How to Market Like a Fintech
Credit unions need good designs, creative ideas and niche audiences that they understand well.
When you say “fintech” to a crowd of credit union folks, you get mixed reactions. Some faces twist in disgust at aggressive competitors. Others beam with satisfaction from lucrative partnerships.
But no matter what you think of fintechs, you can’t deny their wild success. One reason they’re so successful is their creative, boundary-pushing marketing. They also know how to appeal to their target consumers.
Does your marketing push boundaries? Are you appealing to your target consumers?
If the answer is no, you’ll want to start marketing like a fintech. That means you need good designs, creative ideas and a niche you understand well.
Create Fun, Stylized Designs
What makes you pick up a book at the bookstore? It’s the cover design, isn’t it? Like it or not, people judge books by their covers.
And they’ll judge you by your marketing designs.
Craft eye-catching marketing materials so consumers notice you. Try colorful, artistic visuals showing images in a new way. Show people, characters and communities in stylized fashions.
PayPal does this throughout its marketing, showing cartoonishly-illustrated people splashed with bright colors. A unique way to implement this concept as a credit union is through debit card designs. Element Federal Credit Union ($47.8 million, Charleston, W.V.) lets members choose their debit card designs, and there are lots of animated zombies members can select!
It’s okay stray away from “normal” designs if it makes your brand memorable. Remember: Those who get noticed, get business.
Generate Unique Ideas
Out-of-the-box marketing campaigns are also noticeable, so don’t bore consumers. Saying you have free checking accounts or a rewards credit card isn’t a differentiator anymore. So, what can you do?
The answer: Offer something totally new and intriguing instead. Cash App chose to launch a clothing line. Wealthsimple created its own 10-part Master Class on investing topics. These campaigns don’t necessarily promote specific products, but they promote fascinating brands.
UNIFY Federal Credit Union ($4 billion, Allen, Texas) generated interest when it drove around a sleek “mobile branch” van. Consumers could step into the van and receive quality service right on the street.
Make consumers buy your brand and they’ll buy your products later.
Know Your Niche
Fancy designs and cool ideas mean nothing if you don’t know your target consumers.
Oxygen narrowed its niche down to gig workers and freelancers, a group underserved by the banking community. Rather than place ads on the sides of buses, it placed ads on the backs of buses. Why? They knew gig workers like Uber drivers and DoorDash delivery people would drive behind the buses.
Frontwave Credit Union ($1.3 billion, Oceanside, Calif.) uses imagery targeting rough-and-tumble, blue collar people. Their marketing won’t appeal to everyone, but it doesn’t need to – they know their niche.
Don’t market to those ready to ignore you. Market to the receptive.
Credit unions can’t afford to sit on the sidelines anymore if they want to survive and thrive. You must take risks if you plan on growing in a changing financial environment. As the famous proverb says, “Fortune favors the bold.”
Mark Arnold is founder and president of On the Mark Strategies, a Dallas, Texas-based consulting firm specializing in branding and strategic planning for credit unions.