6 Ways to Bring in Black Friday Gold

By Margie Church

Tie your next promotion to a current event to increase your credit union's year-end sales goals, membership, and visibility in the communities you serve.  I'm sure you've tried the following promotions before, but what if you remodeled one especially for Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Depending on your promotion, you could start a few days prior to Thanksgiving and extend the offer until Christmas.

Put a new spin on one of these timely promos.

1. Auto loans are very hot right now. Offer a very competitive rate. Capitalize on any manufacturer incentives available for new car loans. Consider offering discounted GAP insurance, holding a grand prize drawing for a substantial gift card, making their first month's payment (including the interest), 90-days-no pay to get through the holidays, or some combination of these.
2. Skip-a-Pay, personal loan, and credit card promotions. Help shoppers feel better about managing holiday expenses by offering a skip promo. These are incredibly popular. Offer a special, lower interest rate on personal loans. Reward new credit card accounts with a cash incentive to transfer higher interest balances and save. Provide payment/savings examples for instant appeal on any loan products.  
3. Increase the dividend rate on a CD or other investment product. Have a gift tree or prize box members can select from when they take advantage of your offer.
4. Using QR codes, hold a website scavenger hunt to get members to try electronic banking services.  Make sure landing pages are formatted for mobile viewing.
5. Hold a Help Our Neighbors project. Invite community members to drop off an item or cash for the local food shelf or other charitable organization your credit union supports. Provide materials to write holiday cards to deployed soldiers. Hold an adopt-a-family promo to help ease holiday/winter anxiety for a deserving family.
6. Hold a membership drive at the branches and online. Treat new members right by waiving or matching the membership fee and deposit the money into the new member's share account. Provide refreshments and plenty of enthusiasm to whoever comes by. Let children decorate ornaments or cookies while your staff talks to the adults.

Cross-channel marketing: a must-do

A combination of electronic marketing tools with print is the best way to get your brand and your offer in front of busy people. We recommend this strategy all year long, for every campaign. Shoppers especially look for holiday bargains on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and during Christmas week. Online sales sometimes eclipse onsite sales on Black Friday. In a September 15, 2011 article, Google predicts 15% of Black Friday searches will to be made using mobile devices (smartphones and electronic tablets). The bottom line is you can't ignore the preferred method of shopping and information-gathering for Gen X and Y: it's electronic. Whether your campaign runs for a few hours or longer, we can help you can turn Black Friday into gold.

Start your promotion with a personalized postcard, statement stuffer or letter. Include a QR code for mobile device users to respond. Follow up with an email. Use PURLs/GURLS to capture responses fast. (Did you know that when a person clicks on the PURL/GURL, their information is captured and you have a lead, even if they don't submit their information?) Landing pages must be formatted for mobile viewing. Many website and blog hosts provide this service already and with a click of a button, everything is reformatted for you.

At the branch, use banners, posters, counter cards, fliers, and buttons to grab attention from members and prospects. Use website banners to alert online bankers to your promotion.

Do you have a great campaign success story or an epic failure to share? We'd love to hear from you.

That New Car Smell

By Margie Church

The fourth quarter always has that new car smell to it. Auto manufacturers ramp up their holiday advertising schedules for luxury cars and then set their sites on Super Bowl mania. Last January, a record number of auto manufacturers spent record amounts of advertising dollars on the "game of the year." They included social media for a brilliant cross-channel mix that reached buyers of all ages and affluence.

Manufacturers are demonstrating their confidence in bold strokes. American automakers and foreign-based firms in the U.S. are putting billions of dollars into building and refurbishing plants. Ninety-thousand auto manufacturing jobs have been added in the past two years. Dealers are making more money per sale this year than they have in years.*

The holidays and the Super Bowl are going to arrive. Auto manufacturers are cuing up their ad schedules and offering incentives to clear out 2011 models to make room for 2012 beauties. Some are offering 90 days no pay options that'll take buyers through the holidays' financial stresses. TrueCar.com estimates incentives will rise 5% through year-end.

But low interest rates and manufacturer incentives aren't going to be the only hooks to get fence-sitters into your credit union.

Try a packaged offer using:

1. Appended MCIF or DP information with other sources, such as NADA data, to target the offer.
   
   We always recommend using data to make offers personal, relevant and timely. Consider reaching out to a slightly younger buyer, aged 25 through 45. These people are in their prime earning years, and new vehicles are necessary for their growing family. They want good value. A pre-approved offer will have better impact when combined with a payment example, but pre-approved or pre-qualified offers don't hold the same appeal they did when the economy was stronger.
   
