According to a study released by The Financial Brand, the top marketing priorities of credit unions in 2017 include:

Data analytics: The ability to understand what your members want and need is arguably one of the most essential priorities financial marketers can have. This acumen is necessary in today's marketing landscape to successfully position a credit union ahead of the competition and grow market share.

New account acquisition: Credit unions are continually in need of new members in order to successfully push past net zero growth and combat attrition rates that traditionally plague the industry.

Cross-selling: With the path of least resistance lying in existing member databases, cross-selling becomes invaluable for credit unions that are trying to increase revenue and wallet share, as well as reduce attrition.

Loan growth: While marketers put a focus on both increasing net-new members and improving their cross-selling opportunities, they also expressed growing their loan volume. Mortgage loan products are the highest revenue generating products and thus the most desirable.

While these priorities should dictate spend on a month-by-month, and even day-by-day basis, this is not always the case. Often times credit unions fall victim to short-term needs rather than sticking to their year-long priorities. How to Use Data to Create Continuity

When the same group of financial marketers were surveyed about the use of data analytics, 49% responded by stating that they would be investing in marketing analytics to help extract the valuable insights that they need to make better decisions with their strategies moving forward. Despite this, credit unions listed "limited data analytics tools/capabilities" as the third highest ranking marketing challenge that they currently face, according to The Financial Brand.

It's clear that financial marketers understand the need for data analytics in order to push the correct marketing messaging, but there's a separation between the need and availability of tools and data. Thanks to readily available data and data analytics partners, all credit unions are now able to leverage big data to make more intelligent marketing decisions.

It's been proven that data analytics can be leveraged to help deliver the correct messaging, via the correct medium. If the goal is to grow the member base, instead of blindly sending direct mail pieces to consumers located around a branch, try to understand who needs a new primary financial institution and why they need it. Data can uncover if your audiences are new movers, recently divorced, or looking to switch based on their contextual internet search history. These consumer attributes can influence the correct marketing initiatives to go out to the right people at the right time.

Once a credit union determines who should be receiving a marketing message, tracking the return becomes simple. By building a marketing strategy on the back of data analytics, financial marketers can tie their marketing spend to fulfilling their overall priorities and proving ROI.

In order to bring your credit union's marketing strategies up to speed, implement the following into the remainder of the year and every year going forward.

Use Data Analytics to Understand Your Audience

With so many brands competing for the same individuals, it is imperative to position yourself ahead of your competition and break through the advertising clutter. By layering a data analytics tool or service onto your marketing stack, your organization will be able to successfully leverage your existing campaigns and new strategies to deliver on goals.

Introduce New and Intuitive Multichannel Efforts

You can no longer rely on SEO, branding and AdWords to get the job done. Instead, try integrating online and offline channels such as direct mail, email and digital advertising as part of your same strategy. By reaching your audience at various time intervals and via multiple mediums, you are giving your prospects the opportunity to engage with your brand in the manner in which they prefer. Budget for Strategies and Use Multiple Channels to Deliver

Prioritize goals and results to be accomplished through your marketing efforts. Once you have established priorities, choose the mediums you will need to deliver your messaging. As referenced above, leverage a data analytics tool or partner that can identify your best target audiences for each priority or goal.

Complete a Post Mortem Analysis

At the end of each fiscal year, use the measureable ROI results to complete a thorough analysis of your marketing spend in relation to the goals you established at the beginning of the year. Compare this to what was executed and the results from those strategies. Be truthful and honest when completing this. If goals were not met, identify why. Knowing why will give you and your organization a leg up on next year's planning.

Don't be afraid to bring in experts to help if needed. Remember, the ultimate reward is and always will be worth your bottom line.

Jim Crichton is the SVP at Avendas. He can be contacted at 619-507-7841 or [email protected].

Beth Wright is the SVP  at Avendas. She can be contacted at 619-507-7841 or [email protected].