6 Tips for Growing CU Membership Through Community Engagement

Growing membership is always a top priority for credit union marketers. And while there are a lot of ways to do it, community engagement and high-touch activations can be an extremely effective and cost-efficient way to authentically introduce prospects to your organization.

A few examples of community-focused activations that have proved successful for several leading credit unions include: Creating an annual signature event through a partnership with a leading coffee chain where the credit union picks up the tab for guests’ purchases; arranging for popular food trucks to park near a credit union’s branches and buying lunch for people walking by; working with local museums and zoos to sponsor free admissions for guests and supporting minority-owned businesses by matching funds to support sales. There are many great ways to engage with a credit union’s local community, but it’s crucial to develop an approach that ensures your engagement programs drive awareness and create the kinds of personal brand connections that bring in new members.

As with any credit union marketing program, it’s important to be thoughtful and intentional from the outset. Whether you’re developing a one-time event or an ongoing community engagement program, here are six practices to put in place:

1. Establish clear objectives. Having a very specific business goal should be your starting point. Yes, you want to bring in new members, but which types of new members – and to what end? For example, do you need to connect with young families to increase youth accounts? Are you looking to create awareness within a specified geography to drive traffic into a new or underperforming branch? Do you want to be seen as a pillar of the community to strengthen your brand image? Defining your business goal and target is foundational to developing a strong community engagement program.

2. Be relevant to your audience. Gen Z and millennials have different interests and financial priorities than Gen X or boomers, so it’s important that your community engagement activities tap into what’s important and meaningful to your target – and their lifestyles. For example, appeal to millennial and Gen Z prospects’ commitment to the environment by partnering with a non-profit to plant trees in your community. Or, your credit union may want to consider partnering with a local bookstore or library to appeal to members of the community entering the retirement bracket.

3. Think big, act local. Having a big idea will make your event memorable and impactful, but to position your credit union as a truly integral part of the community, you’ll want to keep it hyper-local. Research has revealed that even people who do most of their banking online still find it reassuring to see a financial institution’s branch as they drive by – so stay within a radius of five miles or less from your physical branches when creating local community events.

4. Leverage strategic partnerships. As the saying goes, there’s strength in numbers. That’s why partnering with another business or organization can amplify your community engagement efforts. But not just any partner will do. Seek out partnerships with companies and entities that align with your credit union’s ethos and/or the values of your target audience. For example, if your credit union’s focus is on education, you can provide tutoring scholarships to local students in partnership with a trusted tutoring service. Or express your commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for all by sponsoring free admission to a local museum that celebrates diversity and different cultures. Strategic partnerships don’t always have to have lofty underpinnings. A great strategic partnership can also be born simply out of proximity, so think about partnering with a frozen yogurt shop located a few doors down from one of your branches for a surprise and delight event.

5. Create opportunities to engage with your brand experience. You don’t want your community engagement effort to be a one-and-done experience, so make sure you give people a reason to go to your website or social media pages to find out more details around your upcoming event. You can also offer a special gift that can only be picked up at one of your branches. In addition, “bringing the branch” to offsite events is critical for community engagement, allowing community members to interact with your credit union staff/personnel. Case in point – a man at a credit union-sponsored community event approached the credit union representative and said “I just inherited some money and I’m looking for a place to invest it. Can I talk to you?” The rep jumped on the opportunity and set up an appointment for this person to come into the branch the next day, where he opened an account. By having staff onsite (who are your living and breathing brand ambassadors), you are that much closer to turning prospects into members.

6. Make it buzzworthy. Promoting your event with local media outlets and talking about it on social media are great ways to generate a buzz for community engagement events. For example, consider personally delivering a relevant item to your local broadcast news teams’ studios to help keep your event top-of-mind. Not only do you increase your chances of being mentioned on air when you find creative and buzzworthy ways to promote your event, but you can simultaneously increase web traffic and social account growth substantially during this timeframe as well. Your credit union’s social media presence is also a powerful tool to leverage, not just before, but during and after an event. Be sure to encourage attendees to post photos of your credit union’s community event, use a specific hashtag to group the event content on platforms, and tag friends and family as well as your organization.

Following these six simple tips can help you engage your local community to achieve membership growth – in new and creative ways that reinforce your credit union’s values and mission, and that are truly authentic to your brand and meaningful to your targets.

Ed Ball is the founder and creative director of Grail, a Los Angeles-based brand and marketing agency serving credit unions.