cu grow handouts - scmslay+b+clagett+-+engagement+banking.pdfestablishing new business models for...

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We build humanized digital marketing and lead generation systems for progressive credit unions and banks.

www.cugrow.com

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(Knowledge is not power. Knowledge + action is power.)

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James Robert Lay | CEO of CU Grow

Will 2014 be the year for credit unions to shift their focus to digital?

According to our initial analysis of the 2014 State of Digital Marketing Survey, both credit

unions and community banks are beginning to realize the importance of focusing on

establishing new business models for success to generate leads for loans and new

accounts in a humanized digital economy.

The need to evolve business models derives from the fact that many credit unions continue

to operate with traditional models optimized for physical networks, even though consumer

buying behaviors are changing thanks to digital.

The following three ideas will help a credit union focus when building digital marketing and

lead generation systems in 2014 for future success.

Even though most credit union CEOs, COOs and CMOs understand the need to evolve,

responses to the Digital Marketing Survey shared that many don’t know where to begin as

the digital world is changing quickly.

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They are also having to venture into areas where they have no or limited knowledge, while

hoping for quick success and results.

Changing an entire credit union’s operational model to be optimized for digital is not

something that will happen overnight. However, there may be some quick wins that can be

found by taking the time to dig a bit deeper into a credit union’s current sales, marketing

and operations methodologies. Furthermore, it is important to remember that a credit

union optimized for digital lead generation will continue to evolve alongside both

consumers and technology.

When properly optimized and aligned, digital marketing and lead generation systems can

help to:

● Lower the total cost of acquisition of new members

● Increase product adoption and profitability of current members

● Operate more efficiently in a humanized digital economy

Before setting out to build a digital marketing and lead generation system, I recommend a

credit union take inventory of all the digital tools a credit union has adopted and audit how

they work together to generate leads for loans and new accounts.

The next step would be to score the effectiveness of each by asking some of the following

questions:

● Are the digital tools and tactics we have adopted underutilized, full optimized or no

longer needed?

● Do we have the right staff and training to fully take advantage of the digital tools we

have adopted?

● How are the digital tools and tactics we have adopted addressing changing

consumer buying behaviors?

● As technology has evolved, are there alternative digital tools and tactics available

now that could be more effective than before?

● What digital tools and tactics are missing that we should be exploring?

● Is there a unified strategy to effectively and efficiently use these digital tools?

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● How are the digital tools and tactics we have adopted helping to lower the total cost

of acquisition of new members and increase product adoption and profitability of

current members all while allowing us to operate more efficiently in a humanized

digital economy?

To help a credit union get started down a productive strategic path, the following three

perspectives are what we believe to be the most important areas to focus on when building

a digital system to generate leads for loans and new accounts in a humanized digital

economy.

Digital Profiling + Segmentation

● How do you currently profile and segment your credit union markets and

membership?

● Do you try to attract anyone who lives, works worships or goes to school within your

community?

● Do you focus on breaking things down further using demographic, psychographic

and transactional data to identify profitable digital market segments?

● Have you taken time to profile and compile consumer personas for each digital

market segment?

Content + Distribution

● How is your credit union currently creating and distributing content? Is it TV spots? A

printed newsletter? A couple of social media updates each day?

● Are you taking the time to plan blog posts, videos, downloadable guides and

worksheets for each market segment and profile?

● What scoring rules have you set to help measure a lead’s intent when viewing or

downloading content?

● How are you distributing this content to position your credit union as a financial

expert that offers more than great rates and service?

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UX + Marketing Automation + CRM Alignment

● When was the last time your credit union website was updated?

● Have you ever performed user testing with your website to see how consumers are

shopping for loans and new accounts?

● How many leads does your website, and even your mobile site, PFM and online

banking platform generate each month?

● Have you taken the time to map out the digital journey a consumer or member

takes? How does it differ from product to product?

● What user experience activities and events have you optimized for the digital sales

funnel?

● In what ways does your credit union use marketing automation and CRM together

to operate more efficiently in a humanized digital economy?

● As your credit union begins to plan to focus more on digital in 2014, what steps are

you taking to build digital marketing and lead generation systems optimized for a

humanized digital economy?

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Recently, we had a breakthrough in the CU Grow Garden. We’ve spotted small little buds on

several plants, the beginnings of vegetables!