   People older than this group are more inclined to resist adding new debt. Their earning years are waning, and the economy makes them consider whether the new vehicle is a necessity or a luxury. Since they are more interested in reducing their debt, target them with refinancing offers first.
2. A very competitive rate with flexible terms.
   
   The reality is that at any given time, a person could buy a car. They've been putting it off for any number of reasons, and today is that day. According to BankRate.com, average loan rates nationally are under 5% for new or used vehicles. Many credit unions are offering rates under 3%. A great rate for new, used, or refinanced from another lender, combined with excellent service will get their attention.
3. Offer additional discounts for automatic payments or another time/money-saving service your credit union offers.
4. Use branch-coding. The younger portion of this group may be buying a vehicle on their own for the first time. Reduce their anxiety by providing a name and contact information at the credit union. 

 What else can you do to bring loans in? 

   1.  Provide information they can use. Put it online. Remember this  generation is Web-savvy and uses mobile devices - smartphones and electronic tablets - with ease.

• Online application
• Electronic and mobile banking services
• Highlight the benefits of pre-approval before shopping
• Provide payment calculators
• Describe the benefits of GAP insurance
• If the credit union has a free car-buying service, promote that. These people are busy and if they can get a good deal in a stress-free way, that's appealing.
• Explain and promote CUDL financing if you have it.
• Provide information on refinancing benefits and savings.

2.       Offer a free car-buying seminar.

3.       Offer bi-weekly payments and show how much finance charges they could save.

4.       Offer 90-days no payment.

5.       Offer a prize or contest. Gas prices are still very high. If you decide to offer a gas gift card, it needs to be substantial and perhaps have only one winner. Consider a drawing for a payment holiday – the credit union makes the entire first payment.

We hope some of these ideas help you achieve your auto loan goals for Q4 and Q1.  

*Star Tribune, August 30, 2011.

Project Blueprints Work

By Margie Church, copywriter/editor

One of our best practices is to gain understanding and agreement from the client before the project begins. A project blueprint is a simple tool we consistently use to achieve that. 

After a project launch call, everything we've heard in that conversation gets sorted out and written into the blueprint template. Then it's sent to the client. I've sometimes been accused of being too thorough. I've had managers squint at my project blueprints and ask for the Reader's Digest version. And I've had some tell me I was making the reports they wrote look bad. The latter group always makes me laugh.

Gotta-have-it Information

Your blueprint doesn't have to be complicated, but it must have the salient points to get your project on track and keep it there. Here's a short list of basics:

•  Objective
• Audience
• Budget
• Offer and/or primary message
• Customer benefit
• Call to action. I can't stress enough the importance of telling people what to do. It's often forgotten, along with adequate contact information. 
•  Due date

Pinpoint is a creative resource, so we also ask our credit union clients questions such as these:

• What is the overall tone of the piece? A phrase such as cutting-edge will have an explanation of what the client describes as cutting-edge.

•  What are the supporting copy points?

• There will be several questions about design, including color and graphical preferences.

We add and subtract questions depending on the situation. The first time we speak with a new client, we'll spend all the time necessary learning about their credit union. We want to understand its membership demographics, and branding strategies. 

We seek the client's opinions on all kinds of subjects, including what's going to work and what  will get panned by management. We're interested in helping them be successful every time and in-depth questions help us achieve that goal. By the end of the conversation, our client knows their business is important to us.

If you're an internal marketing or communications manager, you can use a project blueprint to get agreement from your staff before you start working with your creative resources, aka spend money. You're much likelier to deliver on time and on budget by using a document such as this. It's also an excellent place to look for answers if things go awry. 

Creative blueprints work smoothly for Pinpoint Direct Marketing's clients. Do you use creative blueprints at your CU? How have they been received? Are they a crucial element in your planning or an after-thought? Share your experiences so we can learn from each other.

Leads Left for Dead?

by Margie Church, copywriter/editor

Does your member services department have what it needs to handle responses from your marketing activities? Best practices will have these issues identified during the campaign's project planning stages, and puts the response team in a proactive mode.

Start on a Positive Note

Make someone from member services part of your marketing team. Once the campaign is fleshed out, take them through the components so they're aware of everything involved. Provide copies of printed communications and links to electronic items for them to see before the campaign launches.

Don't rely on member services to read everything and determine what the action items are. Provide the salient points, including the campaign's goals and offers, launch and end dates, and any potential sticky points that may disqualify someone from taking advantage of the offer.  If you need to, write a script. 

