The Secret To Attracting Gen Y: Go FIshing Where the Fish Are

by Bo McDonald

I recently had the privilege of addressing a group of credit union CEOs at a roundtable event. I discussed my vision for a successful credit union.

Honestly, my presentation wasn’t anything groundbreaking nor was it rocket science.

My talk started with a few brief facts about consumers’ habits in response to paid messages versus a personal referral, also known as word of mouth marketing.

As the session concluded we had a pretty in-depth group discussion and a Q&A that was very eye-opening. Something that I often preach is innovation. I’m a firm believer that in order for real innovation to happen at your credit union you must start looking outside the credit union sphere. Several times CEOs asked for feedback from their peers about what their credit unions were doing in regard to specific topics. I see nothing wrong with that, however that’s typically where the conversation ends.

One specific example was the topic of reaching a younger member base. “How is your credit union doing it?” asked one CEO. I can’t name too many credit unions I know of that are doing a bang up job of reaching out to a younger demographic. But I can name several other brands that are getting it right.

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