When it is time to create your credit union’s next marketing campaign or write messaging and you’ve got zero ideas or no inspiration, take some tips from Teddy Roosevelt and make a paper cigar.
Hear me out. Teddy Roosevelt was a man of improvisation. He knew his paper cigars. This allowed him to explain the process of making them in the fewest possible words: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
Look outside of credit unions at this example: Every HVAC company knows the answer to the off season is to convince consumers of the importance of routine maintenance. But that’s kind of like trying to convince people to shop early for Christmas. Everyone knows they should, but few people actually do it. As a result of annual procrastination, we wait in long lines, choose from a picked-over selection and pay higher prices because we delayed our shopping – one day at a time – until December 23 (or 24 in my case) and then flew into a blind panic.
Air conditioning maintenance is like that. We delay it until the unit breaks down.
When your goal is to sell a product or service, and you’re the only one feeling the urgency, it’s time to make your paper cigar.
Before you do, you need to know one thing: don’t rely on logic.
Logic speaks to the mind of the customer, much like telling them to service their air conditioner, shop early for Christmas or save for a rainy day. It will go unheard. You’ve got to win the heart. That takes more than logic. It requires wit and charm.
How can you educate while entertaining? With social media and video able to be produced so inexpensively you can create compelling content by doing what you can, with what you have, where you are, like we encouraged Mint Valley FCU to do. Mint Valley’s brand message encouraged people to get unstuck from the ‘box’ that big banks try to squeeze them into. The CEO and staff literally were blowing up boxes on social media to make a point. With zero cost for production and some social media expertise, new members were signing up and talking about being sick of being stuck in a box.
If you’ve been trying to meet the goals of your credit union but falling short, it’s time for a change. When you’re frustrated and overwhelmed, your strategy needs a reset. For more than 12 years, we’ve partnered with hundreds of credit unions to help them avoid costly marketing mistakes and realize unprecedented growth using a unique time-tested action plan.
Fill out the form below and let’s connect and work ahead on your 2021 credit union strategic marketing plan.