Now, our local gardening expert revealed that I not be all consumed and distracted by this

small victory. He reminded me of the advice he provided at the very beginning of this

adventure: beware of both disease and pest.

It was recommended that I take a proactive approach to plant disease management and

take daily inventory of the status of each plant. The expert cautioned if I waited too long to

take action, a plant disease could wipe out my entire garden.

I say that’s pretty sound advice.

So how does this relate to banks, credit unions and digital marketing?

Let me quickly explain.

In my travels this past month facilitating credit union and bank digital marketing and lead

generation workshops, several challenges were shared repeatedly by many executives.

Some said, “We have adopted all of these digital tools but really have know idea what to do

with them and are not getting the return we had hoped for.”

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Others shared, “We purchased [insert digital product] but had no money left over in the

budget to properly bring it to market for adoption and use by consumers.”

Unbeknownst to them, what these financial services executives were describing were not

just challenges and problems they were currently facing.

They were describing specific symptoms of a particular disease.

And from our perspective, this disease has actually turned into an industry epidemic

infecting many credit unions and banks.

Digitoolitus is caused from the continued adoption of digital tools with no unified digital

marketing and lead generation system framework or strategy. There is often a lack of

knowledge or misunderstanding from staff on how to use digital tools to generate leads for

loans and new accounts.

Oftentimes, traditional broadcast marketing practices and methods are misappropriately

applied to the use of digital tools. This stems from the fact that many credit unions and

banks continue to operate with marketing and lead generation models built around

branches and no longer applicable in a humanized digital economy.

Primary symptoms of digitoolitus include feelings of:

● Disappointment from the adoption of so many digital tools

● Frustration from staff who are not properly trained to use and operate digital tools

● Irritation from executives who are not seeing results and ROI on digital tools

Secondary symptoms also include:

● Inefficient and malignant use of digital tools with no clearly defined processes

● Binging on the latest digital tool or tactic heard at a conference event

● Inaccurate digital analytical readings with bloated or false results

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Rest assured that digitoolitus is treatable and yes, even curable.

This is exactly why we exist.

We want to CU Grow in a humanized digital economy and believe that a well-defined

humanized digital marketing and lead generation systems can lower acquisition costs for

new accounts, increase profitability of current account holders and improve operational

efficiency.

To cure digitoolitus, and improve a credit union’s or bank’s digital marketing and lead

generation efforts, we recommend a four step treatment plan.

Now remember, there is no quick fix or magic pill that we can prescribe to expedite

recovery.

Oftentimes, we see credit unions or banks that self-diagnose themselves and have even

written their own prescription to fix their own ailments. This typically takes the form of

purchasing another digital tool to temporarily cure their current pain points.

We do not recommended this approach.

The adoption of additional digital tools without a proper prescription and treatment plan

will only increase the symptoms of digitoolitus.

Proper diagnosis of digitoolitus includes a holistic review and in depth remote discovery of

your credit union’s or bank’s:

● Organizational goals and objectives

● Digital technology and channels

● Staffing in sales and marketing

● Lead generation and sales processes

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● Defined consumer personas

● Digital theme or story being shared

● Digital content and channel distribution

● Business development systems

● Offline marketing channels

● Metrics and KPIs

Once proper diagnosis digitoolitus has been made, a custom treatment plan can be

prescribed. This will vary for each credit union or bank depending on the severity of

digitoolitus.

Treatment may include:

● An intense digital fitness and training program for key staff members to improve

their digital IQ and acumen

● Documentation of key consumer personas, digital journeys, staffing responsibilities

and digital processes

● Eliminating certain digital tools and technologies from your digital diet while

introducing new ones to allow your credit union or bank to operate more efficiently

● A bi-weekly dose digital consumer content, guided by an emotionally engaging and

humanized story

● The adoption of a marketing automation platform and 7-step framework to improve

the well-being of marketing and sales staff

● Transferring marketing responsibility to friends and family and trusting in the power

of referrals and recommendations

● An aesthetic makeover or facelift of your current digital channels

Like any treatment or fitness plan, success will be found by following a specific timeline and

adhering to the recommendations.

To assist you in this process, we prescribe key metrics to serve as a guide to help you

measure the progress you are making overtime.

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As soon as treatment of digitoolitus begins, one of the immediate results many credit

unions and bank executives experience is that of clarity. The dense digital fog that blinds so

many begins to clear and feelings of digital disappointment begin to disappear.

