Championing AI: Know your members, win more of their business

One of the simplest yet greatest powers of a credit union is the wealth of data available so you can really get to know your members. When members feel known, they engage differently – they are warmer, use more products, and are more likely to share their positive experiences with others. This results in satisfied and loyal members, who see the value of your credit union as their primary financial institution.

Humanize your members

Knowing your members at an individual level just isn’t realistic, regardless of the size of your credit union. Cleverly constructed personas that group together members who share common traits is an effective way to use membership data. This means you can target your marketing based on the different demographics of your members in an authentic and personable way. 

By marketing to members in a way that resonates with who they are, they are far more likely to engage with you and your institution.

For example, EmpowerFi™ recently worked with a credit union to gain more of an understanding of their members. We helped them to identify a group of members who were single, had Amazon-centric shopping tendencies, lived in the suburbs, and were younger than other members: 20% of their members fell into this persona. With clarity on the interests and behaviors of this group of members, the credit union is now better informed on how to market the right products in the right way, specifically to them.     

Engage your members

Yet, what would happen to the engagement level of these young, single, suburbans if the credit union continued to send them marketing that doesn’t relate to them? What if they featured products and images focused on retirees, which also happens to be the largest persona group at the credit union? They would quickly feel like they don’t belong and would be more likely to seek out somewhere where they do. The credit union would lose a huge opportunity with this important group.

Understanding your members has never been more valuable. In fact, according to Forbes, companies who are effectively implementing data-driven marketing are six times more likely to be profitable, year-on-year. Research by Salesforce suggests that 52% of consumers would switch brands if a company didn’t personalize communications with them, and ICSC (Innovating Commerce Serving Communities) found 56% are more loyal to brands that “get them.”

However, the effectiveness of data-driven marketing depends greatly on the relevance of your curated audience personas, and of course, the quality of the data. A credit union’s ability to effectively know its members is limited – there are too many nuances, and details matter. This is where AI comes in. 

AI can find the subtle patterns that exist in these member groups. If you know that 72% of your persona groups have pets, 68% are engaged in charitable giving, and 73% are likely to spend money on their hobbies, then you know a lot more about what messaging, images, products, and tone of voice are going to maximize results.  

Win more business     

AI can truly help your credit union to not only strengthen relationships with current members but also identify the perfect prospects to join your community. By providing insights into member behavior, financial wellness, engagement, and more, this data can be leveraged to identify the right time to offer a new service, personalize a call to action, or promote brand loyalty.

The member experience is such a key aspect of what makes credit unions appealing over other financial services. The use of AI enhances this drastically, and as AI becomes the norm in other industries, consumers expect these personalized experiences from their financial institutions too. 

In BCG’s 2020 Retail Banking Advisory survey, they found that 37% of participants wanted their financial institution to be ‘more like Amazon,’ and 29% wanted a personal shopper experience from their financial services.

Many credit unions continue to think AI is too complicated or expensive for them – they’re wrong on both accounts. They may also think they need to hire an internal expert to manage their efforts, but they don’t. The price point has come way down over the years through SaaS platforms and partners. 

Credit unions of all sizes can get significant benefits from AI through affordable partners and cost-effective on-demand AI platforms.

IntelliFi™ powered by Faraday is a turnkey, service bureau predictive analytics model designed to provide the support your marketing needs to leverage AI to its maximum potential. Optimize your marketing efforts with your very own on-demand data analyst and start making your data actionable. Find out more about IntelliFi™ and book a free demo here.