Credit union marketers are lucky to be working for financial institutions that exist solely to serve members, and their job is to tell the credit union story in a compelling way, suggests CUES member Amber Hughes, VP/marketing and HR at $644 million Lakeland Credit Union, Ltd., Bonnyville, Alberta.

“Credit unions are so genuinely great. We share profits back with our members. We’re not lining shareholders’ pockets. At the end of the day, we want to be a viable organization that can continue to serve our members,” Hughes notes. “As marketers, we have the obligation and opportunity to make sure that people understand that we are a viable and preferable option for banking.”

That task is both aided and complicated by new marketing media. “In this digital world, things move a lot faster; you really need to be prepared when you share a message,” she says. “If someone wants to challenge that point of view with their own experiences, you need to be there immediately to engage and potentially go offline to discuss it. You need to be very aware of what’s going on all the time. Marketing is on 24/7 in a way that it hasn’t been prior to the last 10 years. It makes everything feel much faster and more immediate.”

 

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