The application of the prescription and recommended treatment may be administered

locally by the credit union or through our assistance both remotely or onsite.

Just like any successful treatment plan prescribed by a physician, ongoing monitoring and

guidance is recommended to ensure digitoolitus does not reoccur. It is easy to fall back

into old habits and methodologies no longer relevant in a humanized digital economy.

And as digital trends and best practices continue to change and evolve, our constant

guidance and recommendations will ensure your credit union or bank continues to grow

and achieve success with a highly optimized and refined digital marketing and lead

generation system that can reduce acquisition costs for new accounts, increase profitability

of current account holders and improve operational efficiency.

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Consumers are continuing to adopt digital channels for everyday banking transactions and

neo-banks are entering the financial services market with business models optimized for

mobile delivery. Credit unions and community banks must evolve to survive in a

humanized digital economy, which is why we are introducing a seven-step systematic

framework.

This framework can serve as a roadmap to unify the digital tools financial institutions have

adopted over the years.

The humanized digital economy can be defined as a set of digital processes or systems

designed and optimized over time that offer personalized solutions to consumers’ needs at

the most opportune time for purchase during the buying cycle based upon their individual

persona and digital behavior.

Depending on an organization’s goals for growth, our digital marketing and lead generation

framework can be optimized for three different activities:

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Goal Attract: Generate or re-activate leads - Top of the funnel (ToFu)

Goal Acquire: Convert leads for loans and accounts - Middle of the funnel (MoFu)

Goal Extend: Increase profitability and wallet share - Bottom of the funnel (BoFu)

Target

By analyzing a financial institution's CRM, PFM and core system, credit unions and

community banks can segment their membership beyond traditional demographic data.

Using both psychographic and transactional trends, organizations can further identify and

segment markets to target through a variety of digital marketing channels.

Capture

Credit unions and community banks can complement their current calls to action with

downloadable consumer resources including buying guides, checklists and on-demand

webinars to assist a consumer in the buying process. Financial institutions can now capture

a consumer’s basic information, while storing it in a CRM, to nurture the consumer with

additional relevant content and touchpoints as they move through the buying process.

Nurture

By defining digital journeys, credit unions and

community banks can map out a digital

nurture strategy for each defined market

segment and product offering. This provides a

consumer with a highly tailored and

customized digital experience that builds a

digital relationship over time through relevant

content. In addition, by employing lead scoring

in the nurture process, credit unions and

community banks can take a proactive

approach by using CRM alerts to receive a

notification to reach out to a consumer who is

getting closer to conversion.

Convert

The work of a website is never finished as 65%

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of consumers have had a digital experience change their opinion about a brand. Even if a

financial institution had their website developed in the past year, an ongoing investment in

a website can help to ensure it is continuously optimized to convert leads for loans and

new accounts in a humanized digital economy. In addition, the use of video on landing

pages with related forms and calls to actions can increase conversions by 80%.

Onboard

A digital onboarding process that is properly mapped can be optimized and personalized

for each consumer and product by using specific pieces of content in a predefined digital

consumer journey. Video can also enhance and humanize the digital onboarding process.

More importantly, onboarding can be an ongoing event to help improve member retention

and engagement by offering tailored content and recommendations based upon specific

digital behaviors a consumer makes.

Cross-sell

Using surveys in the digital onboarding process can provide additional consumer insights

to help recommend other relevant financial products and services. In addition, providing

advice and assistance to help a consumer use an account or service provides additional

opportunity to increase share of wallet and total member lifetime value. Additional digital

cross-sell opportunities can also be found through 3rd party loans and credit card data

provided through a PFM or other online banking platform.

Refer

Referrals, the most trusted consumer marketing channel, could help credit unions and

community banks realize a lower overall consumer acquisition costs in a digital future. By

making referrals part of the digital lead generation process and system, financial

institutions can begin to lower the overall consumer acquisition cost. Credit unions and

community banks can also continue to generate leads for loans and new accounts from

current account holders by providing a way to facilitate and incentivise these digital

referrals.

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I came across a recent article that shared the “dirty little secret about electronic

newsletters.” The author attempted to demonstrate how ineffective e-newsletters are,

which puzzled me as credit unions and community banks continue to work towards

operation in a humanized digital economy.

From my perspective, it appeared as if the author was stating electronic newsletters were

ineffective and a waste of marketing dollars.

