LAS VEGAS–In a world in which digital marketing efforts are easily deleted or ignored, some credit unions are actually having high levels of success using digital to reach new and existing members, thanks in part to “one little trick,” according to one person.
Speaking to the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council annual meeting here, Paula Tompkins, CEO and founder of ChannelNet, shared some best practices and lessons learned across a number of industries when it comes to digital marketing, and further walked her audience through a case study involving one credit union.
Noting everyone agrees members and consumers are overwhelmed, Tompkins said the solution lies in curating content.
Clutter is ‘Outrageous’
Tompkins, who said she has spent 20 years working in the area of “personalization,” stressed, “The digital clutter out there is outrageous. It’s coming at you from every direction. Now people call your freaking phone and trick you. No one wants to answer their phones anymore. How are we supposed to contact them as marketers?”
One of the best ways to cut through all that clutter is personalization, by becoming hyper-targeted and personalizing every interaction, according to Tompkins.
The challenges for marketers are well-known, acknowledged Tompkins, and include building relationships (many of which are “dormant”), improving share of wallet, and increasing wallet share.
In terms of relationships, she noted every FI for the past five years has been seeking to increase share of wallet, digital adoption is increasing exponentially, and access to the already enormous amounts of data continues to grow.
For marketers, the task has become “overwhelming” to build personalized messages for each member, Tompkins agreed, before adding there are ways to make the task much easier, including building out “profiles” of certain types of member groups.
Communication Strategies
Tompkins recommended credit unions:
- Capitalize on Existing Relationships. “Member data and insights enable effective, efficient and relevant communication.”
- Right Message for Right member at Right Time. “Meet member needs across all touchpoints with appropriate content,” recommended Hopkins.
- Add Value With Useful and Timely Content. “Transform content into a value generator via content design driven by targeting.”
- Drive Loyalty Via Engagement. “Relevancy nurtures relationships and improves conversions.”
Communication Drivers
According to Tompkins, the drivers of communications include:
- Growth and margin pressure are intensifying competition. “But a lot of people don’t like big banks. They don’t help you when you need the help,” said Tompkins. “That’s what you’re there for.”
- Regulatory pressure puts premium on member education.
- Member expectations are shaped by best practice experiences, such as Amazon. “Digital must be front and center in your efforts. You may have to give up some of the things you have done that were successful in their day.”
- Digital relevance is growing due to data and information. “It’s a competitive imperative.”
Showing a slide with so many data points it was largely unreadable because it was so small, Tompkins said that was the point: it’s all the information a marketer needs from the core system in order to personalize messages to members.
A Case Study
As a case study of one credit union with which she has worked, Tompkins turned to Unify Credit Union in Torrance, Calif. Unify CU serves six major SEGs, including Toyota and ADP, and has built a strategy of using “digital personalization to deliver the right experience to the right member at the right time.”
The credit union wanted to welcome and cross sell new members initially, using active communications, increased engagement, and welcome outcomes. The goals were cross sales, retention and to encourage advocacy among members to recommend the CUs to others.
With new accounts came a thank you and welcome, followed by cross sales, requests for referral (with a reward, which is worth “every penny,” said Tompkins), education and then efforts to capture additional accounts.
“It’s very important right out of the gate to identify how that member came into the credit union,” said Tompkins, referring to the channel by which the member joined.
Walk, Run, Ballet
With Unify, the marketing strategy has been “walk, run and ballet,” according to Tompkins, who said too many FIs mistakenly seek to start relationships with a “big bang.”
The credit union first walked, or tested, its system using data, content, functionality and deep links. It welcomed new members by channel.
The “run” portion of the process was about measuring results and tuning the system, content and timing. (At this step it’s often discovered a lot of member email addresses are incorrect,” said Tompkins. Phase II of the “run” was expanding to existing members and re-engaging them, and then evolving into cross-sales with test offers, seasonal offers and different messages.
A final step in Phase II is “integrating all operations by delivering leads to branches and specialists,” said Tomkins.
If all that is done right, it leads to the “ballet,” which is the choregraphed dance the CU is able to do.
Member Personal Page
At Unify, each member has been given a personal web page and personal URL, known as pURLs. That means the member’s unique name is in the URL.
“It’s very innovative and works really well,” said Tompkins. “Every member will have a unique identifier. You will know every little thing they have done, where they have dropped off, and where you can pick them up. This allows you to follow up and maybe change the offer or make them a special offer. It’s very trackable and dynamic.”
Establishing a ‘Cadence’
It’s important to set a “cadence” upfront in any campaign, said Tompkins, who recommends that within 24 hours of a new account being opened a message be sent to the new member. That is then followed by monthly messages that are different. In addition, “the minute they adopt a new product, we thank them. We see upwards of 66% open rates on these messages. It’s personal. It’s about me.”
The personalized messages sent by Unify CU and other credit unions do not use personally identifiable information, so it doesn’t require a log-in. “It’s the data that makes it personal,” said Tompkins.
Month one, called “Welcome,” has four iterations, according to Tompkins, because there are four entry points that are used as the first line of demarcation and personalization
The Subsequent Months
In month two, the value statement is repeated, cross sales continue targeted to the member’s interest, such as a new loan or retirement, social channels are highlighted, and contact information is provided.
In month three, the value statement is repeated again, the branch locator is highlighted, followed by a product video and information, the social channels are highlighted, and contact information is again provided.
“So, you see how this content is different and woven together; it’s not all about product. It’s got deep-linking back into your website. It can display your Yelp or Google reviews, and we can pull all this together to create the experience,” said Tompkins.
Delivery Methods for pURLS
Many of Tompkins’ clients use email or text if they have the double opt-in approval, she said. The pURL is often printed on statements, and many FIs arm their service reps with the pURL information so it can be provided to the member. Branches are also used as a delivery method, as well.
Insights Gleaned
Among the insights gleaned as a result of such a strategy, according to Tompkins:
- Email opens: 66% open rate (17% is the benchmark). “The emails are short and sweet and it’s all about we want to introduce this program to you and you’re going to be getting a personal page. It’s all in the way you position this”
- Email unique clicks: 17% (3.5% is the benchmark)
- Email open to click: 25% (18% is the benchmark)
- Average time spent on personal page: 2:41
- 15.3% interacted with calculators (“That’s a buying signal. They are in the early stages. I call that demand-sensing”)
- 7.3% interacted with the cross sell
- 59% of visitors were unique (35% of the unique visitors returned in less than one day)
- 0.1% unsubscribes. “This is a consistent theme. They view it as important and relevant. So, don’t screw it up”
The Value of Curation
Noting everyone agrees members are overwhelmed (as are marketing executives with all the information available to them), Tompkins said the solution lies in curating content. The “little trick” here is to combine personalization and other information, such as events, to create what she called “orchestrated engagement,” meaning constant communication over the member’s lifetime.
That means means not overcommunicating, she stressed, but quality communications the member opens because they trust it.
“If you get it right, you are going to increase your share of wallet,” said Tompkins.