Consumers Are All Different … Or Are They?

All financial institutions can agree – behind every credit union with substantial membership growth is effective marketing. And behind every marketing activity is a consumer receiving your message. The challenge then – according to many marketing executives – is that each market is different. Truthfully, however, this is only partially correct. Yes, markets differ from one another, but consumers who live in different markets may actually be more similar than you realize. What this means for financial marketers is that you don’t necessarily have to live in the market you’re trying to effectively and successfully communicate with. You can still predict how consumers of that area will engage with your organization, despite being in a different geographical location.

To create stronger marketing strategies, marketers are now using “urbanicity,” or cluster modeling, whereby they use data and technology to identify behavior patterns that can be commonly applied to other markets. This concept is not a new one. In fact, organizations like Nielsen have been helping marketers for some time now, creating models that identify psychographic indicators in different types of consumers and predict their behavior.

Marketers can then use that data to create highly effective and successful marketing strategies without having to spend an inordinate amount of time and resources researching and learning the behaviors of a single market, such as what types of media to use to best attract certain consumers. For instance, we know that consumers in Bend, Ore., and Fargo, N.D., consume media in similar ways, despite one being a trout fishing town and the other being a hotspot for snowmobiling. They’re different, but they are the same when it comes to marketing behaviors.

One commonality that has presented a challenge is the use of multiple channels of communication all at the same time. For instance, the vast majority of consumers may watch TV from their tablet while casually scrolling through Facebook on their phone. Consumers are engaged in more media than ever, but at a shallower level. They bounce from one channel to the next, and this is consistent across all markets.

So what does this mean for marketers? Having one or a few media channels is not going to yield success. You can no longer just have a TV or radio ad. What if they watch Hulu or listen to Spotify or Pandora? Today, you must have a variety of channels to get their attention. If you’re targeting the right consumers and appearing in direct mail, email, digital media, social media and on TV, then you have an actual opportunity to cut through the clutter and create a real dialogue.

However, many marketers – especially those of community financial institutions – believe that the cost of marketing across multiple channels will be too costly. This isn’t necessarily the case. It boils down to the volume and who you’re targeting. The cost will certainly increase if you’re targeting everyone, but this isn’t just costly; it’s also less effective. Instead, credit unions should target certain consumers who are more likely to engage. For instance, if your institution is marketing auto loans, targeting individuals who have purchased a vehicle in the last two years is probably a waste, but marketing to someone who just recently paid off an auto loan may be in the market for a new vehicle. Being selective will not only help manage costs, but also yield higher returns.

After creating and executing your strategy, it is essential to test if your methods are working. Credit unions should gather back-end research and data to quantify whether outreach methods are resulting in leads. Tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, MailChimp, Cyfe and Kissmetrics are popular among marketing professionals for a reason. These tools, and many others like them, provide you with a suite of data, research and ways to optimize your current marketing strategy. The data will also allow you to evaluate your current positioning and assess where there is room for growth.

With the amount of data and technology available today, marketing no longer has to follow a “throw it against the wall and see what sticks” approach. And achieving a highly targeted strategy doesn’t mean exhausting all resources. Instead, credit unions can leverage data and “urbanicity” to better understand their markets without conducting excessive research. This, coupled with the understanding that consumers jump from channel to channel, can create stronger, more effective marketing strategies that can be tested and perfected over time.

Keith Brannan is Chief Marketing Officer for Kasasa. He can be reached at keith.brannan@kasasa.com.