Credit union marketing strategies to master the art of member growth

Multibillion-dollar credit unions have the luxury of playing the numbers game and not having to hyperfocus on an ideal member. Those credit unions have the scale and the resources to truly serve as a community financial institution.

What about smaller credit unions with less than $500 million? The farther you get from that $500-million mark, the smaller your assets are, and the more your credit union marketing strategies must hyperfocus on a niche to survive, which means having a highly specific ideal member in mind and serve them well.

With few exceptions, the more specific you can be about your credit unions ideal member, the more growth opportunities you have. And your existing numbers will show that. Need proof?

Palmetto First Federal Credit Union ($62 million) and Maple Federal Credit Union ($63 million) are both outperforming their peers in almost every category, including membership growth. While their peers are averaging 0.02% membership growth over a 12-month period, Palmetto First are experiencing 1.3% growth and Maple’s membership grew 3.67%. These are not flukes nor anomalies. These numbers are consistent.

 

continue reading »