I strongly disagree with him.

Taking some time to reflect upon this article, it became clear that the issue of newsletters is

not a matter of digital or print delivery. It’s about the content used within.

When we audit a credit union's or community bank’s digital marketing ecosystem, the

majority of newsletter content, both print and electronic, provides no real value to the

reader.

The content of many newsletters are poorly written articles that have been typically

outsourced and written for the masses by a third party company. These ultimately provide

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no insight, inspiration or value to the reader. Many newsletters at best are advertorial

pieces and oftentimes, credit unions and community banks try to fill in the dead space with

the current promotions.

The idea of content marketing is not new.

In 1966, Bill Bowerman, co-founder of Nike, wrote a 19-page booklet called “Jogging” to

help the average American get fit through running. He used content to inform and educate

the consumers, not to selling shoes.

So what’s the point of content

marketing for a credit union or

community bank?

Because let’s be honest. How many

more “Ten Tips to Buying a Car”

articles does this world really need?

We here at CU Grow have identified

four key goals for credit unions and

community banks that employ

content marketing.

1. Brand awareness: Content must be bold, different and provide a strong perspective

2. Lead generation: Content must educate, inform and inspire consumers to generate leads

for loans and new accounts

3. Lead conversion: Content must provide value to nurture a lead through conversion

4. Retention, service and upsell: Content must continue to provide value beyond

conversion to increase share of wallet and reduce the cost of acquisition over time

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These goals can be met through a printed newsletter, a digital newsletter or both. Perhaps

the two could be used in tandem in which the printed newsletter provides one piece of the

story and the digital publication expands upon the topic with multimedia content.

For larger credit unions and community banks, it would be possible to scale this duel

content marketing publication approach. Either way, we believe content that provides

deep insight, inspiration and value is needed for success in a humanized digital economy.

Joe Pulizzi, founder of Content Marketing Institute, believes that it may not be too long

before we see larger brands and organizations purchasing niche content companies who

have built strong digital assets and community through focused content publication. Why is

this? Should a credit union or community bank purchase a content or media company?

First, larger brands will pay for the expertise, systems, processes and, most importantly,

audiences these niche publications provide as part of a larger lead generation strategy.

Second, I believe the purchase of a digital media company or publisher can help a credit

union or community bank jump start investing in a true digital asset.

This idea is somewhat similar to what BBVA did when they acquired Simple.

Third, if a local community does not have a publication for a particular niche market a

credit union or community bank targets, there is a great opportunity to fill this void with

rich content that provides insight, inspiration and value to generate leads for loans and

new accounts.

Too often, we find the content of many financial institutions generic in nature that

ultimately provides no real value for consumers. I believe this is because many credit

unions and community banks outsource their newsletter content creation to companies

who create generic pieces that could operate anywhere.

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It’s hard to create value when you are writing for the masses. Once again, this shows the

importance of segmenting a market, which is the first step required when creating content

to provide value and insight.

Perhaps a credit union or community bank could produce a community driven content

marketing strategy that highlights the local restaurant scene targeting foodies. Maybe

there is an opportunity to target engaged couples by partnering with wedding planners and

service providers.

The point is that content goes beyond the promotion of just products and services. It

should provide real insight, inspiration and value for a niche market. Fresh and frequent

local content also helps to position the credit union with higher search engine rankings.

Let me provide an example of what this could potentially look like.

Let’s take our hometown of Houston where a new publication with features that I

mentioned above has popped onto the scene with a publication called Houstonia. Imagine

if a credit union or community bank were behind the publication acting as a commerce

conduit for consumers and local business. How many new leads for loans and new

accounts could be generated?

While the cost of a printed publication like this could be daunting, it is certainly reasonable

to consider investing in a digital asset, such as a local community electronic publication. A

credit union or community bank could even generate non-fee income by selling ads to local

businesses.

Another great example of content creation is that of AMEX Open Forum. While not exactly

local to a particular community, AMEX has built their own digital community with a niche

market segment of SoHo companies.

I believe there is a big opportunity in the SoHo market for credit unions and community

banks just waiting to be tapped and content could provide a way to differentiate a financial

institution in a local community.

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Even competitors to traditional credit unions and community banks, such as Mint, Simple

and Moven have very rich content marketing engines. Both partner with thought leaders to

help with content generation. Simple has leveraged both content marketing and marketing

automation as part of a digital lead generation strategy, which I believe is a key reason they

were able to acquire over 100,000 accounts in just 4 years.

