5 minutes
As marketers collaborate with colleagues in IT, operations, finance, and other departments to launch, promote, and monitor mobile services, unique challenges and opportunities for positioning this delivery channel may arise along the way.
See the opportunities. One of the marketer’s crucial roles in collaborating with colleagues from IT and operations on mobile services is to guide the discussion about brand impact. “Mobile channels may present opportunities to improve perceptions of your credit union’s technology capabilities,” says Kristiana Lockman, account supervisor with CUES Supplier member Weber Marketing Group, Seattle. “When your credit union offers new features, such as remote deposit and person-to-person mobile transfer, you can tell a different story about access and convenience. For the end user, that’s what mobile services are all about.”
Leverage the launch. When marketers are involved in planning mobile services, they are better equipped to identify user experience and communication strategies in the run-up to their introduction and to influence the adoption rates of key audiences, Lockman notes.
Make the most of your vendor relationships. Your mobile services provider may be able to provide both tactical and big-picture marketing support. “It’s important to understand your vendor’s design capabilities in order to ensure the credit union brand translates well in a new environment. There may be more options for customization than just changing a template color and throwing the logo up in the app store,” Lockman says.
“The mobile channel allows credit unions to offer the same digital services as big banks, but to truly differentiate from the competition, we have to extend a credit union’s unique personality and exceptional focus on member service into this mobile environment.”
“Drip, drip, swoosh.” Content delivery should dominate mobile communications with members, with a smattering of product offers, recommends Mark Arnold of On the Mark Strategies. So offer a steady drip of useful information, such as scam alerts and money management tips, with an occasional swoosh of a targeted special offer linked to a designated landing page so you can track the impact of your mobile channel.
Samantha Paxson, chief marketing officer of CUES Supplier member CO-OP Financial Services, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., agrees that mobile marketing should emphasize “helpful content that educates the consumer.”
“In this age of technology-facilitated impatience, today’s consumer is looking for either immediacy or surprising experiences and useful information,” Paxson says. “This gives marketers an opportunity to incorporate value and ways to learn to maximize engagement. Credit unions can provide members with content that can help them improve their personal financial skills and, at the same time, weave in the services of the credit union that will make their financial lives better.”
Adopt the Twitter discipline. A 140-character limit is a good guideline to keep mobile messaging short and sweet, Arnold says.
Go for the combo. Embedding your full suite of technology tools in the mobile channel can enhance the experience for existing and prospective members, Arnold suggests. If a nonmember is checking your loan rates, for example, and sees a prominent button, “Click Here to Mobile Chat,” the result could be an instant new member and loan.
“You really do need to change your thought process to reach mobile members,” he adds. “Mobile is a product, a delivery channel, and a marketing channel, so marketing needs to be an integral part of the mobile process from the beginning. Marketers bring a ton of data and intelligence. They know who members are, what they want, and what competitors are offering.”
Get personal. “The more customized you can make the mobile experience, the better,” Arnold says. “Start by finding out what it’s like for members to do business with your credit union on their phones.” One way to do that might be to convene a focus group of members with smartphones and then ask them to perform specific functions or look for specific information. How quickly they accomplish those tasks and their comments along the way will tell you a lot about your mobile member experience.
Be prepared to meet or exceed high expectations. Young members especially are well versed in the capabilities of mobile services, and they’ll likely set a high bar for functionality and ease of use. Making sure all your digital services reflect well on multiple platforms is a good first step, but Lockman recommends looking for ways to showcase the credit union’s attention to high-quality member service in this new space.
“Many people view banking as a maintenance activity, but that doesn’t mean you can’t aim to make your mobile channel a pleasant experience—maybe even a delightful one,” she says.
Shift your focus from “consumer first” to “user first.” “Many of us see our devices as private, personal extensions of ourselves. When your marketing messages arrive uninvited or are received at the wrong times or places, your brand runs the risk of being viewed as an intruder,” cautions Georgann Smith, VP/marketing for CUES Supplier member The Members Group (TMG). “The key may be opt-in strategies and personal, tailored messaging.”
Smith cites survey results in a 2014 report from Salesforce.com in which 91 percent of users who subscribe to a brand’s texts found the messages to be somewhat or very useful. In contrast, 52 percent described messages they received without subscribing to be “disruptive,” and 41 percent said this type of content wasn’t meaningful for them.
As a delivery channel, on the other hand, “mobile becomes about making life easier,” Smith says. “If I can deposit a check while I’m making dinner or pay my mortgage in between meetings, my financial life just became that much better. In the payments realm, integration with mobile banking is going to be a critically important innovation—simple, convenient, and rewarding.”
Span the demographic range. “While most Millennials are quick to embrace new mobile services, it is essential for credit unions to engage older demographics and late adopters who can also benefit from mobile banking,” says John Moon, who oversees mobile banking adoption for CUES Supplier member Fiserv. “Marketing plays a critical role in communicating the benefits of the service in order to drive adoption among these potential users.”
Karen Bankston is a long-time contributor to Credit Union Management and writes about credit unions, membership growth, marketing, operations and technology. She is the proprietor of Precision Prose, Stoughton, Wis.
This is Web-only bonus coverage from “Mobile Teamwork” in the April issue of CU Management.