Provide a specific guideline on how quickly respondents will be contacted so the lead doesn't go cold. Plus doing so cultivates the relationship you have or hope to build with any member. Armed with the right information, your member services department is prepared to handle questions correctly and close the deal.

Whether your credit union's tellers are the member services department or you have a dedicated team established for handling responses and inquiries, set them up for success. Your staff will be happier and it will be easier to determine your campaign's success.

At Pinpoint, we use a tool called Staff Notes to identify and address member services responses. At the project launch call, we'll talk about them and put your responses in writing. You'll also receive a creative blueprint of the project to use as a guide. This helps ensure we'll all be on the same page from concept through fulfillment. Does your agency do these things? 

Maybe it's time for a better process. Give Pinpoint a call.

Targeting Gen Y?

By Margie Church, copywriter/editor

I read recently that Gen Y is set to inherit $30 trillion dollars in the next two decades. Baby Boomers have done very well, indeed.  I also continue reading about credit unions looking for ways to reach out to Gen Y members. 

The tricky question is, how?

A credit union must understand the behaviors of its Gen Y population and cater to them. Also known as the Millennial Generation or Millennials, they have birthdates from roughly the mid-1970s to 2000. Read about their social and professional behaviors on the Internet and research them in your service area. 

As a whole, they are a tech-dependent group that scours websites like bloodhounds on a scent trail. Creating web pages that appeal to their special interests and tastes is a good place to start. Mobile banking, Internet banking, email, QR Codes, Tag, podcasts, specially created videos, etc., are tools this group isn't afraid of. They talk to each other about finances. Could holding Gen Y chats on your website be a good idea? Having a blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages? Possibly, if you give them relevant reasons to interact with you. An app could be a very good thing since mobile banking use is skyrocketing. Use age-appealing graphics, copy, and offers. (If you're not doing this across the board, you need to start. Doing so makes you more personal and relevant with any member or prospect.)

While you're looking for ways to appeal to the Gen Y lifestyle, remember some of this is an investment in their future, but possibly not yours.

What, you say?

When you think of Gen Y, are you really imagining the older end of the spectrum (around 35 years-old) or are you thinking early 20s? Breaking things down in this manner might help you realize you're already marketing to portions of Gen Y.

The younger portion of this age group is likely years away from being a profitable member. They're in school or moving around, not settled in their careers or their lives. Do these people need financial services and education? Yes. Can your CU be a great source for those things? Again, yes. However, it's no surprise the majority of these people aren't in a financial position to qualify for credit cards and other loan products. Their lack of roots in your service area has obvious implications. You can retain some of these members over time. Others will move out of your service area. Ultimately, the greatest service you might provide is the knowledge that wherever they land, a credit union is the best place to bank.

The mid to upper end of this age group is likely to be settling down. Their income is stable enough to be better loan risks and they're buying cars and homes. In other words, they are moving into the most profitable years of membership. Your credit union needs to make them aware of the benefits of membership. That's not new news. 

The market is ripe for a change in banking attitudes. Credit unions' lower interest rates and fees, coupled with outstanding services, make them an excellent choice over banks in many cases. Creating awareness among the younger portion of this group puts you in contention for their business when the opportunity arises. 

Roll with the marketing challenges and opportunities to help you bring the next group of members to your credit union. Pinpoint Direct Marketing can help you do it successfully. Put us on your creative team and get started.

We're interested to learn whether you're marketing differently to Gen Y and how. What have you learned? 

What Are You Selling?

By Margie Church, Copywriter/Editor

Have you ever looked at an ad, and your eyes stalled on the page? If you took the time, you squinted and pondered. What are they selling? What's the point? The ad may have been such a visual mess you didn't know where to start, but you sure knew how to turn the page.

During my career in marketing communications, I've frequently started an ad or brochure with a succinct premise and watched it convolute into something quite muddy…for lack of a more polite term. Few of us work in a world where we make all the decisions, and few of us believe we actually have all the answers. Business doesn't work that way, and that egoistical position jeopardizes your sanity.

Run Amok?

I start each project with a creative brief that outlines at least the bare minimum of information. What's the objective? Who is the audience? What is the product or service being offered? Is there an incentive? What's the call to action? You'd be surprised how often that last tidbit is overlooked.

I've worked with clients who couldn't be bothered with answering even the most basic questions in detail. Can you guess the result?

It wasn't always bad.

It usually was, and I'll tell you why. 

