Vicinity Unveils New Name and Launches Cutting-Edge Website

Vicinity Credit Union, formerly known as United Credit Union, is excited to announce its official rebranding and the launch of its new, state-of-the-art website. Founded in 1930 within the halls of a Chicago high school by 15 visionary teachers, Vicinity Credit Union has always been more than just a financial institution – it’s a community cornerstone. Originally established as Union Teachers Credit Union, it evolved into United Credit Union in 1986 upon earning a community charter, broadening its reach and impact. As Vicinity Credit Union, the name captures its mission and deep-rooted connections within Chicago’s vibrant neighborhoods. It serves as a renewed commitment to being at the heart of the communities the credit union serve. “Vicinity reflects our mission to be a close and trusted partner in every neighborhood, helping our members achieve their financial goals and build a stronger community together,” said Vicinity CEO Mario Aguirre. As part of this exciting transformation, the credit union launched a cutting-edge website featuring an ultra-responsive design, intuitive interfaces, and the latest in financial technology. Designed by Your Marketing Co., this state-of-the-art platform ensures a seamless online experience, reflecting a commitment to innovation and excellence. Optimized for all devices, vicinitycreditunion.com ensures fast load times and seamless navigation whether you’re on desktop, tablet or smartphone. The user-friendly layout and simplified navigation makes it easer than ever for members to access services, find information and manage their accounts. The site offers enhanced security features, faster transaction processing, and integration with modern banking tools, including applying for loans and services online – a new feature for the credit union. “One of the biggest things for us is financial education,” said Mayra Avila, Vicinity’s marketing and social impact manager. “You can take a quick survey on the website regarding your current situation and receive targeted resources that can improve your finances.” According to Reh Harvey, YMC’s vice president of digital strategy, the primary focus of the new website was functionality and capabilities to provide members with the quickest and most efficient access to service. “Our mission was to create more than just a website,” Harvey said. “We wanted to craft an engaging digital experience that truly serves the neighborhoods in the greater Chicago area.” The engaging interface speaks directly to the community, reflecting the credit union’s commitment to being an engaged, resourceful, and tenacious partner. A key component to that was making the digital experience smoother, smarter and more user-friendly, said Alex VanHaasteren, senior web developer at YMC. “The new site is not just an online portal, but a dynamic space that invites users to interact in ways that are meaningful and relevant to their financial journeys,” VanHaasteren added.

Unignorable Credit Union Holiday Ads

If you want your credit union to stand out this Christmas season, it’s not about offering the biggest discount or plastering holiday cheer everywhere. And like a shattered glass ornament, I’m going to start by chipping away at some of your expectations for the holidays: Now that I’ve captured your attention, you’re probably ready to write off all your festive visuals and flashy promotions altogether since you might already be a step behind the sleigh or hate the idea of spending more. Well ho-ho-hold up! How to Stay Competitive Let’s untangle that mess of Christmas lights and brighten your outlook: While costs increase, so do conversion rates. According to a Shopify study, brands typically see a 35%–50% increase in conversion rates during the holidays. Despite higher costs, the ROI for holiday campaigns can be up to 4–6 times higher than non-holiday periods. The holiday season can tempt brands to completely overhaul their image in favor of festive aesthetics, but here’s the truth: it’s a mistake. Your core identity is what sets you apart from competitors, and it should remain the cornerstone of your holiday campaigns.  The key is finding balance. Yes, embrace the festive cheer, but do it in a way that enhances who you are as a brand, rather than overshadowing it. Note well: Uncertain about the current direction of your brand? Let’s talk about it. Don’t Rely Solely on Discounts Now, let’s be clear: Discounts are part of the holiday game, but they shouldn’t be your entire strategy. Consumers are savvy, and during the holiday rush, sales are everywhere. In fact, 42% of consumers say they are more likely to ignore brands that focus solely on discounts and promotions during the holiday season. What really makes a difference is emotional storytelling. During the holidays, people are more receptive to messaging that tugs at their heartstrings. So, rather than relying solely on sales-driven tactics, tell stories that resonate. Show how your credit union supports local communities, helps families achieve their financial goals, or makes a tangible difference in people’s lives. Santa Doesn’t Visit Just One Chimney Leveraging multiple platforms is critical. According to Salesforce’s Holiday Shopping Report, 65% of consumers engage with brands on multiple channels before making a purchase. For your credit union to succeed, you must combine paid social ads, email marketing, display ads, and in-store promotions to maximize reach. The more unified your strategy, the stronger the impact. One of the most powerful tools you have in your arsenal is personalization. Consumers expect tailored experiences, and your credit union has access to data that allows just that. Whether it’s through personalized emails, special offers for long-time members, or holiday greetings that address members by name, personalization makes your members feel valued and understood. In a world filled with impersonal holiday campaigns, a personal touch can be a game-changer. Video is King Finally, if there’s one medium you should invest in this season, it’s video. Video content consistently outperforms other formats in terms of engagement and conversions. Did you know that 80% of internet users watched a video ad in 2023? Consumers are more likely to engage with interactive or engaging video content, especially on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Video ads often have click-through rates (CTR) that are 3–5 times higher than static ads, especially during the holiday season.  Whether it’s a heartfelt member testimonial, a story about how your credit union is supporting the community, or a simple, shareable holiday greeting, video brings your brand to life in a way that static images and text just can’t. And in a crowded marketplace, that extra emotional pull can make all the difference. The bottom line is this: Credit unions have a unique opportunity to connect with their members in meaningful ways during the holiday season. Strong creative, coupled with real-time optimizations, ensures you’re maximizing your return on investment.  Don’t just settle for being another credit union offering a rate discount or pushing some boring cliché Christmas on your members. Make your members feel like they are a part of something bigger. This season, it’s about connection, loyalty, and making a lasting impact. As Vice President of Brand Experience for Your Marketing Co., Frank Allgood works with credit unions to develop strong leaders, create effective training programs, and build powerful brands. Want to connect? Call 864.326.8740 or email [email protected].

