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.

Social Media Takes On the Website

By Margie Church, Copywriter/Editor

Years ago, when I first worked on websites, they were as stoic and devoid of humanity as could be. A company's website was the place to showcase your corporate wares. Personality be damned.

I am in the throes of revamping our company website, so I've been researching and thinking about the impact social media should have on the upgrade. I've concluded the "face" of Pinpoint Direct Marketing that friends and followers are experiencing in our blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages needs to better merge into our website. How to do it is the question, since the website is there to sell and the social media tools are there to engage.

The phrase "soft sell" comes to mind. It's not a new term, though a younger crowd might not be familiar with it. In essence, you're giving the reader credit for their intelligence by not hitting them over the head with the obvious, hard sell. And you provide solutions-based content. Resist the urge to have a brain dump and "talk at" the visitor. Make brevity a guide. Use a conversational tone similar to what you've been doing in social media conversations. Save some of your wisdom and experience for the conversation you expect to have with the member…where you're doing the listening.

Peak Their Interest 

Convince them you've got something they need and you're the best source to get it. The easiest way to do this is by negative comparison to the competition. That's also the surest way to turn off the reader. Consider that the member or prospect may have accounts and loans at a bank. By using negative advertising, you may be insulting their choices, not the bank's credibility. Take the extra time to put a positive spin on your message.

Quality Not Quantity

I continue to be fascinated by people following us who don’t even speak English. They do nothing remotely related to our business or industry. I can only conclude they're playing the numbers game - following and friending everyone suggested, without vetting them first. The real danger of this practice is simple, but perhaps not obvious. Your members' voices are being drowned out by everything else going on in your social media. Your messages are being gobbled up by the noise as well.

What has numbers got to do with your website? 

Testimonials are timeless.  If you can get members excited about you, their endorsements are worth far more than any clever remarks you can write about yourself. If members can see you're focused on them and what's best for their interests, you'll engage them. They'll use your website to conduct business and communicate with you. 

When your site is packaged with all your social media tools, it'll feel like one big happy family.

Have you made changes to your website to reflect social media's impact on your business?

Another Option for Electronic Marketing

Microsoft® Tag is another bar code option for tying print advertising to your customers' mobile devices. With a click of a smartphone, the Tag provides a direct link to whatever landing page you choose. Like the QR Code, Tag eliminates the need for typing a URL or SMS message.

Choosing to use Tag instead of QR Codes is a personal choice.  Tags perform the same way as QR Codes, but have a few differences.

• Color can be used in the code design, which allows more creativity. Your logo or a photo, for example, could be incorporated in the Tag design.  There are options to create highly-custom Tag; however you must weigh that against the ability to read the code reliably.

•  The free Tag Reader is the only application that can read a Tag. There are a number of applications that will read QR Codes.

• Tag can be printed smaller in size than a QR Code, conserving space.

• Tag scanning is less light-sensitive. The reflective qualities of paper can sometimes make scanning QR Codes fickle.

• Reporting analytics for Tag are gathered at the click, whereas they are gathered at the landing page for a QR Code. Analytics at the click allows advertisers to know geographically, date, and/or time the Tag was scanned.
  
  

Global intelligence leader, the Nielson Company, says 25 to 54 year-olds comprise 70 percent of smartphone users. Many of the people in that age range have stable jobs and have put down community roots. In other words, they fit the profile of your credit union. Being an early adapter of these tools indicates your credit union is savvy about meeting customers on their turf. 

Pinpoint Direct Marketing can generate the free Tag and QR Code for you, but more importantly, we develop the appropriately-formatted landing pages for them. The landing page can be changed without affecting the Tag or QR Code. We also can help you create new promotions around the codes and implement them in existing campaigns.

Which appeals to you more? Tags or QR Codes? We'll help you decide. Contact us.

Will free checking thrive or die at your credit union?

By Margie Church, Copywriter/Editor

I spend a fair amount of my day reading about business practices, trends in the financial market, emerging technologies, and all kinds of other things that help us keep abreast of the credit union market and anticipate the next best move for our clients.

Some days are real head-scratchers, aren't they?

We have some great insights to national trends, but nothing beats feet on the street. The pulse of what's going on in your neighborhood credit union. We invite you to share some of your insights with us today. 