These clients weren't putting the customer needs first. Instead, they were usually thinking about how much this darn ad was going to cost them and by gosh, they were going to get their money's worth. They got that, but their ROI stunk. And they blamed the creative agency. 

Instant Decisions

The average person will spend one-twentieth of a second looking at a product on a shelf. Billboards and large displays might get about six seconds—an eternity by comparison. Even the best written ad still requires that you send it with enough frequency to reach your audience. The formula remains, contact the same person three times within seven days. That's the magic number to create TOMA or top of mind awareness. Layering your message in different channels is the way to get the job done right. You also need regular frequency if you want long-term recall. 

The Internet and social media challenge us to say it clearly—fast. People have never been busier or better able to ignore you. How fast can you click your mouse? My point is proven.

Graphics should amplify pithy headlines that draw readers in, and then the first paragraph nails them. You know, newspapers have been using the formula for eons. What you want the member to know is in the first paragraph. That doesn't give you permission to write run-on sentences that could achieve Guinness Book of World Records status. It means the first paragraph should state clearly why you're reaching out to me today. This is how my product/service is going to improve your life, and here's how to get it. 

Simple, clean. Fall in love with white space. It's allowed, even encouraged. Save all the extras for the conversation you're going to have with your member when they call or stop by. 

Share your creative nightmare with us. We can all identify and learn. And probably laugh a little, too.

You've Got Personality!

By Margie Church, copywriter/editor

A majority of our clients are tickling their members' funny bones this year. They're interested in adding some humor to their messages instead of continuing their usual conservative approaches. There's something to be said for having successful, happy looking people in your ads, because after all, your credit union is going to make them happier, more financially successful people.

Tossing your branding strategy out the window isn't something we usually advocate, but we always look for ways to make campaigns stand out in the market. If you're competing against big banks, it's likely they're running hot and heavy on their corporate logo. It's pretty rare to see a pink flamingo on a big bank ad. But your credit union possibly could use flamingos. Changes in the economic climate may finally be giving some CUs the opportunity to break out of the shadow of their competition and go after market share. In a big way.

What's Your Personality?

Marketing innovation balances brand equity with creativity. When a client asks for a fun campaign and we delve into their concept of the word, there is always a broad spectrum of answers. 

For a CU that usually uses iconic images with very straightforward, no-nonsense copy, using images of people having a good time and short, punchy sentences are dramatic, good changes. For others, we have the opportunity to pull out all the stops and use crazy animals, silly looking people, and a host of other concepts that deliver their messages in powerful, unique ways. Clever headlines make the reader smile or laugh out loud.

Talking with us in the planning stages gives insight to a winning personality and a winning campaign. We're keen on incorporating a positive, provocative graphic and headline with key brand elements. Members get a unique promotion that grabs their attention like new tires on asphalt, and still recognize the brand they trust and respect.

Fresh or Canned?

You might be tempted to go to a one-size-fits-all, online vendor and pick something from their canned templates. Doing so accomplishes your goals of fast and cheap, but do you have the ability to personalize the piece so it resonates with your members? Does using the canned approach help you succeed in the biggest goal of all: closing the sale? I'll wager the answer is not a resounding yes.

Fresh approaches don't have to be expensive or take months to develop. We believe the ROI for a fresh approach is going to be better because you made the offer personal, relevant, and timely, not imitation vanilla.

Geek is a Good Thing

What do you think about QR Codes and Microsoft® Tag? Yes, these are the latest electronic crazes using a smartphone. The applications aren't going away. They're being refined and new ways to use them are being identified daily. In fact, according to a recent study done by Mobio Identity Systems, QR scanning
traffic in North America has increased a dramatic 4549% since the first quarter of 2010. It's no wonder a growing number of our clients are alreadyincorporating QR Codes and Tags.

Smartphones enable members of all ages to use mobile banking, QR Codes, and Tags. People aged 25 to 54 comprise 70 percent of smartphone users. Wow. That's likely to be a big chunk of your membership.  We can think of several easy, creative ways to incorporate QR Codes and Tags into your campaigns and strengthen your member relationships. That's bottom line talk. Being an early adapter could give your credit union a real boost in the perception of being on top of the latest changes—keeping ahead of the game. And when it comes to prospecting, that can't hurt at all. Your personality got a little more innovative and a lot more cool.

Freshening up your campaigns and going deeper with cross-channel marketing can help make you the kid everyone wants to be friends with. Then win them over with real value when you get them in the door. 

Click here for more info and let us know how Pinpoint can bring a little more personality to your next campaign.