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We continue to share the need of a unified digital strategy for credit unions and community

banks. Without one, adopting all the latest digital tools in the world from social media to

email marketing and PFM to RDC is a futile exercise.

This seven-step systematic framework can be the foundation for

building a true digital marketing and lead generation asset.

While the the framework includes many different systems and

working components, content marketing and marketing automation

are minimum requirements for this system to help:

1. Reduce the cost of acquisition

2. Increase account holder profitability

3. Improve operational efficiencies

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Content marketing is a process used to create and

distribute relevant and valuable content on a frequent

and consistent basis to attract, acquire, and extend an

offer to a clearly defined market segment – with the

primary objective of driving profitable consumer behavior

and a secondary objective of positioning the credit union

or community bank as a qualified financial matters expert

within their community.

Marketing automation software allows a credit union or

community bank to scale recurring digital marketing and

sales processes that improve the efficiency of execution

to lower the cost of acquisition through digital

segmentation, lead generation, lead capturing, lead

nurturing and lead scoring while increasing the

profitability and share of wallet through onboarding,

cross-selling, retention and referrals.

When combined together, marketing automation

technology increases the effectiveness of content marketing by delivering humanized

messages and offers regardless of where a lead is in the digital buying cycle.

It is important to note that before launching any content marketing or marketing

automation system, steps must be taken to identify key market segments. This includes

consumer persona development exercises. This will enable the credit union or community

bank to determine what types of content resonate most effectively with each market

segment.

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Furthermore, begin to map the digital consumer journeys and UX for each market segment

and related product offer. This can help a credit union or community bank identify what

types of content will be used within the digital consumer journey and where the marketing

automation system can provide content distribution.

No matter what the goals are for the organization, content marketing and marketing

automation can be optimized within the digital lead generation framework to attract,

acquire and engage a lead for a loan or new account.

Attracting or reactivating leads is a key function for ToFu (top of the funnel) activities.

Content can be created and then distributed to specific market segments using a

marketing automation platform. Key campaigns may include running targeted email, email

reactivation and remarketing. These lists could be segmenting using demographic,

psychographic, transactional or even digital behavior data.

Each of these campaigns would work to drive a lead to a specific landing page optimized

for each market segment and related product. At this point in the digital buying cycle, the

landing page’s goal would be to simply capture additional information about a particular

lead.

Too many times, the call to action on a credit union or community bank landing page is to

simply apply for a loan or new account. If this is the first time a consumer is visiting this

particular page, our research and analysis of landing page traffic predicts they will not

convert.

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Furthermore, according to Google’s Zero Moment of Truth study, 46% of consumers begin

thinking about opening a new account or switching to a new bank two to three months

before they take action to do so.

We suggest the call to action on a landing page should vary, depending upon where a

consumer is in the buying process.

For consumers who are in the early stage of the buying process, a credit union or

community bank could offer some kind of content optimized for each segment. This could

include a buying guide, checklist or even video/webinar about a particular product offering

that would be available to the consumer in exchange for additional information. It is

important to note that only this “premium” content should be “gated”.

Acquiring and converting leads is a key activity for MoFu (middle of the funnel) activities.

Once additional information is gained from a lead via the landing page, a credit union or

community bank can use content marketing and marketing automation to nurture this lead

over time from intent to conversion.

It is here the content used in the marketing automation messages will change depending

on different factors including the lead’s intent to convert for a loan or new account. Intent

can be measured thanks in part to marketing automation’s ability to track and score a lead

based upon their digital behavior.

This digital behavior could include email engagement, such as open and clicks. This also

could include web engagement, including specific pages a lead interacts with over time. In

advanced cases, video engagement can also be tracked, including how much an individual

lead watches a particular video.

With all of this information feeding back into a centralized marketing automation system,

automated emails with customized content can be sent to a lead, helping to educate and

inform a lead about a particular product or service.

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Within a well-defined nurture path, the use of consumer testimonials and videos could be

used as a way to credibility and trust for the credit union or community bank with a

particular lead. This exact tactic has been used by Simple in their lead nurturing process.

Finally, each particular piece of content shared with a lead through a nurture program

would have a specific call to action linking back to a landing page, encouraging conversion

for a loan or new account.

