How marketing plans can save your CU’s sanity

The following is an article written by Britney Bailey, director of marketing for Growth By Design. This article also appeared on CUInsight. 

It seems like time is passing more quickly than ever! With the holidays looming, and more team members enjoying time off, it’s becoming immensely difficult to juggle the daily operations of the credit union, let alone anticipating next quarter’s promotion schedule. Implementing an annual marketing plan could help save your sanity when juggling multiple projects.

All businesses initiate strategic plans towards the end of the year to get a clear perspective of the goals and objectives for the following year. Why not consider drafting a marketing strategy, timeline and budget during this planning as well? Below are the top three reasons to implement a strategic marketing plan:

1. A marketing plan can help with organization and ensuring deliverable deadlines are met. By establishing an annual plan broken down by quarterly or even monthly promotions, it is easier to stay ahead of the curve when establishing rates and terms and developing materials. Begin working towards the next quarter’s promotions in the last month of the prior quarter to ensure materials are developed and executed by the start of the promotion. With a detailed timeline and budget, it is easy to stay on top of delivery schedules and keep your spend on track.
2. Planning for the year ahead can assist in establishing consistency. Research shows consumers must encounter a message an estimated seven times to fully understand it and commit it to memory. Additionally, members interact with the credit union in many ways – online banking, mobile banking, email, in branch visits, social media, website traffic, etc. By establishing a multichannel approach to marketing – and executing on a regular basis – your members will be more alert to future communications. And there’s science to support this! The Baader – Meinhof phenomenon – also known as “frequent illusion” – occurs when something you’ve just noticed suddenly seems to crop up constantly. This happens because as the brain learns new information, it begins to recognize it more prominently.  So, if you subscribe to this theory, by communicating regularly with your membership, they will begin to identify your branding more frequently than before.
3. ROI is difficult to calculate if there are not clearly defined goals to target or a formal process by which to reach them.  Beginning a marketing plan by establishing these goals, and then laying out the means by which to achieve them through out the plan can assist in tracking progress throughout the year. Additionally, by establishing an annual plan, departments can be prepared to identify if the needle has been moved by the promotion. Using a digital strategy can also provide real-time analytics on click rates, reach and engagement so the plan can remain agile and changes can be made in areas that are under-performing and changes can be made in under-performing areas.