Lead with strategy. Strategy comes first. If you read enough of these articles, you hear that refrain vigorously repeated. But what about after you set the strategy? How do you actually achieve your 30,000-foot vision?
It’s time to get tactical. Dive into the nitty gritty. Land the plane.
Here are three small-scale community bank and credit union marketing tips to help you achieve your goals:
- Develop a Marketing Calendar – You must calendar any community bank and credit union marketing strategy. What gets calendared, gets done. Get detailed too. If the strategy is, “increase consumer growth via targeted campaigns;” then the calendar should define the campaign focus, collateral required, due dates and launch dates. Don’t let the tyranny of other tasks swallow your marketing strategy. Put steps and dates in place to remind you to execute the strategy.
- Choose the Right Tools – Executing your community bank and credit union marketing strategy on a tactical level requires the right toolkit. AI can help in this regard. Everyone already knows about ChatGPT, but what about Pictory? This robot helper will aid in video mass production by turning your scripts into video content. With consumers watching more video than ever, this is the kind of tool helpful for achieving your goals. An outside marketing team can also be a sort of “tool.” These teams of experts can do important tactical work for you, freeing up your time to focus on other things.
- Master Semantics – Words have meanings. They have meanings to you. They have meanings to your consumers. And those meanings aren’t always aligned. Understanding the nuances of semantics will help your community bank and credit union marketing impact audiences. “Member” is a good example…it’s positive to credit union professionals but negative and exclusionary to some consumers. “CD” is another good example. Most people will think of the way to play music rather than the financial product. And even then, a lot of young people don’t know what a “certificate of deposit” is without explanation. Research your terms and put yourself in the consumers’ shoes. The right word might mean all the difference when it comes to gaining or losing business.
Bonus Tips
Somehow, three tips just don’t seem like enough to help you achieve your goals. Let’s go over a couple more tried and true quick tips to elevate your community bank and credit union marketing.
First up: copy. Cut your copy. No one wants to read reams of text anymore. People skim, so make your copy bulleted, bolded and all-around briefer than it used to be.
Second is imagery. Construct eye-catching designs that are consistent with your brand and each other. Nothing sabotages efforts at a brand identity like random, unrelated image styles. Remember to have a brand standards guide to help you out on the day-to-day marketing work.
Lastly, don’t underestimate your calls to action (CTAs)! Many community bank and credit union marketing pieces still lack a statement asking the consumer to open an account or apply for a loan. On websites, CTAs are frequently absent from above-the-fold on the homepage. People won’t act unless you ask them to act.
And you might be too time-strapped to act on many of these recommendations yourself. If that’s your situation, book a free consultation with On The Mark Strategies today and ask about community bank and credit union marketing help. It’s often cheaper than a full-time employee (while giving you a whole team of experts).
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