Are You Keeping Up With Your Online Members?

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

My Marketing Trends Kelly Kressner, Marketing Specialist New research from Fiserv has found that 2 million more US households have adopted online banking and bill payment compared to last year. What an incredible shift! With so many consumers relying on online products and services to help manage their hectic lives, is your institution keeping up? It’s important that your website be the virtual branch members can turn to for the financial solutions that fit their needs. How is your financial …

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Times like These Demand a Review of Your Core

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

My Analytical Side Denny Koepke, Vice President This summer, we created 6-month reviews for our clients to determine if their marketing plans were working by continuing to build additional business with members. More importantly, was the expenditure of their marketing dollars attracting more results from existing members compared to their new members? In client data, we found that the existing members brought in business at the rate of 3:1 and 4:1 in terms of loan dollars and deposit dollars from …

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Want Member Loyalty or Profitability?

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

My Marketing Strategy Nicolette Lemmon, President & Founder Seems that it may be time to review the definition of what customer or member loyalty really means to your organization. For example, many credit unions have created points or other loyalty programs to try and reward members for their long-standing business. But does that work in today’s economy? Are loyalty or rewards points meant to keep a member relationship active and spur word of mouth? An interesting article made me scrutinize …

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Part Two: The Good News – Boomers will have to work longer

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

My Marketing Strategy Nicolette Lemmon, President & Founder Yesterday in my post, Good News or Bad News? Boomers will have to work longer, I discussed the Boomers and the effect that the economy is having on their spending habits. With the outcome being that most will have to work longer, I was left wondering for my clients if this will end up having a positive or negative impact on the financial services industry? I think it will have a positive …

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Part One: Good News or Bad News? Boomers will have to work longer

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

My Marketing Strategy Nicolette Lemmon, President & Founder I have a new fascination, the attention on the Boomers regarding their spending habits. That’s because I am one, so watching the discussion now of how spending habits are changing of a huge generation, the largest cohort in America’s demographic makeup, is an exercise in self discovery. There have been news stories and blog posts popping up everywhere about the concerns of large brands on the pull-back of Boomers in luxury, electronics …

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Changing Habits Create Changing Business Models

Monday, July 27th, 2009

My Marketing Strategy Nicolette Lemmon, President & Founder Just as the news seems to be good from the stock exchange, there continues to be the shifting sands under companies decades old. It seems that as businesses today are faced with a maddening pace of change, consumer habits have precipitated the demise of several. An example is Max Factor, founded in 1909, which should be celebrating its 100 year anniversary, but instead is being removed from U.S. shelves by Proctor & …

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Does Your Blog Have a Strategic Purpose?

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

My Marketing Trends Kelly Kressner, Marketing Specialist With an increasing number of financial institutions trying to find their voice through blogs and social media sites, it’s important to make sure that you don’t lose sight of the purpose behind the initiative. For example, has your financial institution recently committed to starting a blog? If so, what is the strategy behind it? If you’re not sure, take the time to understand how blogging fits in with your overall goals. What is …

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The “local” appeal may fall on deaf ears

Monday, July 13th, 2009

My Marketing Strategy Nicolette Lemmon, President & Founder While taking a Hawaiian vacation, I was struck by how many ads on television pitch being “locally owned”. In the down economy, there are small businesses trying to use a message like: “When you buy from local small businesses, most of the money flows back into the economy.” Does this resonate with the consumer today or sound desperate? When the only reason that a small business can promote to consumers is to …

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Isn’t genuine a good word for branding?

Monday, June 29th, 2009

My Marketing Strategy Nicolette Lemmon, President & Founder Considering that some long-term brands have disappeared in this tough economy, the new retail landscape has caused a lot of re-evaluating of the brands we align with for our purchases and services. If you are trying to retain and grow your membership, members are evaluating their experience with your organization to see if it matches your marketing promises. The most impressive branding is not gimmicky or crazy creative; it’s the measure of …

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