The seven-month campaign has so far yielded a 140% advantage in new membership over peers and competitors in the region.
Challenge:
The greater Charlotte area, of which York County is a part, is a major hub for financial institutions in the U.S. Eighteen different banks and credit unions offer their services in the area, making standing out in the crowd incredibly difficult in a community of just over 277,000 people. While Family Trust Federal Credit Union served more community members than any other credit union in the area, their total permeation within the entire county was only around 10.4%.
Family Trust Federal Credit Union came to us to increase this market share within the community and to increase membership numbers within York County.
Conversion Point:
Precontemplation to Contemplation
The Solution:
The answer to increased membership for Family Trust Federal Credit Union was in community awareness—but not precisely where previous efforts had been focused. As nearly 80% of members already had a checking account through the credit union, a previously planned campaign for a checking account promotion was scrapped in favor of a more comprehensive, seven-month membership/brand-awareness campaign. These efforts would focus on potential conversions in the precontemplation to contemplation stage of their buyer's journey to give Family Trust Federal Credit Union a larger share of market permeation with new account holders expanding their financial infrastructure; efforts also would target clients who are looking for a change from their current banking solutions.
Brand awareness isn't just brand recognition
The campaign was focused on traditional brand awareness, with a specific emphasis on how Family Trust Federal Credit Union stands out from the pack of other financial institutions in the area. While increased name recognition would incrementally increase membership, additional awareness of the advantages of membership at Family Trust Federal Credit Union would encourage potential members to look critically at their current banking solutions.
We employed a wide range of deliverable content for this campaign. Web and social media content, FM radio advertisements and sponsorship and a new website landing page to easily capture new prospective members were among the tools at the core of the campaign strategy. These mediums were all used to convey the message that Family Trust Federal Credit Union had easy-to-use and powerful banking tools. Additional emphasis was put on member ownership and the reduced fees and increased dividends of a member-owned credit union.
Standing out in the Crowd
Family Trust Federal Credit Union's most likely demographic for high conversions in York County is men and women ages 25-34 and families with children 12 or younger. Many people in this demographic might not have adequate financial solutions to suit their maturing needs and often might not understand the nuance of financial institutions. This demographic largely wants easy-to-use financial solutions and help to make complex decisions with their investments or savings.
With so many established financial institutions in the area, the campaign emphasized the accessibility and simplicity of Family Trust Federal Credit Union's digital tools as well as the advantages of both credit unions in general and Family Trust specifically. Rather than just instilling name recognition, this campaign was designed to make potential members ask themselves if their current banking solution provides all those advantages
How did we do it?
Consciousness-raising:
We set out to increase membership demand for Family Trust Federal Credit Union not only by creating brand awareness and recognition within the community but also by highlighting the advantages that potential members could gain by banking with Family Trust. The aim was to educate the public on why a credit union could be relevant to their financial needs today and why Family Trust Federal Credit Union deserves another look.
Self-Reevaluation:
In addition to simply increasing brand awareness, we knew that we needed to instill strong self-reevaluation in potential conversions. With 18 different financial institutions in the area, including three other credit unions, just being recognized wouldn't be enough to create significant increases in membership numbers.
A strategy was adopted to educate potential members on the advantages of Family Trust Federal Credit Union in an effort to get them to reflect on whether their current institutions offer those same advantages. With the distributable content in the overall strategy conveying this message, solutions were set up to easily capture new memberships on the website landing page, which again highlighted the ease of use that is highly valued by Family Trust Federal's core demographic.
This process was central to the overall campaign, as it turned other area institutions' failure to educate potential clients into an advantage for conversion by Family Trust Federal Credit Union. With a seven-month campaign continuously highlighting what makes Family Trust Federal stand out from the pack, they would continue to increase the narrative of more perceived advantages over competitors, like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, with a large share of the area market. Local distribution of radio and outdoor content further emphasized that Family Trust Federal is a competitive and powerful option that is local to Rock Hill and York County.
"Why am I not banking with Family Trust?" became the heart of the campaign and the message that potential clients should focus on.
The Results
The campaign has so far shown amazing results. In this month, Family Trust Federal Credit Union is currently up to 163 out of 535 of their new-member goal. This year, credit unions in North and South Carolina with assets between $400 million and $750 million are seeing average membership growth of 1.44%. Family Trust Federal, which has $525 million in total assets, is currently poised to grow membership at 3.47% this year.
This more than 100% increase over new membership rates of competitors and peers highlights the success of the campaign thus far. Especially in a market so saturated with financial institutions, the level of growth that Family Trust Federal Credit Union is experiencing is staggering.
Here at FitzMartin, each campaign we launch is uniquely based on your needs and goals. If you are interested in how realigning your marketing and reevaluating your strategies could benefit you, contact us today for a consultation and see how we can help you.
