It’s time to change what your credit union is selling
Rates! Low fees! Loans!
Products and pricing are the focus of most credit union advertising messages. We have this loan at this rate. We have good service is another oft-used message in some form or fashion.
As I began research for my workshop at the Expand Expo later this year, I stumbled upon The Good Life 2030 project. I really wanted to dig into the psychology of marketing and work backward.
What do people want, and how can a credit union solve that problem?
First, what is this Good Life 2030 project? Good Life 2030 is a project for the advertising industry to transform both itself and society in service of halving emissions by 2030 through the process of reimagining and redefining what a ‘good life’ looks and feels like, informed by real everyday people. But it goes beyond the environmental piece.
As part of my workshop for Expand Expo, I will walk credit union leaders through exercises that will help them answer the question: What is the problem I’m trying to solve?
Hint: It’s not that someone needs a loan or a checking account.
The problems consumers want to solve go deeper. Life is busy, and people just want to experience more joy and less noise. A recent finding from the Good Life study revealed, “People are yearning to be more connected to themselves: to step out of the rat race towards a slower pace of life, with less precarity, and greater opportunities for self-sufficiency.”
I want credit unions to start rethinking your marketing message and focus on selling a dream.
Instead of your product and rate, what does the member’s life look like six months down the road after choosing your product? How many new memories have been made in that new boat or camper? How much more joy are they experiencing after refinancing that high-interest debt that was causing so much stress and anxiety? How many get-togethers have they enjoyed in their newly remodeled home with the HELOC?
Ally Kingston from The Good Life 2030 had this to say about rethinking your advertising message: “As advertisers, it’s our gift, and our responsibility, to craft a new story about what a good life looks like. One that can correspond with the desire for connectedness people feel deep down, instead of counteracting it. Building a coherent story of a new good life isn’t something we can do in a day. But we can all consider what impact our communications have in the wider culture, and which story they’re supporting in society.”
If you want to attract and retain more members, go beyond the transactional language and speak to them on a deeper level. Let them know you understand their problems and help them see what life will be like after choosing your credit union. Redefine your credit union marketing.
