Digital marketing strategy for credit unions in the Caribbean has been evolving and modernizing to better align with the tastes of regional consumers. 2020 could be a banner year for the industry, particularly if smart digital marketing strategies are used that build on the momentum that’s been accumulating.
While the reasons are varied, credit unions haven’t enjoyed the sort of popularity in the Caribbean that they do in other parts of the world. However, this has been changing over the last few years as credit unions are evolving and modernizing their messages and marketing to better align with the tastes of regional consumers.
2020 could be a banner year for the industry, particularly if smart credit union marketing strategies are used that build on the momentum that’s been accumulating. Read on as we talk about the top five digital marketing strategies that Caribbean credit unions should use in the coming year to grow their member lists and help the industry carve out a large slice of the Caribbean banking market.
Work to Break Consumer Inertia
Many people are familiar with the myriad of benefits found in switching from a standard bank to a credit union. A significant portion of them even agree that making the shift would be a smart move for their finances and their lives. But yet, they don’t switch. Why?
Inertia. It’s often difficult for people to motivate themselves to make simple changes in their lives because doing nothing is easier. Even if doing nothing means missing out on a better situation. Your credit union marketing strategy needs to focus on marketing efforts that help break this cycle of procrastination and stagnation.
It’s a two-pronged approach. First, you need to focus on a consumer’s fear of missing out (fomo). Your messages should make it clear that missing out on the benefits of a credit union is more painful than the effort it takes to even make the switch.
Secondly, you need to make it as easy to switch as possible and offer incentives to entice people out of their inertia. As an example, you could allow customers to start the process of opening accounts online and promote this benefit along with a special, limited time offer. When people understand the benefits of your credit union and realize that getting started is easy, particularly if they do it immediately, the switch is much easier.
Match the Banks on Technology
Online member registration is just one example of the sort of digital banking services that modern consumers are demanding. Credit unions that are lagging behind banks in technological offerings will find it increasingly difficult to earn new customers, particularly among younger demographics for whom digital banking is the norm.
This is important because Millenials are the fastest-growing segment of the population. Reaching them will go a long way toward achieving growth goals in 2020.
Catching up technologically is step one, but this isn’t a fast process. In the meantime, your credit union should heavily market your digital banking solutions offered, as well as make it clear to consumers that more are on the way. For consumers that are eager to switch but disappointed at the current state of digital offerings, just knowing that new services are coming may be all the motivation they need.
Refresh Your Branding
Perception is nearly as important as the services you offer. If you’re perceived to be modern, forward-thinking, and aligned with the values and desires of your target market you’ll have a much easier time convincing people to join. It’s not important if you’re entirely there yet, as long as you’re perceived to be, and are actively moving in the right direction.
Your website should reflect who you are, but also who you want to be. If you’re working on building your digital infrastructure and plan to be a fully-modern, digital-first credit union, take on that persona now and promote yourself that way.
Create a seamless customer experience across your website and any other customer-facing digital collateral. Make things intuitive and user-friendly. At every moment it should be immediately clear to your customers and prospects what they can expect from where they are, and what they can do.
Segment Your Audience and Target Your Messages
We’ve touched on how it’s important to target younger consumers with messages that focus on digital technologies. Other groups may not be as interested in that but will care about other elements of your business. The more you segment your audience into distinct groups with differing priorities and different banking preferences, the finer you can target your messages to sell exactly what a given consumer is looking for.
Through your own market research and other tools, you already have detailed demographic information available to you which can be leveraged through programmatic advertising channels to funnel personalized advertisements. Targeted messages are a much more efficient and effective way to use marketing dollars because they make certain consumers see ads that relate to what’s important to them.
This can easily be done using search-based ads, as well as targeted email and digital messaging campaigns. Done properly, younger consumers could get ads touting technological conveniences, while older demographics would see ads selling the personal touch.
Choose the Right Partner to Win With Your Value Proposition
You’re a credit union. You have an extremely strong value proposition that resonates with people when it’s framed properly. In the age of high banking fees, when it feels like banks are in the business of taking advantage of people instead of helping them, the fact that credit unions are less commercial is a huge boon.
People appreciate the personal service you get with a credit union. The fact that they’re members and owners instead of just patrons makes them feel like they’re an intrinsic part of the institution. As a result, credit unions are perceived as more trustworthy and much more a part of the local community.
This is a value proposition most businesses would kill for. But in order to leverage it properly, you need a digital marketing agency that understands how it resonates with the Caribbean market, and how to sculpt it into messages best suited for the different market segments you’re trying to reach. Quoviz is the agency you’re looking for. We already work with a number of credit unions in the Caribbean, and we can parlay our success to include you as well.
If you’re interested in talking more about how we can use the five marketing strategies above plus others to drive new business for you in 2020, please give us a call or drop us a line. We’d be happy to give you a no-obligation quote and discuss all of your options.