Specifically, we're interested in your perspectives on free checking. We all know how bottom line-driven banks are. They're yanking free checking and debit card rewards programs, and fees are piling up. These days, there seems to be two options for bank customers– take it or leave it. More and more, it feels like even the threadbare "services" a bank provides are an inconvenience to them.

Who's taking it? Who's leaving it?

A recent study conducted by ACTON Marketing Intelligence, revealed approximately 93% of Americans have one or more checking accounts, and 94% of those are free. When asked the big question, how important is free checking to you?, a whopping, but not surprising, 85% said free checking is critically or very important. What's more, 92% of female respondents, and 79% of the males said free checking is critically or very important.

Makes you think, doesn't it? 

Digging deeper into the report, one learns that affluence or lack thereof doesn't matter either. Americans have a deep love affair with free checking and they're not going to give it up quietly. Fifty-seven percent said they'd switch banks or credit unions if free checking was eliminated or if fees were imposed on previously free services. The respondents would be willing to modify some banking behaviors to keep free checking, but they're clearly stating they want the choice. 

Banks have revealed their Achilles heel once more, giving credit unions yet another chance to take market share. At least that's what we think. 

But we're wondering what your credit union is doing. Are you keeping free checking come heck or high water? How is your credit union planning to cope with the inevitable loss of debit card transaction fees? Help us understand the neighborhood perspective. Because that's really where it matters. Leave a comment, please. We look forward to hearing from you. 

"The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open."

Cross-media strategies. Gotta have 'em.

By Margie Church, Copywriter/Editor

Many times I've studied my marketing budget and compared it to my sales objectives. And groaned. How could I possibly achieve the aggressive sales goals with this tiny budget? I might take a five-minute trip to La-La Land where management would agree to a lower forecast, but reality awaited my return. Whether our budgets are tight or not, we all must be good stewards of the amount we're given. Creative, careful selection of the right cross-media tools is the only way to make the most of the budget and achieve objectives

Start Right: Data Modeling

Data modeling is the difference between buckshot and arrows. Using data modeling helps ensure the recipient is highly qualified and/or highly likely to respond the way you want. Append MCIF or Data Systems information to qualify recipients and you'll produce fewer pieces, and of those, fewer will be wasted efforts. This saves money and improves your ROI.

Give a Campaign Depth

Once you've paid for your design concept and copywriting for your primary piece, it's very inexpensive to resize logos, layouts, and shorten copy. The graphic and headline can easily be turned into all kinds of print and electronic banners. A letter can be remodeled into highlights for an ad, statement stuffer, or email for follow-up. Tweet about your newest campaign.  Put a link on your Facebook page, blog about it, and don't forget your newsletter.

Switching Things Up or Same 'Ol, Same 'Ol?

As a marketer, we sometimes do things the same way because it's a habit. When our jobs are busy, it's fast. We understand how to do the work. But putting ourselves in the members' shoes makes us look at their needs and reminds us we want to keep members for life. We must try to keep up with these communications trends and find ways to use them to appeal to our current customers and the ones we're trying to acquire.

Communications tools are changing. FAST.  Email campaigns remain highly effective. PURLs (personalized URLs) and GURLs (generalized URLs) for instant responses are very convenient. QR (quick response) Codes are the newest way to marry print and electronic communications. (If you need more information about what QR Codes are, click here.) 

Some credit unions say their members don't like email marketing, or electronic response tools. If that's true, then why is mobile banking gaining such momentum and acceptance?  In 2010, approximately 17.8 million customers used mobile banking, according to data from TowerGroup, a financial services research firm. That figure is expected to jump to 27.4 million customers in 2011. By 2013, it's predicted that 53.1 million consumers will adopt mobile banking. 

Startling isn't it? What's driving the high adoption rate? According to TowerGroup, it can be attributed to:

1. High smartphone penetration (wireless subscribers represent a mobile phone penetration of 90 percent of adults age 20 or older). It's not only the young crowd with these tools in their hands. It's also your core market, your most profitable segment.
   
   Consider that in the second quarter of 2010, smartphones represented 61.6 million (19%) of the 325.6 million mobile phones sold. This represents a sales increase of over 50% on the same time period in 2009. In addition, the Coda Research Consultancy predicts global smartphone sales of some 2.5 billion over the 2010-2015 period. This also suggests mobile Internet use via smartphones will increase 50 fold by the end of that same period.

