by OTMS Staff | Aug 31, 2026 | Marketing
Good small business marketing needs words. Maybe not a novel or even a paragraph…but it does need words. And those words can guarantee your success or sabotage you, because it turns out bad marketing also needs words. When 5G was new, major wireless carriers bombarded...
by OTMS Staff | Aug 10, 2026 | Marketing, Training
There are plenty of financial services marketing tools out there. Email marketing tools. Social media schedulers. AI integrations meant to power marketing messages. And then there’s the one you might not often think about: your people. Your best marketing tools are...
by OTMS Staff | Aug 3, 2026 | Branding, Marketing
Summer flew by! And depending on the region, many people are already preparing for a return to school, an end to vacation season and a resumption of busy schedules…and busy finances. How can your credit union branding enter this transition period and impact consumers?...
by OTMS Staff | Jul 29, 2026 | Marketing
One of our team members owns a house where the previous owner tried to do everything himself. And the results were…well, let’s just say problematic. Bad plumbing routed dangerously close to live electrical wires. A shower that leaked water behind the wall,...
by OTMS Staff | Jul 21, 2026 | Marketing
We’ve all been there. Standing in front of a landmark, phone held out at arm’s length, angling for the best light. The selfie isn’t really about the landmark. It’s about us. Where we are, what we’re doing, how we look while we’re...
by OTMS Staff | Jul 13, 2026 | Marketing
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...
by OTMS Staff | Jun 24, 2026 | Marketing
Financial organizations are auditing machines. Year-to-date financials? Audited. Staff performance? Reviewed. Operations? Assessed. At the halfway point of the year, you’re already deep into evaluating what’s working and what’s not. But here’s...
by OTMS Staff | Jun 8, 2026 | Marketing
The “Mission: Impossible” franchise is over (supposedly). But in the past, they have been some of my favorite summer blockbusters. Exciting action-adventures that kick off with a mission briefing ending with a single phrase: “This message will self-destruct in five...
by OTMS Staff | May 13, 2026 | Branding, Marketing
Donald Miller says it best: “Niches lead to riches.” And that principle applies to your brand voice, too. You can’t speak to everyone the same way and expect your credit union marketing to connect. We once asked a client who they were targeting with...
by OTMS Staff | Apr 29, 2026 | Marketing
There are more ways than ever to use small business marketing to connect with consumers. Take Emily Zugay on TikTok. She became internet famous for “redesigning” brand logos in hilariously terrible ways. And brands started begging her to destroy their...
by OTMS Staff | Apr 20, 2026 | Marketing
Financial literacy is a constant need. And you should address it in your financial services marketing. As of January 2026, 42.4% of Americans fail a financial literacy test. A survey done by Chime showed 81% of people would gladly take an “adulting crash course,” with...
by OTMS Staff | Mar 30, 2026 | Marketing
ROI. Every C-suite executive demands it. Yet few marketers deliver it consistently. While ROI stands for “return on investment” in some circles, it could also mean “results are only invisible.” As in, sometimes our credit union marketing succeeds and sometimes it...
by OTMS Staff | Mar 25, 2026 | Marketing
Allied Federal Credit Union had a problem. It lacked a marketing person and the team was stretched thin, juggling everything from social media to running the teller line. It needed help from a financial services marketing agency but didn’t want cookie-cutter...
by OTMS Staff | Mar 18, 2026 | Marketing
Horizon Federal Credit Union understands how to match community investments with a financial services brand. They created Hedgie the Hedgehog – a mascot that’s become a community phenomenon. Hedgie shows up at local events. He’s the star of...
by OTMS Staff | Mar 9, 2026 | Marketing
In 2017, Donald Miller released his bestselling book, “Building a StoryBrand,” and transformed how many people think about marketing (including financial services marketing). Marketing, Miller said, is a story where consumers are the heroes and you are the guide. Your...
by OTMS Staff | Feb 23, 2026 | Marketing, Strategy
Many credit union member retention strategies think they have a front door problem: member growth. For credit unions, the member growth rate slowed to 1.88% last year (the lowest number in close to 15 years). However, the real problem – net growth – could in fact be a...
by OTMS Staff | Feb 10, 2026 | Marketing
The Big Game left many fans disappointed this year, but the 2026 National Championship still delivered some solid advertising. The commercial breaks managed to deliver drama and emotion…even if the scoreboard didn’t. For those looking to sharpen their approach, these...
by OTMS Staff | Feb 4, 2026 | Marketing
One CEO told us, “We glance at competitors and we glare at ourselves.” It’s a powerful practice – turning that critical eye inward to evaluate your own performance. But how do you know when it’s time to stop glancing and start glaring? When do...
