Onsite: East Coast CU Marketing Conference: Day 1
by Bo McDonald, Your Marketing Co
As usual, the North Carolina and Virginia Credit Union Leagues have done a wonderful job in putting together a great marketing conference. This years theme of “Bootcamp – Back to the Basic” fits in nicely with the surroundings of the conference location, Great Wolf Lodge in Concord NC.
The morning started with some high energy antics from the rowdy duo of Deb McLean, VP of Marketing for Carolina Postal Credit Union and Lori Kawulok from Breakthru Consulting. Deb went illustrated the evolution of communication starting in the (very) early days of grunts and smoke signals, through todays communication methods including Facebook and Twitter. Lori covered a laundry list of what could be considered “scary new trends” including technology, person to person lending and self-service payment options and how they will change the credit union business model moving into the future. Deb followed up with stressing the need for credit unions to fill unique member needs, and illustrated the need with the successful “I Love My Hoopty
Kent Dicken from Idiz followed up after lunch with a session stressing the urgency for credit unions to differentiate themselves not only from our counterparts at the banks, but from other credit unions. “No financial institution can be all things to everyone” Dicken said. Dicken walked attendees through the practice of finding their Central Emotional Message, which isn’t necessarily a “tagline”, but rather a concept and internal guideline for credit unions to use expressing the credit unions brand in the form of a simple, emotionally charged statement. Dicken urged credit unions to “escape the commodity trap” and do something for your members that no one else can.
Rounding out the first day, Troy Hall, COO of South Carolina Federal Credit Union did some “tough talk” on reaching out to the “young and free” in your community. This wasn’t your typical session on social media. Hall spent several minutes educating attendees on the generational differences, and the habits, wants, and needs of each. “The goal shouldn’t be to reduce the average age of your member, but longevity for your credit union” Hall said. He also told attendees to stop asking what your members want, and start asking what non-members want, as a tactic to grow membership. After a brief introduction to the Young & Free brand at South Carolina Federal Credit Union, Hall stepped on the common argument from board members and IT professionals that social media isn’t a secure option for credit unions. Hall had some great advice for dealing with this argument: “Tell them that you understand their security concerns, but ask for their help in finding a solution to get on social media”.
Tomorrow, Kelley Parks from gira{ph} consulting will be speaking about thinking outside the box, but inside the budget. To follow the conference on twitter, search for the hashtag #ecmc11, or follow @yourmarketingco for some Great Ideas!
Bo McDonald is president of Your Marketing Co, A veteran of major market media sales and programming, Bo got his start in radio working for a variety of large radio conglomerates including Clear Channel Radio and Citadel Broadcasting. After several years and requests from clients Bo went out on his own to form his own marketing firm. Today, that marketing firm has evolved into a boutique firm serving only the needs of credit unions in the form of marketing, business development, and product development. Why credit unions? Thanks to his parents who are avid credit union supporters, Bo has been a member of credit unions from a young age.
