Facebook Testimonial Contest Helps Generate 170+ New Credit Union Members! Recently we helped run a testimonial contest campaign for one of our Credit Union clients, AERO Federal Credit Union, and the results were definitely worth sharing.  AERO wanted a way to better engage current members and also generate content that would be usable again in the future to reach potential new members. And the CU was interested in finding out how to use Facebook to grow. We suggested that they needed to find a way to put a human face on the outstanding member service experience at their Credit Union.  And voila… the Annual “My AERO Ah-Ha Moment” Facebook Contest was born!...

Long Standing Client, AERO FCU, Sees a 93% Jump in Home Equity Loans One of the biggest challenges in any industry is trying to connect marketing, ads and online engagement with real results... with sales! We are constantly helping clients do just this, in effect 'closing the loop' and demonstrating how good quality, strategic marketing campaigns can impact bottom line revenue. AERO's AVP of Marketing, Angie Avers, reviewed some loan growth statistics with us, and the results were definitely worth noting! This case study continues to prove why Credit Union digital marketing cannot be beat!

As we have all evolved as businesses in the market place, the banking customer has also changed dramatically over the last 5-10 years. A person shopping for a new banking product or service now consults on average 8.9 sources of information! And branch traffic continues to decline year over year, so where are these potential customers going for all their information and how do you stay relevant to them??

According to a TransUnion survey, credit unions are growing at 6.35% annually--a rate which far outpaces the growth of active credit consumers overall. However, this substantial rate of growth is highly concentrated, with almost four-fifths of the increase in membership ascribed to credit unions with assets of more than $500 million. How can smaller credit unions and community banks take advantage of the favorable conditions for growth? By emphasizing five key strategies, you can help your credit union make 2017 a tremendous year for growth.

As many of us know, the daily life of the average person has changed drastically in recent years. People are spending more time on their mobile devices and online than ever before. Sure, people still receive and check their actual physical mailboxes, but can direct mail really compete in this new digital world? Here's why we recommend that for better bank or credit union growth you should ditch direct mail and go 100% digital! #1 - It's Expensive In this boundless digital world, you no longer have to fight for physical space like you did with print advertising. The fact that space is unlimited means that the costs are low and Return on Investment (ROI) is high.  Many studies show that Direct Mail is in fact still effective, but the major problem is the COST. And we all know that Credit Unions MUST watch their budgets very closely!

As many of your financial institutions are working through the strategic planning process, we wanted to share some insights we've gathered from leaders in the industry. So we reached out to several Credit Union CEOs we work with and asked them about their plans for the future. Here's a couple of items that seem to be popular on their lists for how to plan for future growth: #1 CU Leadership Priority for the Future: Technology is King According to Jim Garvey, CEO of St. Mary's CU, a $800+ million credit union headquartered in Marlborough, MA, "our biggest priority is to migrate our operating core to a new platform which will allow us to offer our members a significant upgrade to their mobile banking experience."