by OTMS Staff | Jan 26, 2026 | Learning & Development, Marketing
John Maxwell says, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” But that’s easier said than done. Trying to “know the way” in the first place is an issue sure to cause many leaders sleepless nights. So, let’s give you a helping hand. Here are...
by OTMS Staff | Jan 5, 2026 | Marketing
People are always vowing to remake themselves. Finally going to the gym every day. Finally writing that book. Finally taking that vacation. These are great personal resolutions, but you can make some financial services marketing ones too. For example, capturing a...
by OTMS Staff | Dec 22, 2025 | Marketing
Holiday commercials. They can warm your heart, inspire you and of course…teach you valuable marketing lessons. Here are five commercials from this holiday season plus the financial services marketing lessons you need to keep things holly jolly going into the new year....
by OTMS Staff | Nov 17, 2025 | Marketing
The cornucopia is a bugle-like basket full of food – a traditional symbol of abundance. And while abundance is excellent when preparing to fill your stomach around the dinner table, it’s less excellent when it comes to your marketing. There’s a temptation to treat...
by OTMS Staff | Nov 12, 2025 | Case Study, Marketing
“A lot of marketing partners don’t understand our unique situation as a SEG-based credit union. Your team understands that. You do a good job of understanding us.” – Erica Villarejos, VP of Marketing On The Mark Strategies performs multiple marketing...
by OTMS Staff | Nov 5, 2025 | Case Study, Marketing
“We’d have to pay more for an on-staff marketing person, and they wouldn’t be able to do what On The Mark does for us. I’m confident that everything On The Mark Strategies delivers will be at a high level.” -Tonia Clark, CEO, Allied FCU On The Mark Strategies...
by OTMS Staff | Oct 20, 2025 | Marketing
Some people graduate college with marketing degrees…but little do they know, their coursework has only just begun. Bank and credit union marketing is ever-changing and evolving. There are strategies and tactics relevant ten or even five years ago that now pale in...
by OTMS Staff | Oct 6, 2025 | Marketing, Strategy, Training
Zombies. Vampires. Ghouls. Budgets. All are terrifying to think about…and budgets might just be the scariest monster of all. When discussing his upcoming budget process, one credit union CEO said he was already resorting to prayer to defeat the beast. Yikes! Luckily,...
by OTMS Staff | Oct 1, 2025 | Marketing
Someone once said, “Choose your partners wisely—they’ll either help you reach your destination or distract you from it.” When it comes to marketing your bank, credit union or small business, this couldn’t be more true. Finding the right...
by OTMS Staff | Sep 29, 2025 | Branding, Marketing, Strategy, Training
No organization is a one-trick pony. Sure, everyone has their specialties. But the best organizations still do all core functions competently or even exceptionally. What are those core functions? There are four vital disciplines, or Success Markers, you need to create...
by OTMS Staff | Sep 17, 2025 | Learning & Development, Marketing
As Charles Darwin observed, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” The payments evolution isn’t coming. It’s here. Consumers are already using digital wallets,...
by OTMS Staff | Sep 15, 2025 | Leadership, Marketing, Strategy
Clarity and alignment are defining traits of the best organizations out there…but how you acquire those traits is often a mystery. Well, you might only be six questions away from aligning your organization around a purpose and common values. Patrick Lencioni and his...
by OTMS Staff | Aug 18, 2025 | Marketing
When you improve your bank or credit union marketing, you improve your organization. When you improve your marketing, your organization grows. And in many cases, you don’t have a loan growth issue, a deposit challenge or a retention problem. You have a marketing...
by OTMS Staff | Jul 14, 2025 | Marketing
Your bank and credit union marketing materials aren’t just posters, signage or digital ads. They are visible signals that tell people about your identity. And although you may produce many types of collateral, consumers won’t see it all. If they were only to see...
by OTMS Staff | Jun 16, 2025 | Marketing
You’ve been there. Time is running short, and a celebration is right around the corner. What do you get the person? They already have everything (and everything they don’t have they buy for themselves). Google will know…Google must know. You type in “gifts for...
by OTMS Staff | May 14, 2025 | Marketing
Let’s be honest: marketing folks and math don’t always mix. But whether you love reviewing spreadsheets or not…you must consider the numbers. So, let’s register for Bank and Credit Union Marketing Math 101 and take a look at some key concepts. The Budget ...
by OTMS Staff | May 12, 2025 | Marketing
Brunch…a Mother’s Day tradition. Also a tradition you don’t wait until the last minute to plan. After all, Mom deserves better than something haphazardly thrown together because you got busy the week before celebrating her. Some questions to answer about your brunch...
by OTMS Staff | May 2, 2025 | Marketing, Strategy
Almost everyone is familiar with the “Where’s Waldo?” search-and-find books. These books show massive images covered with colorful chaos at beaches, mansions, forests and many other locations. The reader’s objective is to find Waldo, a man dressed in a candy cane...
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