Marketing to your members and potential members in the age of omni-channel banking is becoming increasingly challenging for credit unions. Not only are you competing with hundreds of other companies, apps and advertisers for your members’ attention and screen time, members today are more sensitive to marketing experiences that feel “fake” or disjointed. In fact research indicates that as many as 73 percent of consumers feel they haven’t been engaged in a personal way through marketing. And in today’s environment where experience is the key brand differentiator, that is quite a challenge for credit unions to solve.
The good news is that while there is no service, channel or magic formula for determining the best way to engage your customers through marketing, there is one single, immutable source that can and should guide all of your marketing decisions: your members. Feedback, along with data on the member experience are the most effective tools for understanding what marketing channels and tactics will work best (i.e. provide the best experience) for your members.
This week we look at some of research and examples of companies that are demonstrating the power of experiential digital marketing. While some are quick to declare the death of traditional marketing, data shows that there really are no sure bets on how your members want to engage with you.
How Experiential Marketing Made Citi an Entertainment Giant
There’s an old saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If that’s the case, using the old advertising model is insane, says Mastercard’s Chief Marketing and Communications Offer: “Consumers’ attention span, especially for traditional messaging channels, has plummeted / to still keep on putting the same old ads in front of them is probably a little insane.” Instead, financial institutions like Mastercard and Citi are turning to experiential marketing in order to deliver unique experiences through non-traditional channels like sports and entertainment. The success, according to both, has completely altered their core business marketing strategy.
Majority of Marketers Face Challenge of Scaling Human Engagement, Report Finds
A new report by Harvard Business Review and ON24 found that four out of five marketers recognize the importance of personalized interactions but feel that most digital technologies only allow for generic, superficial interactions. “Marketers need to ensure that their current and future customers are being treated as more than just names in a database,” says Joe Hyland, CMO, ON24. The study also found that positive engagement does pay off, with the organizations with the highest levels of customer loyalty reportedly most focused on providing a consistent, personalized experience across all channels.
Direct Mail Marketing is Far from Dead
In the all-things-digital age, don’t write off direct mail just yet. Studies have found that direct mail actually performed consistently well in eliciting a response from members across every age demographic. In fact 30% of 25-34 year olds reported having responded to a direct mail piece within the last week. The key to standing out with direct mail: get creative and use incentives that drive a direct call-to-action.
Say Goodbye to Traditional Marketing, Says JPMorgan Chase CMO
The way the customer journey has evolved, the traditional formula of advertising and marketing is broken, says JPMorgan Chase CMO Kristin Lemkau. Instead, like almost every business function, marketing will be driven by data and it will be marketers’ jobs to funnel that data into action. Ultimately, the mission of driving customer growth will remain the same but it will take a non-linear approach and non-traditional teams to execute and identify the best channels and tactics to succeed.
Marketing and delivering a superior member experience are just a few of the trends shaping the future of the credit union industry. Join us for a live webinar “Technology and Payments Trends: What to Expect in 2019” on November 7 at 11:00am PT as we look at how technology will reinvent commerce, reset consumer expectations and reshape payments in the year to come.
The original article 4 Must Reads: Has Digital Changed Marketing Forever? can be found on Insight Vault.
