By Ray Birch
LAFAYETTE, La.—A contest hosted by tiny Maple FCU here that rewarded one winner from among those who posted pictures of their old auto wrecks has helped the credit union to take three big steps.
First, the program doubled auto loan volume for two months; second, it boosted the CU’s awareness, and third and most important, says the CEO, it let a small $36-million CU know it needs to spend dollars on marketing if it’s going to thrive.
“We got about a dozen entries for the Ugly Car Contest,” said CEO Pamela Stelly. “But those entries we received, and the contest itself, generated a lot of attention to our new digital presence.”
The credit union in just two weeks had almost 500 followers on its new Facebook page, reported Stelly.
CU Turns to Agency
“That was one of our goals for the Ugly Car Contest; to generate awareness of our credit union,” Stelly told CUToday.info. “We had not done a lot of advertising before, and frankly, I did not have the time.”
Stelly said the small credit union does not have the staff or resources to afford a marketing person, and that Stelly herself is doing too many things to focus much on marketing.
Maple FCU did, however, retain Greensville, S.C.-based Your Marketing Company to create the Ugly Car Contest campaign.
“Like all small credit union CEOs, I wear many hats, and one of those is actually being a staffer who works one-on-one with members,” she explained. “We believe in working closely with our members here, many of which are low- to moderate-income, and I take an active role in that.”
Member Plays CU’s Tune
What helped drive attention to the Facebook page was one entrant who is a musician.
“One of our members participated in the contest. He’s a very cool, eclectic individual. He’d play his music, and then talk about the credit union. He would talk about how great the credit union is, how we look out for our members, and how great it is that the CU is giving him a chance to have his car loan paid for a year,” Stelly explained.
The contest ran for 60 days. People were invited to put a picture of their “ugly car” on the CU’s Facebook page, and then the person who submitted the photo receiving the most votes would have their car loan paid for a year, up to $300 a month. The winner posted a picture of a broken-down Toyota 4Runner.
Stelly explained the loan was not for the broken down car, but instead had to be for a car loan opened during the promotional period. Maple FCU dropped its rates as low as 2.15% APR for members with the best credit, thanks to a special 50 BP rate reduction during the contest.
Working With Members
Stelly said Maple FCU works hard to grant auto loans to members who need dependable transportation to get to work, and that the credit union will even take less on margin to provide lower rates so members can afford the loan.
“That is why I was pleased to see the couple who won the contest was in dire need of some help,” said Stelly. “This couple just had gotten their financial lives back in order after having some struggles, and then life happened—which included their car dying.”
She said the couple faced mounting bills, and by winning the Ugly Car Contest they were able to get a loan on a dependable used car to get to work.
“They were wise, they got an affordable car that offered some longevity at a payment of just under $300 a month,” said Stelly. “I was so happy to see this, this couple fits right with our vision—we say the credit union is the perfect place for imperfect people.”
Pamela Stelly
Knowledge Gained
In working with Your Marketing Company and from the campaign itself Stelly said the CU has gained some knowledge.
“We learned a few things from this promotion,” said Stelly. “We learned that social media is a great vehicle to get your information out there, especially with the younger demographics. They really liked this contest, and it was reflected in the large number of younger members that took out loans.”
The biggest lesson, said Stelly, is a small credit union strapped for time and resources when it comes to marketing needs to work with an agency if at all possible. She said the expense is well worth it.
“It can be tough for a small credit union to do marketing on their own, and I know many don’t like to spend money on an agency,” said Stelly. “But we are glad we finally did that, and stepped out of the box with this promotion. We’re going to do this again next year in even a bigger and better way.”