Dynamic Trends in Credit Union Marketing

(Notes from Sean McDonald’s Presentation)

I’m attending CU Conferences Business Development and Marketing Conference this week (both speaking and attending). One of the most interesting sessions was “Dynamic Trends in Credit Union Marketing” by Sean McDonald. He is the Director of Business Development and Marketing at Liberty Savings FCU in New Jersey. He is also the author of Stop Complaining! Start Growing.

Some of his keen insights included the following:

• Word of mouth and family referrals continue to be the most influential methods used by new credit union members.
• In 1980 the percent of potential membership that joined credit unions was 47%. By 2008 that number had dropped to 8%.
• Google is one of the best (and worst) things that has happened to business. For example, if your member has one bad member service experience they will google your competitors and go someplace else.
• Top reasons for not joining a credit union: too few ATMs, not enough branch locations and a it takes too long to get things done (loans approved, etc).
• Earning loyalty is tricky but it can be done if approached in a deliberate and conscientious manner.
• It is very disheartening that, when times get tight, the two budgets that are cut first are the most important: training and marketing.
• How can you expect your business (in this case your credit unions) to prosper if you are not training your people to become better and are not marketing your services to existing and potential members?
• You must be relevant to your audience.

I couldn’t agree more with Sean’s points. He provided a  ton of great information and some thought-provoking ideas.

Comments

[Jeffry Pilcher]

1. The reason membership penetration dropped from 48% to 8% is solely the result of charter expansions. The denominator in the percentage has grown something like 4000% over the time period cited in the presentation.

2. How many people use Google to find their next bank/credit union? Probably about as many used to turn to the Yellow Pages.

[Mark Arnold]

Jeff: Thanks for joining the conversation about Sean's session.

He did make the point that charter expansion affects the penetration number but that change also affects how credit unions market to their potential members.

Would love to hear more of your thoughts on Google and credit union searchs. Are you saying people will rely more on word of mouth and less on search engines?

[Colleen]

I completely disagree with Jeffry's point about Google. I use Google for everything, and so do most people I know. That's especially true when people are looking for something specific, like a loan, a high-yield investment account, etc. How else do they find them, aside from advice from friends and family? Most people don't just pull up to a random financial institution without having done some type of research. Sean McDonald's observation, in my opinion, is dead on when it comes to Google. I would actually add one more thing - Social Media. I have personally experienced how one person's bad experience with a bank became an impromptu conversation on Facebook about the benefits of credit union membership.