The New Year enables a fresh perspective on achieving goals across the coming months, and yet the time seems to fly by because of busy schedules, so many people asking you for things and shifts or changes in your marketing plan from senior management. Want a few great ways to stay focused and efficient even when senior managers are throwing wrenches into your nicely laid out plan?  Here are my three “go to” solutions: Create a Swipe File – Set …

What…8 seconds? Yes, it seems that we now have less of an attention span than a goldfish! While it used to be 12 seconds 7 years ago*, with the cacophony of images, media and messages flowing at us at a faster pace from our mobile devices, our brain has mastered more flitting! How do you even get your marketing messages into 8 seconds with comprehension? Your brand story and any marketing message has to be so clear that it can …

Recently, I was asked to share my thoughts by a Credit Union Journal reporter about the problems at Wells Fargo with their cross-selling goals fiasco. The questions were about the opportunity for credit unions to attract prospective members from the negative media coverage. Having worked with credit unions for many years, here is what I said about positioning themselves as an option. Whenever there is a concern over banking, trust or financial security; credit unions can gain momentum if they …

Seems by the end of summer, everyone starts to get back to business much like kids go back to school! There is a lot of flurry to do strategic planning and revisit goals to determine 2017 goals. It can really start to build an overwhelmed feeling, so here are 5 questions to focus attention on the last push for achieving credit union success for 2016: 1. In what age groups, geographic areas, or product types are we not growing? Reviewing your …

5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity When you are distracted, stressed or just busy up to your eyeballs, it is often hard to be the most creative. In marketing, being able to come up with that next promotion theme or offer is usually on demand. As Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun!” So, one of the best things to jumpstart yours is by using humor. One of my favorite tools is a pack of cards called the Creative …

What Did We Get for the Marketing Dollars Spent?  In today’s competitive marketplace, every marketing dollar must work hard to provide results. When you are tasked with planning a promotion, it is helpful to determine what it will take to recover the marketing costs you plan to expend. Marketing Cost Recovery – As you plan the marketing promotion or campaign, determine how many products must be sold to recover the marketing costs. For example, if you plan a loan promotion, …

1. Try the One Question Format. Attention spans are short today, especially because of the online byte-size news and information.  So, a great way to make it easy to attract attention and engage a member is to present one question that members ask with the quick answer!  This is also an easy way for you to get started with an email, a newsletter article, or a promotion theme.  Discuss industry news, take a stand, ask and answer questions, include a …

One of the most important questions in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace is, can you be a “one-off” business?  Meaning, can you afford to have one product with a member, such as one checking account, one auto loan or one home equity loan or one certificate of deposit?  The answer is, usually, a resounding “no!” The credit union does need volume and it also needs the efficiencies that come with serving one member with multiple financial products to make them profitable. So, …

To achieve your corporate goals, it is important to tie the marketing activities to accomplish the goals and then measure the results of those marketing activities.  The Marketing Dashboard enables the senior team to see the progress toward achieving your goals and weigh in on adjustments that need to be made. The dashboard is meant to track the results over the year.  Overall CU Performance Metric that is measured by quarter and then the Year to Date Growth.  Depending on …

When was the last time that you opened an account at your credit union? As an employee, you probably had some insider help from a staff member to make it easier and avoid sitting in the lobby waiting. While nice, it is generally not the same process and experience that a new member goes through to open their account. Spending your marketing budget on a strategy to attract new members may work to get the leads. However, if you are …