At a minimum, analytical reports can be generated showing where leads are within the

buying cycle and how many converted each month. Other reports can show where leads

are coming from to help demonstrate the impact of content marketing and distribution

efforts. Finally, advanced reporting can tie in revenue attribution to help provide a basis for

marketing automation ROI.

Engaging a lead post conversion is a key activity for BoFu (bottom of the funnel) activities

and where profitability of a lead can increase over time. Once a lead converts for a loan or

new account, content marketing and marketing automation can continue to provide value

through digital onboarding and cross-selling activities.

As in ToFu and MoFu, content can be tailored for specific market segments and then

distributed via marketing automation in BoFu. For example, let’s assume a consumer has

converted for an auto loan.

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1 day post conversion: The account holder receives an automated, but highly

personalized, email from the loan officer they worked with. Perhaps a thank you video is

also included.

7 days post conversion: The account holder receives a second automated and highly

personalized email from the loan officer. Maybe they invite the account holder to share a

picture of the new car on the financial institution’s Facebook page. Or perhaps they invite

them to leave a review on their website.

30 days post conversion: The account holder receives a third email from the loan officer,

not only checking in on the car, but also offering them a complimentary car wash. This

would be due to the partnership with a local company. It would serve as another example

of how the credit union or community bank saves the consumer money and not just

provides financial products and services.

45 days post conversion: The account holder receives a fourth email from the loan officer

checking to see if they redeemed their complimentary car wash offer. The loan officer now

invites the account holder to refer their family and friends to the credit union or

community bank.

90 days post conversion: The account holder receives a fifth email from the loan officer

checking in on the car as well as offering a free oil change thanks in part to a partnership

with a local company. The loan officer also extends a soft-sale about related products and

services that may be of interest to the account holder based upon their digital traffic.

Perhaps this content is tailored and customized further using transactional data, if

available, to identify opportunities where the account holder may have third party

accounts, such as a credit card.

120 days post conversion: The account holder receives a sixth email from the loan officer

to ensure they took advantage of the free oil change offer provided by the local company.

They also ask the account holder to personally refer their family and friends to the credit

union or community bank. Finally, the loan officer invites them to reach out anytime they

may be of assistance in the future.

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Now this example could be extended even further to 365 days post conversion and longer.

But the goal is to illustrate how combining content marketing and marketing automation

can engage a lead post-conversion and build a relationship over time.

An account holder can become more profitable while deepening their share of wallet

through these continuous and personalized engagements relevant in a humanized digital

economy.

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The credit unions and community banks we work with are always looking for new ways to

generate loans in a humanized digital economy. After an initial discovery and planning

phase, we provide our recommendations that can then be developed and executed.

Often times, our recommendations vary on many different factors including how a credit

union or community bank segments their market, what digital tools they have already

adopted, is the digital UX optimized for mobile, how are they using content marketing and

marketing automation and what, if any, digital sales training their staff has undergone.

Sometimes the recommendations we provide offer quick wins that can be quickly

developed and executed. Other times, they take much longer as additional UX and content

planning, segmentation and digital journey mapping is required

There is one quick win, however, I believe any credit union or community bank can use to

generate $1,000,000 in loans in 30 days. And the minimum requirement to make this

happen: your staff.

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Now, I would like to make the disclaimer that your results may vary depending on the size

of your staff as well as the referral incentive you offer. But to keep my math simple, I will do

this exercise assuming a credit union or community bank has a staff of 100.

Let’s assume the following. Your have 100 staff members. You come up with a 30 day

challenge for the staff to refer as many friends or family members to open a new account

or apply for a loan. Let’s assume, on average, a staff member refers 10 friends or family

members.

With this exercise, we assume there is a 10% conversion rate, meaning that for every 10

people a staff member refers, one person converts for a new loan. Let’s assume the

average loan a referee is approved for is $10,000. At the end of 30 days, it is possible for

your credit union or community bank to have successfully generated $1,000,000 in new

loans with minimal effort requiring only your staff be involved.

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Tip: Maybe you sweeten the deal for the person being referred by offering them a “friends

and family” deal or incentive. You may also see a higher number of staff referrals if you tie

in some kind of incentive to the challenge.

This exercise, while it appears simple to execute, can become quickly complicated with

referral and lead tracking. This is where a well-defined digital referral system can pick up

the heavy lifting of tracking, conversions and more importantly referral lead nurturing.

