Why Ad-Tech Should Be a Credit Union’s Core Investment

While it wasn’t that long ago that companies like Meta and Google shot the ad-tech industry into the stratosphere, they’ve since become the very thing weighing it down. Credit unions and community banks, like any organization, have historically used these tools to acquire customers and members. However, due to the constantly increasing cost per acquisition (CPA) and low return, it’s getting increasingly difficult to justify the cost of using these ad-tech strategies. But these same financial institutions are the ones that, in theory, could be best served by advancements in ad-tech, rather than getting left behind by sticking to the status quo.

The Failure of Modern Marketing

Like many things before it, ad-tech can be an incredibly useful tool or an insurmountable obstacle, depending on how you use it. As the adage goes, the first person to invent fire definitely got burned. But then they took a step back and studied the fire. They learned how to stay warm and how to cook, and these advancements led to even more important discoveries. It’s time for credit unions to take their hands off of this flame fueled by the search for impressions and other unreliable data and focus on what actually matters: Returns. When you put money into your advertising, how much of it is wasted on empty impressions? And how much of it actually leads to a return?

Generally, an advertisement needs to be seen at least seven times before it begins to sink in. That’s at least seven times credit unions will need to pay for ad placement for a particular person before they even have a chance of a return. With that context, it’s hard to make an argument that this is an ad-tech system that’s working in their favor.

Ad-Tech by Credit Unions, for Credit Unions

Credit unions have three things virtually every brand or merchant in the world would love to have: people, funds and data. Having this foundation in place allows them to seamlessly utilize these assets that are often being underutilized and input them into a powerful ad-tech solution that gives themselves, as well as their members, the best possible experience.

After all, each credit union is wholly unique. A member base can vary dramatically in terms of income, education, background and countless factors. But the more you know about your audience, the easier it is to cater to them. And who knows their audience better than credit unions?

Most of the time, this knowledge may be used on a small scale to help members who reach out to the credit union. But what about the ones who don’t? And what about your future members who aren’t even aware of your credit union yet? It’s time to scale up the use of member data in order to identify and target potential members in a manner that is both efficient and effective.

As a (not so) small bonus, when it comes to establishing yourself as an ad-tech pioneer — and, honestly, an expert in all things technology — there is one group of people that has proven to be increasingly attracted to these types of advancements: Millennials and, especially, Gen Z. These are generations that traditionally have been hesitant to switch over to a credit union from a larger bank, but with innovation comes their attention. Even just adopting some of these new technologies can be enough to catch the eye of these younger generations, who are growing more and more important each year.

Working Together to Advance Ad-Tech

In the end, the key to credit unions finding an ad-tech solution that can bring them to the next level likely lies in one thing: Collaboration. In all of my years working with a variety of industries, credit unions are the only one I’ve ever known that is truly collaborative. They actually want to help each other because they know that success for one credit union is success for all credit unions.

When trying to establish an ad-tech strategy, don’t be afraid to reach out to other credit unions who have already dipped their toes in the water. Find out what worked for them, what didn’t work, and — perhaps most importantly — why those things happened. By working together, I believe credit unions can find an ad-tech solution that saves them from the likes of traditional marketing, which is proving to be less fruitful with each passing moment.

An Investment in Your Future

When I think about the future of credit unions, I don’t see a sustainable way for them to continue paying an arm and a leg to companies like Meta and Google. Especially when these marketing tactics simply don’t provide consistent results. The only way to not just survive, but thrive is to push to the forefront and utilize ad-tech to guarantee returns on your marketing investments. In the end, you can have all the impressions in the world, but they don’t mean anything without returns. And the good news is credit unions, by nature, are already so close to making that happen. In many ways, the credit union industry may be more well-suited than any other to step out of the shadows of the present and into the light. All they need is the proper ad-tech solution. So what better time is there than now?

David Metz is the CEO of the New York, N.Y.-based ad-tech company Prizeout, which runs the CUSO Prizeout Partners.