Water is both life-giving…and destructive. On The Mark Strategies Marketing Coordinator Sean Galli recently discovered this the hard way. In a story he tells over LinkedIn video, he discovered water behind his walls when having new internet installed. It turned out his shower had leaked water behind there for years, causing mold and ultimately…the destruction of the shower and large swaths of wall. Credit union marketing is like water in that way. It gives your organization life…or it kills it.
Where bad credit union marketing becomes especially dangerous is when you can’t see it. For whatever reason, it silently grows and erodes your business. Here are a few ways bad marketing can poison your organization like mold hidden within walls.
Three Signs of Moldy Marketing
- Self-Centered Messaging: Everyone tunes in to one radio station: WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). And yes, that includes you as a marketer. It’s easy to make your organization’s marketing all about yourself without meaning to do it. Overusing “we” or “our” when describing what you offer. Leading with the “about us.” Talking all about your credit union and pairing it with images of your employees. These messages resonate with you…but they don’t resonate with consumers.
- Forgetting Current Consumers: You have a lot of unclaimed business right now, and the best part is they already work with you. But it’s easy to focus your marketing on acquiring new folks rather than doing more business with current folks. Don’t neglect the lowest hanging fruit. A current consumer may want a new loan or product, but (as crazy as this sounds) they don’t know you offer it. You must remind them over and over and over again. You have a treasure trove to mine if you devote resources to it.
- Familiarity: Put simply, you’re sometimes just too close to your own marketing to see its issues. This comes up all the time in marketing assessments. Someone will say, “I can’t believe I didn’t see that” or maybe the findings confirm an inkling they already had. You wear many hats; you lack the time to dive deep into marketing problems. So they fester.
Address the Damage
Repairing moldy credit union marketing damage requires some work, but the result will be a more secure and effective organization. There are three main steps to take:
- First, perform a marketing assessment. You can’t fix what you can’t see. Set aside time to do this yourself or get a dedicated team of experts to report on it.
- Substitute “you” for “we” and “our.” Even Donald Miller says “we” isn’t bad in every scenario, but if you have a self-centered marketing problem, this is a good place to start. For example: your loans or your services instead of our loans and our services. The copy already gives consumers ownership.
- List ten consumers who love you – total, raving fans. Why aren’t they doing more business with you? Find out why and market to them. The reason for inaction may simply be they don’t know what else you offer.
It’s easy to miss something when you’re too close to it. It happens to all of us, and we all need an outside perspective from time to time. Get information to repair your credit union marketing damage with a marketing assessment. Book a consultation now.
FAQS: CREDIT UNION MARKETING PROBLEMS AND HOW TO FIX THEM
What are the most common signs of ineffective credit union marketing?
Three problems show up most often: messaging that centers on the organization rather than the consumer, neglecting current members in favor of new member acquisition and being too close to your own marketing to see its flaws. Like mold hidden behind walls, these issues can grow silently and erode an organization before anyone notices them.
What is self-centered messaging and how do you fix it?
Self-centered messaging happens when marketing leads with the organization – overusing “we” and “our,” featuring employee photos and emphasizing what the credit union does rather than what the consumer gains. Consumers tune into one station: WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). A simple fix is substituting “you” and “your” for “we” and “our” wherever possible – “your loan options” instead of “our loan options” – which gives consumers a sense of ownership in the message rather than making them an audience for yours.
Why should credit unions market to existing members rather than focusing only on new member acquisition?
Current members represent the lowest-hanging fruit in any marketing strategy. Many already trust the credit union but simply don’t know the full range of products and services available to them. A member who needs a loan or a new account may not realize the credit union offers it. Consistent, repeated marketing to existing members can unlock significant revenue that’s already within reach – without the cost of acquiring someone new.
How does being too close to your own marketing cause problems?
When you wear many hats and lack time for deep analysis, marketing problems go unaddressed – not because they’re invisible, but because familiarity makes them easy to overlook or rationalize. This comes up consistently in marketing assessments, where leaders often say “I can’t believe I didn’t see that” or find that an outside review confirms something they already suspected but hadn’t acted on. An outside perspective removes that blind spot.
What steps should a credit union take to fix its marketing?
Start with a marketing assessment. You can’t fix what you can’t see. Next, audit messaging for self-centered language and reframe copy around the consumer. Finally, identify your most loyal members and ask why they aren’t doing more business with you; often the answer is simply that they don’t know what else you offer. These three steps surface the hidden damage and give you a clear path to more effective marketing.