To take the above example further, what happens after your staff refers a family member

or friend? Traditionally, this may have been done via word of mouth, a written letter, phone

call or personal email. But what happens after the initial referral is crucial yet hard to track

with traditional methods.

When the above efforts are transitioned into a digital referral system combined with a

marketing automation platform and social media, a staff’s referral efforts can be greatly

amplified beyond the initial referral.

However, according to our 2014 State of Digital Marketing for Credit Unions and

Community Bank research, only 9% of credit unions and community banks have adopted

some kind of digital referral tool. Out of these, only 36% documented and mapped out

digital referral journeys.

Once the initial referral is made from what looks to be a very personalized 1:1 email to a

staff member’s family or friend, additional nurture and reminder emails can be

automatically sent as a follow up to the person who was referred. These emails can help

nurture a relationship from intent to conversion and beyond based upon a person's digital

behaviors. To enhance these emails further, a short 15 second video from the staff

member could be included.

For example, once the initial referral email is sent, does a person interact with the email?

Do they even open it? Or click on it? What links and product calls to action do they click?

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Auto? Home? Credit card? Do they have intent to purchase? If so, when? 30 days? 60 days?

90 days? Longer?

Armed with this data and knowledge, lead nurturing programs can be launched to provide

relevant content to this referral lead and help move them from intent to conversion

overtime.

If you still don’t believe how digital referrals can make a big impact on a credit union’s or

community bank’s loan portfolio, consider this.

The average cost to acquire a new account has now surpassed $300. However, a credit

union who built a digital referral program reduced the cost of acquisition by $265 for each

new account opened. In this referral example, not only can a credit union or community

bank generate $1,000,000 in loans in 30 days, they can also save $25,000 in acquisition

costs.

For further insight and inspiration, learn more about how digital referrals have been used

by Simple and Coin to launch their financial products.

Finally, when planning a credit union or community bank digital referral campaign, work

backwards and start by mapping the different possible consumer journeys and the actions

you want each referral to take during the digital referral process.

So what do you think? Are you up to the 30 day referral staff challenge?

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We recently attended the Financial Brand Forum in Las Vegas as the official media sponsor.

The event was attended by over 400 people representing 16 countries from 6 different

continents.

At the event, I had the opportunity to interview over 50 attendees to gain their insight on

various topics around financial services and marketing. We are in the process of editing

these interviews to share with you and gain your perspective.

For me, one of the highlights of the event was the fact that credit union and bank

marketers had an opportunity to collaborate together. I believe this is strongly needed if

credit unions and banks are to succeed in a humanized digital economy.

The rules of the game are changing as non-traditional competitors continue to enter the

financial services marketplace.

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The conference kicked off with the following video we produced to highlight just how much,

and how quickly, financial services is changing. I invite you to take this video and use it as a

conversation starter to open a meeting at your credit union or bank.

Once you have shown this video, use some of the following questions to start a

conversation. Be sure to include more than just your marketing team in the dialogue and

invite staff from sales, operations and IT to join you.

1. What are we doing to prepare for the humanized digital economy? What steps have we

taken? What are we missing? What do we need to do?

2. Do we have the digital tools in place needed to generate leads for loans and new

accounts?

3. Have we defined processes on how to better use these tools together as part of a unified

digital marketing and lead generation system?

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4. Do we really need all our branches anymore?

5. Is it possible we have digitoolitius? If so, how can we overcome this?

6. In what ways can we be more operationally efficient in our business development efforts

from targeting, nurturing, converting, onboarding and cross-selling?

7. Do we have a digital lead generation framework that can be optimized over time and

increase share of wallet?

8. What are the different ways we can use content to establish true digital assets?

9. Can digital referrals help us to reduce the cost of acquisition?

10. How can we use video to humanize the digital experience consumers have with our

credit union or bank?

We believe the credit union or bank of the future departmental structure will look very

different than it does today.

To take this exercise to the next level, show the video above to your executive team and

board of directors. Then, take a moment to pose the above questions or modify them and

create new questions specific to your credit union or bank.

From there, take the video and questions back to the different departments within your

organization to gain insight from your staff on ways to solve the challenges confronting you

in a humanized digital economy while capitalizing on existing opportunities.

If you find yourself getting stuck in these conversations, reach out to us with a specific

challenge or question as we can provide insight to help CU Grow in a humanized digital

economy.