Why Asking the Right Questions is Key to a Successful Credit Union Marketing Strategy

In the world of marketing, diving straight into creating strategies and campaigns without fully understanding the financials of the credit union is like setting sail without a map. For any marketing initiative to succeed, you need to know more than just your target audience and brand image—you also need a strong grasp of the credit union’s financial situation and goals. Asking the right questions from the get-go is crucial to developing a well-rounded, strategic marketing plan. Let’s break down why this is so important. 1. Aligning Marketing Goals with Financial Health Before you even think about crafting marketing tactics, it’s important to understand the financial goals and health of the credit union. Ask questions like: These questions allow you to align your marketing objectives with the broader financial goals of the credit union. For example, if the goal is to increase loan applications, understanding the current loan-to-deposit ratio will guide your messaging and targeting strategies. 2. Budgeting Smartly Knowing the credit union’s financials is crucial to setting a realistic marketing budget. Asking questions about the available marketing spend, and understanding where funds might be better allocated, helps avoid wasted resources. It also ensures that your strategy can deliver a return on investment. Consider asking: These insights guide your decisions on ad spend, digital campaigns, and community outreach programs. 3. Understanding Member Behavior and Financial Needs Credit unions are mission driven to serve their members in ways that go beyond traditional banking. Understanding the financial needs and behaviors of your members is key to positioning products and services effectively. Some effective questions are: These answers will help tailor marketing messages and product offerings that meet specific member needs, driving both engagement and loyalty. 4. Identifying Growth Opportunities Marketing isn’t just about the short term—it’s about positioning the credit union for sustainable growth. By asking questions that help you understand the broader financial landscape of the credit union, you can spot opportunities for growth. You’ll want to ask: For example, if the credit union has a strong but under-marketed auto loan product, focusing efforts on promoting that could yield significant growth. 5. Building Trust with Leadership When you approach marketing with a strong understanding of the credit union’s financials, you gain credibility with leadership and other stakeholders. It shows that your marketing plan isn’t based on guesswork, but on real data and financial insight. This trust can lead to greater buy-in for your ideas and more collaboration across departments. In the end, a successful marketing strategy for a credit union starts with asking the right questions about its financials. Aligning your tactics with financial goals, budgeting wisely, understanding member needs, identifying growth opportunities, and building trust with leadership will help ensure your marketing efforts are not just creative but effective also. So, before you dive into your next campaign, take the time to understand the bigger financial picture—it’s the foundation of a truly strategic marketing plan. Need help developing a strategic and ultimately effective marketing plan? For over 15 years, the YMC team has helped dozens of credit unions effectively engage members through strategic marketing, and we can help yours too.

What makes a great credit union marketing partner so valuable?

The YMC team truly are credit union marketing experts, and we have been for almost 20 years. But one of the biggest misconceptions about a marketing expert is that they have all of the answers. If a potential marketing partner begins to woo you with ideas and answers before they’ve asked a lot of questions… run. Run fast and don’t look back. Expertise does indeed involve supplying a few answers, but expertise is mainly about asking the right questions. The answers should be few, and only come after the truth surfaces through the honest answers to those questions. An example I always use – because it is burned into my mind – as the most important reason credit union marketing experts should ask many questions before answers was a goal setting meeting I had with a new client. “Ten percent loan growth is our goal” they excitedly exclaimed! “Cool, let’s make it happen, but first I want to know why you’re not achieving that now.” That was my question. The answer was as I expected. “We need better marketing!” Of course, that’s why they hired YMC. But I knew better. I pressed in with more questions to gain perspective. What we found were an average of 180 approved loans per month over the last six months. What we also found were on average only 80 of those loans were funded. “What happened to those other 100 loans? That would equal out to more than 10% loan growth!” A timid employee raised his hand. “It’s taking us 4-5 days to get an answer back on those loans, and typically those members have already applied for a loan and gotten in somewhere else before we get back to them.” A-HA! There it is! They, in fact, didn’t have a marketing problem. But asking the right questions as a credit union marketing expert, we uncovered the true problem. And, even more important, if we had launched a freakin’ cool loan promotion to drive more volume, it would have increased their problems, not solved them. More loan applications they would not have replied to in time, further decreasing the trust of their brand within the community, and a lot of good money spent on the wrong solution. Expertise is about curiosity. Curiosity requires that you ask many questions. More importantly, expertise requires knowing what questions to ask to get the answers needed to bring the right solutions, and by extension results, to the table. There are so, so many marketing tools in the marketer’s toolbox available to any competent firm. Asking the right questions, listening to honest answers, and then knowing selectively which tools to pull from the box to provide the right solutions is the job of a true credit union marketing expert. For almost 20 years, the credit union marketing experts on my team at YMC have been doing just this. We’ve crafted a time-tested process that allows us to gain perspective, understand the problems, and then creatively solve those problems that lead the credit union to growth. As we head into the new year, are you sure your marketing partner truly knows what tools to use? Have they asked the right questions to gain the perspective they need to know what problem to solve? We can help.

Your Credit Union’s Website is Failing – A Call-to-Action on Making Your Website Seamless

Before we go any further, pull up your credit union’s website and track the following: Where are your CTAs currently located, and how many clicks does it take for your potential member to convert?