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Credit Union Marketing Strategies

Get the Credit 
You Deserve

How to Market Your Credit Union

Boost your marketing mix to compete more easily and keep business growing.

If your business has slowed in recent years, you're not alone. Credit Unions have more pressures and competition than ever, and staying in the black requires a full-funnel marketing approach. Keep the leads flowing with the right mix of channels and tactics. Let's check things out!

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Leading credit unions are embracing the digital marketing landscape.

"Having a dedicated team of professionals who understand digital marketing and the impact it can make on a business's bottom line is invaluable. We truly feel the team at CMG is an extension of our own (very small) marketing department ​ ​ Listen to the team at CMG, they are experts... allowing CMG to help guide us in the revamp of our website was super important to making sure that leads …would have the best experience and best chance at conversion."​

VP of Marketing, Credit Union in Atlanta

"We saw a huge jump, 105%, increase in new cards for October. October was also the first time we saw new card volume for the month at over $1 Million. It was 1.3M! Previously, we were averaging $500k."

Credit Union in Tampa, FL

Marketing Quick Wins for Credit Unions

You'll be in the money, faster, with these tactics.

Much like building credit, real marketing results take time and strategic effort. Find the low-hanging fruit with these ideas.

Check Your Rep

Customers choose credit unions over large national banks because of a local, personalized touch and friendly service. Are you living up to the hype? Check your online reviews and ratings and, if necessary, work with an expert partner to give them a boost.

Show Up in Search

For customers looking to switch banks, open a new account or leverage a specific offering (an auto loan, for instance), search engines are usually one of the first research tools. Make sure you're showing up not only for broad terms, but also specific offerings (auto loans, personal loans, savings accounts, etc.)

Get Your Website in Order

When it comes to your branches, there's one that could be the most important: your website. That's because most of today's customer credit union research starts online. Get things polished up and make sure the site is inviting, fast and easy to use. And don't forget strong, prominent calls to action and pertinent offers!

Suggested Services

SEO + PPC + SEM + OTT

Primary Key Performance Indicator

Form Fills + Phone Calls

Recommended Time Frame

9 Months

A Step-By-Step Guide to Credit Union Marketing

You'll be as good as gold with this 5-step plan.

Building a pipeline for new memberships doesn't happen overnight. But with the right approach—and a smart digital marketing mix—you'll see a solid, sustainable increase in your credit union clients over time. It also helps to find the right partner to help you through them.

Analyze The Local Landscape

In many local communities, credit union competition can be intense. Before beginning any marketing plan, it's wise to do a complete competitive audit. You'll want to see what your competitors are doing in terms of messaging, offers, advertising and organic search result rankings to devise the perfect strategy to beat them. This can be tricky, so engage with a marketing professional from the get-go.

Get Online

Today's banking and credit union landscape is increasingly digital. Some of your competition in the banking world, in fact, may be almost completely online! Make sure your online banking options are easy, intuitive and convenient for members to use. This also applies to your marketing—you'll want to build a strong digital presence to better compete (more on that in the next steps!).

Keep the Leads Flowing

If your lead landscape has plateaued, it may be time to amp things up—and find better ways to nurture and eventually close new prospects. You'll need an expert marketing partner that can guide you on the right channels and tactics for every stage of the funnel: digital media to promote high-funnel content offers; rich online content to engage; and marketing automation (like emails and SMS) to convert.

Brand to Beat Competitors

You'll never compete with the money that big national banks spend on their branding. But that doesn't mean you can't build a strong name for your credit union in your local community. But to do it, you'll need a laser-targeted approach and strong, unique messaging. An expert can help you identify brand-friendly channels like connected TV, radio, social and online display that will reach the right prospective members at the right time—but won't break the bank.

Amp Up Analytics

Getting a new member on board can be a longer sales process, with many online and traditional marketing touchpoints. To get a strong handle on which tactics are doing the heavy lifting—you'll need strong analytics in place. Working with an expert partner to set this up and provide ongoing interpretation will help you optimize your strategy—and boost ROI—over time.

Credit Union Trends

Credit unions face stiff competition against big banks.

Credit unions are a small—but mighty—piece of the financial segment in the U.S. To compete, they'll need to offer the same conveniences as larger institutions, including good mobile banking options.

Credit unions make up 9.4% of the financial sector in the U.S.

Searches for "Mobile Banking" have doubled since 2010—and are currently nearly on par with search volume for "Bank Branch"

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Credit Union Boosts Click-Throughs and Conversions

A credit union client wanted to increase new credit union member and new loans and increase brand awareness. CMG Local Solutions came with a comprehensive, geo-targeted search strategy, local media and programmatic advertising to promote new branch openings, plus auto loan, credit card and investment service promos throughout the year. From 2019 to 2020, the total PPC CTR increased by 86%, ending 2020 with 17.75% engagement rate.

240% Increase in Conversions

During the auto loan campaign, the client asked us to pause because it was "too successful" and they could not offer any more deals.

Get FREE Custom Insights

We have inside information on the audience and market trends affecting your credit union.

From information about the size and makeup of your local or national market to insights on your competitors and their marketing activities, we'll provide you with in-depth, free reports to help guide your credit union marketing strategy in the right direction. Fill out the form to get started.

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Our Partners and Publishers

When it comes to your digital marketing, we only partner with the top leaders in the industry to help get you the best results possible. Because we're a part of CMG, digital advertising with us is credible, accessible, data-driven and transparent.