2. Changing banking preferences. ATMs and online banking are popular self-service models of banking. Mobile banking goes even further to provide access anytime, anywhere. Do you know any credit union members who don't appreciate convenience services?
   
   
3. Faster networks, improved operating systems, and better interfaces add to the appeal of mobile banking services. Communications providers bombard consumers with the allure of high speed and reliable, time-saving connectivity. And it's cool. Judging by the number of smartphone sales and the ever-increasing speed of Internet connections, these providers are winning.

Repeated, Consistent Exposures are Crucial

Depending on which media you choose and your frequency, you might achieve awareness of your message in five to seven exposures. People might take action after 11 exposures. A combination of scheduling and media plays on the channel strengths, impacts your audience more effectively, and brings the highest response.

Confused? Let's say you sent a letter offering a fantastic auto loan rate. On the way through town, the member saw a billboard ad with the low rate. The next day, your CU's scrolling banner touted it again. A few days later, they received an email with the same fantastic offer.  In this scenario, you've achieved multiple impressions in different channels. This is likely to be more memorable than if the member had simply gotten three letters/postcards from you over the course of a few weeks or heard the same three radio commercials during the week.

Your budgets may be tight, but by slicing and dicing the delivery tools, you can make your campaign look bigger and you are likely to deliver a better ROI to your Board. Cross-media marketing is the way to go.

Think about it and then talk to us. We understand cross-media marketing and can help you with budget-friendly solutions.

QR Codes: The Next Best Thing

By Margie Church, Copywriter/Editor 
  

QR (quick response) Codes are the best thing that has happened to print in a long while. While the world embraced the immediacy of smart technology, in some cases, print advertising became less popular. However, QR codes are a new way to re-strengthen the link between electronic and print marketing communications. 

So what are QR codes?

They consist of modules arranged in a square pattern. Often the modules are black on a white background, but there are other options. The squiggly-looking box can even contain embedded images to reinforce your credit union brand. They act as a specific matrix barcode (two-dimensional code) and are readable by a dedicated QR barcode reader in a smartphone.  Generating the code is free and takes seconds. It never expires. 

The bottom line is a QR code is an information freeway.

With a click of a smartphone camera, a URL or text opens, packed with your message, formatted especially for mobile viewing. They provide convenient links to electronic tools your credit union already uses, such as PURLs (personalized URLs) or GURLs (general URLs). The link could open an application, coupon, prize, contest, video, newsletter or your credit union's home page. Your CU could create an entire campaign around QR Codes like a scavenger hunt. Wouldn't that make members get involved and position your CU as very cool? What an idea for new member onboarding! Plus, it's extremely affordable to add this component to a campaign and you'll be thinking it's a no-brainer once you have the details. 

Consider this: In the second quarter of 2010, smartphones represented 61.6 million (19%) of the 325.6 million mobile phones sold. This represents a sales increase of over 50% on the same time period in 2009. In addition, the Coda Research Consultancy predicts global smartphone sales of some 2.5 billion over the 2010-2015 period and also suggests mobile Internet use via smartphones will increase 50 fold by the end of that period.

Your credit union leadership might say its membership isn't that tech savvy. That may be true, but statistics such as these, and the explosion of social media use by businesses, including credit unions, tells us QR Codes is just one more powerful tool CUs need to put in their playbook now. 

Still need more convincing?

Global intelligence leader, the Nielson Company, says 25 to 54 year-olds comprise 70 percent of smartphone users. There are lots and lots of decision makers in that age range who have stable jobs and have put down community roots. In other words, they fit the profile of your credit union. Using QR Codes is one more easy way to reach them and help keep them as members.

Now get out there.

Print the QR Code on whatever you want, and take members to your destination of choice. Brochures, fliers, statement stuffers, posters, envelopes, newsletters, business cards, billboards, and banners are easy targets. Companies are silk screening codes on clothing and hats, stitching them into stadium blankets and scarves. Use the codes to subscribe to your newsletter and get a double-whammy – your e-mail list can also grow. Silkscreen it on your building. People can photograph the code while passing by and learn what you want them to know.

You can change the landing page or text message any time you wish without revising the code. Kind of exciting, isn't it? Kind of makes you anxious to smell ink again.

Our name, Pinpoint Direct Marketing, has never been more spot on. We're using QR codes for our own branding campaign and for our clients. Are you?