Financial services digital marketing firm Digital Growth Institute (formerly CU Grow) had a stellar 2017, celebrating its 15th anniversary helping credit unions and community banks exceed in their marketing efforts – traditional and now digital. Formerly CU Grow, Digital Growth Institute rebranded early in 2017 to solely focus on simplifying digital marketing for banks and credit unions to help them generate more leads for loans and new accounts.
“We celebrated 15 years in business in 2017 and used that milestone to prepare for another 100 years in business,” states Digital Growth Institute Founder and CEO James Robert Lay. Looking back over 15 years, DGI has guided more than 475 banks and credit unions worldwide on their digital growth journeys through digital marketing training, planning, and implementation programs.
In 2017, Digital Growth Institute continued to make investments into its proven programs to remain ahead of the digital marketing curve for financial institutions looking to lead its peers in this area. Digital Growth Institute’s Digital Growth Training program, for example, has evolved over the years from an in-person event in Houston to a six-month, online learning experience – complete with peer group coaching.
According to Lay, digital marketing has slowly continued to increase in importance for financial institutions. But for many, it is still not a strategic priority just yet as banks and credit unions continue to dip their toe in the water. Yes, banks and credit unions continue to build new websites, send emails, place digital ads, and post on social media, but marketers and their executives are not getting the results they had hoped for – even in 2017.
“We continue to hear from those in the Digital Growth Community that digital marketing feels confusing, complicated, and complex,” states Lay. “This confusion leads to internal conflict and frustration. In short, banks and credit unions struggle to break free from what we call the circle of complexity because they're held back by legacy marketing systems and thinking. The good news is digital marketing doesn't have to feel confusing, complicated, or complex.”
According to Lay, simplicity is the path forward and will empower financial institutions to escape the circle of complexity. This journey begins with clarity and awareness of future digital growth opportunities. Once financial institutions have an understanding of what their future can look like, they then can take the next steps to gain courage and commitment through a digital marketing plan.
As DGI moves forward into 2018, it will simplify models and processes to unify its training, planning, and implementation engagements into the Digital Growth Program. This program is designed to guide financial institutions through every step of their digital growth journey and empower their marketing teams to build a digital marketing system that generates 10 times more loans and deposits through four simple steps:
Step 1: Gain clarity and insight with the Digital Growth University
Step 2: Define a plan to gain courage and commitment with a Digital Growth Blueprint
Step 3: Implement and build a Digital Growth Engine to help you capture and convert more leads for loans and deposits
Step 4: Increase website traffic with the BetterFi content marketing program
“We see tremendous opportunity for financial marketers to empower their teams to break free from legacy systems and thinking as they guide them towards a bigger and better future while raising the strategic role marketing plays within their financial institutions,” explains Lay, adding he plans to launch Digital Growth Institute’s Digital Growth Program in Q2 of 2018. “To succeed in this journey, a transformation of thinking and doing must take place. Massive shifts in technology and consumer behavior now call for branches to support a digital-first approach to strategic growth as digital growth is the pathway to future growth for banks and credit unions. Our refocus and momentum in 2017 will allow us to help many more financial institutions transform from staid, legacy thinking to a digital-first mode.”