7 Major Marketing Mistakes Your FI is Making Right Now

Community banks and credit unions have a unique position in the banking industry, offering a more personal, customer-focused experience than other institutions. When it comes to social media marketing for Financial Institutions, your brand should embrace this characteristic and reflect it throughout your marketing tactics.

Keep reading to discover seven bank and credit union marketing mistakes and how to correct them.

1) Diverging from Your Financial Institution's Marketing Strategy

To make the most of your marketing dollars, begin with a strategic plan that helps you achieve your SMART sales and marketing goals. As you brainstorm and execute your strategy, avoid personal preferences that veer you off course and craft frequent, consistent messaging that drives your point home to customers.

Defining your brand is a key component to bank or credit union marketing. What sets your bank or credit union apart? How do you want your staff to interact with your members/customers? How about with the general public? What have you defined that you'd like to be the ideal user experience?

The goal is to let your brand shine through in all of your marketing efforts and communications and to authentically differentiate yourself and show potential new members/customers what they can expect from your credit union.

3) Speaking, Not Engaging

If your marketing strategy consists of speaking without listening, you will lose out on the very customers you seek. People looking for a local financial institution want that personal touch. They want to be understood and appreciated.

Rather than simply delivering a product or service, engage your members and potential customers in conversation to learn about their needs and exceed their expectations.

4) Focusing on the Competition

When your marketing strategy focuses on what others are doing, the message about what you do best can fall through the cracks. Other institutions may be able to match your rates or replicate your services, so rather than selling that comparison, simply highlight your strengths and unique qualities.

We also recommend humanizing your brand whenever possible. Highlight individual staff members and their stories to showcase the biggest asset of your FI, your employees!

Check out our blog, 5 Ways to Find Unique Content For Your Bank or Credit Union Marketing Ideas.

5) Devaluing the Marketing Role

You could ask anyone to write an email campaign or draft a postcard or flier. You could have multiple people managing your social media in their free time or adding web content as they see fit. But if you want to be strategic in your efforts, it pays to hire a marketing professional who understands what strategic marketing is and what it is NOT.

This person should be able to carve a path from strategy to goal achievement. Having all marketing efforts filter back to one person ensures consistency in brand and message, which will help you achieve your business goals.

6) Missing the Mark Online

Although your website and social media are not your sole marketing vehicles, they may be your most visible. Anyone who searches for information about your financial institution or reads one of your fliers, postcards or other brand collateral is likely to visit at least one of your digital sites, so you want the content in those locations to reflect your larger marketing strategy.

Spend the time to develop fresh, useful content and embrace digital technologies like video. For more information read our blog, 10 Ways to Maximize Results from Digital Marketing For Banks and Credit Unions.

7) Ignoring Mobile

Between smart phones and tablets, more and more consumers are accessing social media and searching the web via mobile devices. If your website is not mobile responsive, you will miss out on valuable opportunities. Make your mobile site easy to navigate with a clear call-to-actions so users know exactly what you have to offer and what they should do next.

With a bit of brainstorming and planning, you can take your credit union marketing to the next level by focusing on strategy, brand and engagement.