketing team looked like traditionally came first, followed by strategy. Today, competition for consumers' attention and an environment wrought with message clutter has elevated the need to put strategy first. A strategic approach defines marketing's purpose, its goals and a process for achieving them. Only then can you build (or organize) a team to execute the strategy.

Growing your credit union's omnichannel marketing prowess may require new hires or reorganization of the team; it could also happen by investing in your existing team. Providing opportunities for your marketers to expand their training will not only lead to a broader skill set; it may differentiate your cooperative from other employers in the area.

According to the Harvard Business Review, it's difficult to think of another discipline that has evolved as quickly as marketing has. Credit unions that not only understand, but embrace, this evolution will ultimately generate new levels of engagement with omnichannel consumers.

Robin Caddell is marketing manager for TMG Financial Services. She can be reached at 515-457-5266 or [email protected].