Credit Union Marketing Strategies for Mobile Users
It is an obvious truth that people are depending on their mobile phones for more aspects of their life. From planning their financial future, to finding the best recipes for their next dinner party, people are using their phones for anything and everything. Businesses have realized this trend and understand that smart phones are here to stay, thus they have started to incorporate how people use their phones into their business strategy.
One example would be Expedia; this is a company that has invested a lot of time and money into their marketing strategies and makes booking a flight easy and simple. They offer a simple, easy to use website, they have an app that you can download for when you need to book a flight on the go, or just quickly check the status of your flight, and they are active on social media. They fully utilize the opportunities presented and people love their services. They are easily visible in search engines and people love to use them. As a credit union, you might not have the resources or be able to move as fast as another company like Expedia, but there are still a few changes that you can make to attract mobile friendly customers.
1. Go Social
Making sure your credit union has a social media presence is vital. Go to some of the more popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest and make a business account for your credit union. After completing the profile setup, now it is time to add pictures, and some descriptions. This authenticates your account in the eyes of the social media platform and your potential followers.
Once you have completed all the previous steps, now it's time to create content your followers care about. This is a great way to help your followers by giving some free financial advice, like how to save for a house, how much to save each month for a rainy day fund, and other free tidbits of information. Remember the point of these information tidbits is to get your users interested in talking to one of your on site financial planners, and get them to set up with your credit union.
Another idea for content would be to showcase your community involvement. People like to know that their local businesses are invested in the community and social media is a great way to showcase that. If your credit union is involved in charity runs, or community fundraisers, be sure to take some pictures. People love seeing positive community mentions in their newsfeed.
Once you build a decent following, you’ll start to notice that your posts aren’t being seen as often or by all your followers. This is because a lot of social media platforms are turning to a pay to play model for businesses. So buying ads is the only consistent way to make sure your best content gets seen. Creating an ad campaign is easy but since you are spending capital on it, you want to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck. So, you want make sure you have a solid strategy based on the data you see from your business account.
Getting started on social media is easy, but utilizing it to its full potential requires planning and know how. Make sure you research further on how to fully utilize social media before starting big budget campaigns.
2. Mobile Responsive Website
Everyone has heard some variation of the trope of “Websites are the digital storefront." As played out as that saying is, it holds true in this day and age and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. With the use of the internet growing and an increasing amount of mobile users, having a mobile responsive website is a necessity. A mobile responsive website is a website that users can view as comfortably on their phone as on their computer.
Companies must be mindful about how content is consumed on mobile. Given that mobile screens are smaller than traditional computer screens, adjust your formats to account for the differences so customers have a seamless experience across all devices. Wording that is too wide for a single screen, fonts that are too small, and images that have long download speeds work against your mobile marketing efforts. Ensuring that your website loads quickly and provides an optimal experience is vital
Having a chat feature that mobile users can easily use will be vital to the future of credit union websites. Chat will evolve into a powerful engagement platform. Having that functionality of both live operators and chatbots improves customer experience for existing members, and serves as a powerful marketing tool for potential members.
3. Apps
Apps are a great way to connect with your existing members. Gaining a permanent presence on a consumer’s phone is a great opportunity to interact with that person. Once a person has downloaded an app, their engagement with that company is greatly increased compared to that person’s engagement on that company’s website.
A native app has perceived security and capability advantages that a mobile site banking site doesn’t have. Making sure the app offers all the functionalities will keep users engaged, and offers more chances to showcase your credit union’s products and services. Some of these functionalities include making transactions on the app, ordering checks, and automating bill pay. Other leading financial institutions offer special incentives to users to keep using their app or other online services.
There are many ways to use your mobile app to keep your members engaged, but the important part is to have one that offers ease and basic functionality to your users.
4. Record your Events
One buzzword in digital marketing is content marketing. Content marketing for credit unions can be very effective. This type of marketing is increasingly effective as it produces content like blogs, articles, videos and more for your users to enjoy, and it also helps with your visibility in search engines. Another aspect of content marketing would be to not only create content but also to post, monitor and adjust content while exploring new channels and tools for distribution. With so many choices, it is hard to choose where to start. Luckily, if you post things on social media or host/participate in local events, then you have a good starting point.
As a credit union, it is important to gain the trust of the local community. If you participate in events like Relay for Life, contributed to a safe after prom party, or any cause the local community cares about, then it is important to capitalize on that. You can take pictures, help promote the cause and create awareness for the problem that event is addressing in a blog post or on social media. The important thing is to document it, and make sure the content is a part of your marketing strategy.
ACS Can Help You Market Your Financial Services Online
For today’s credit unions, email marketing, social media marketing, and other internet marketing tactics are essential to growing your business. Prospective clients are busy, so they often turn to the Internet for guidance on investing, saving, and other financial strategies. ACS can help you develop a strategy to find these clients, direct them to your website, and then turn them into leads.
Our specialists have experience in every aspect of digital marketing, from planning and execution to copywriting and design. As your Internet marketing partner, we’ll work with you to develop internet marketing strategies that highlight your expertise as a financial advisor, and we can stay on top of your efforts to make sure they’re meeting your goals and delivering the highest possible returns on investment.
To receive a free, completely customized, no-obligation quote on a marketing package for your business, reach out to us by phone or online today. We’d love to hear about your marketing goals and find out how we can help. Our experts are waiting for your call!