Get members to move and groove with email marketing

It’s estimated that a mere 2 percent of website traffic will convert to new business on the first visit, and many promotional email messages don’t fare much better. Despite nearly all adults spending time online, engaging them via email can be tricky … especially because your message must compete with 77 other emails the average person receives each day.

Engaging recipients online is well worth your effort and vital to your marketing success. But to get noticed in today’s noisy world of technology gadgets and digital conversations, it takes more than an updated contact list and a good promotion. It takes strategic targeting.

Given current technologies – and, more importantly, consumers’ expectations – there’s really no need to send mass email messages anymore. They need to be targeted … and they must be relevant.

First things first

Before you begin any email marketing program, make sure you’ve done the following:

  • Seek member permission: This is a must. After members have opted to receive your online communications, let them select what they want to receive, and then send only the content they have approved. Be sure to offer simple steps for unsubscribing.
  • Build a strong contact list: Include nicknames, birthdates, email addresses, cell and home phone numbers, children’s names, colleges attended, etc. Tell members how this information will be used, and ask how they prefer to receive their messages. Also, develop a process to update the information on a regular basis.
  • Choose your technology: Research the programs and tools that are available, such as email engines and MCIF databases. Select those that will help tailor marketing efforts toward one-to-one communication. Some programs may synchronize with your existing technology, so be sure to check.

Strategies that work

Many credit unions have successfully built both member relationships and member business using proven e-marketing strategies. With some thoughtful planning and the right technology, you can learn members’ personal preferences to deliver messages that are both relevant and welcome. Here are two examples:

Onboarding programs

Onboarding involves introducing new members to your credit union during their early months of membership. Part educational and part promotional, the process helps your members see the full value of your credit union using well-planned, sustained and value-driven email messages. These include sending members easy-to-read emails, using similar design across all messages, creating slow-and-steady delivery schedules, and supplementing online efforts with phone calls to members welcoming them to the credit union.

Messages can be personalized based on members’ individual profiles, often coordinated with credit union data files. Certified email engines can automatically deliver emails at timed intervals to help keep your credit union’s name top-of-mind, without being pushy. And some select systems can manage email lists for bad or duplicate addresses, while collecting delivery and open-rate measurements.

One DigitalMaiIer client recently measured its onboarding program over a three-month period.  During that time, the credit union sent a series of seven  emails, spaced over 60 days, to 282 new members.  A total of 52 members added at least one new product or service as a result of the campaign.  Within that group of 282, and during that same period,  deposit accounts grew 24 percent and loans grew 19 percent.

Digital brochures

Another valuable way to extend your e-communication reach while saving paper, time and money is through the use of online brochures (at DigitalMailer, our program is known as Leeflet). This user-friendly, electronic-brochure service sends information a member requests straight from the credit union to their email inboxes.

Some service providers offer digital brochures that allow you to target your members’ specific wants and needs while also reducing marketing costs. Members can customize what they receive, while your credit union can track member reaction – who reads the material and who acts on it.

A DigitalMailer client tracked the service use over a recent three-month period.  During the period, they sent 1,296 eBrochures to members who requested information.  From that group, 52 percent opened the email that followed and 20 percent clicked through to read the product and service information.  Both results are remarkable when framed against traditional email or direct marketing.

E-marketing programs engage members, promote new programs, deepen relationships and grow new business. Members will welcome – and many will prefer – their speed and relevancy over other marketing methods. With the right strategy and targeting in place, email marketing campaigns can prove highly effective and economical for credit unions of all shapes and sizes.

 

Ron Daly

Ron Daly

Ron Daly is the president and CEO of Virtual StrongBox, a secure, end-to-end member engagement platform that can be integrated into various workflow processes to provide high-risk Enterprise IT firms ... Web: www.virtualstrongbox.com Details