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At the beginning of the year, we surveyed credit unions and banks to gain a better

understanding as to how they were preparing to generate leads for loans and new

accounts in a humanized digital economy.

While we shared our in-depth insights and recommendations in the State of Digital

Marketing for Credit Unions and Banks, here are five key points to review as you move into

the middle of 2014.

Use this as a guide to judge how things are going so far.

Are you on the right track or do you need a little bit of guidance to get you there?

Whatever the case may be, these five points will give you food for thought and insightful

action to start the second half of the year just as strong as you started in January. Good

luck!

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Question: What are your digital marketing goals and objectives for 2014?

The leading digital priority for credit unions and banks in 2014 was that of increasing the

effectiveness of social media.

This is the wrong approach!

Social media is a tactic. And one that is often poorly executed.

Our recommended number one priority for credit unions and banks is to first develop a

digital marketing and lead generation strategy.

Perhaps the continued focus on digital tools and tactics, and not strategy, is the reason

credit unions and banks continue to struggle in the investment of digital assets.

It is positive to see that over half of credit unions and banks responded as wanting to

automate and improve their digital member communication.

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Yet fewer than 1/3 responded that creating online content for all stages of the sales funnel

is a key goal in 2014. Remember, content and marketing automation go hand in hand.

Question: What digital tools do you currently have in place at your credit union or bank?

Email marketing led the way of adopted digital tools in 2014, followed closely by social

media. No surprise there.

However, only 21% of credit unions and banks responded to using a marketing automation

platform to automate and improve digital member communication, a key strategic priority

to over half of credit unions and banks in 2014.

Furthermore, only half of credit unions and banks shared they have adopted a CRM. This is

one of three key cornerstones in a digital marketing and lead generation system.

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Finally, a very small percentage of credit unions and banks shared they have digital

onboarding, cross-selling or referral programs in place. These programs allow for credit

unions to tap into low hanging fruit and increase the share of wallet with consumers they

already have relationships with.

Question: Have your created a defined marketing persona of your ideal account holders

and how do you currently segment your market?

Less than half of credit unions and banks we surveyed shared they have documented

consumer personas. Consumer personas are required for the creation of highly targeted

content distributed through a marketing automation platform.

For those credit unions and banks who are defining and segmenting consumer personas

and profiles, 70% shared they use demographic data to do so, while only around one-third

use transaction data for market segmentation.

Furthermore, 17% shared they do not do any segmentation at all, while only 14% use

psychographic data for segmentation.

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To humanize digital marketing and lead generation, we believe a combination of

demographic, psychographic, transactional and digital behavior data must be used in the

creation of consumer personas and profiles.

Question: What processes have you mapped out the digital consumer journey for?

There is a great opportunity for credit unions and banks to improve their digital user

experiences by simply mapping out and documenting different key processes and

consumer journeys.

This will be required for those who want to automate and improve their digital member

communication, a key strategic priority to over half of credit unions and banks in 2014.

63% of credit unions and banks reported to have mapped out their loan application

process while just 45% have claimed to do so for their account opening process.

Both of these are key top of the funnel activities.

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As a lead moves through the funnel from intent to conversion and beyond, a little over one-

third of credit unions and banks responded to having mapped out their onboarding, cross-

selling and referral process.

Question: Does your credit union or bank use content marketing?

In the coming years, it appears content marketing will become the next buzzword and

replace social media as a key discussion point.

Let’s be clear.

Content marketing is not a buzzword.

It’s not even a new concept.

At CU Grow, we define content marketing as:

"A process used to create and distribute relevant and valuable content on a frequent and

consistent basis to attract, acquire, and extend an offer to a clearly defined market

segment – with the primary objective of driving profitable consumer behavior and a

secondary objective of positioning the credit union or community bank as a qualified

financial matters expert within their community."

In our research, we found that 75% of credit unions and banks claim they do some kind of

content marketing including blogging, writing articles, producing podcasts and videos,

hosting webinars, sharing newsletters, etc.

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Question: If your credit union or bank uses content marketing, do you have a defined

content marketing plan in place?

However, out of the 75% who reported doing some kind of content marketing, only 30%

responded to having an actual content marketing plan in place.

There is a great need for credit unions to formalize their content marketing efforts as it is

one of three key cornerstones in a digital marketing and lead generation system.

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All articles can be found at www.cugrow.com

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