5 Ways to Market to Eligible Audiences ONLY

Marketing based on credit union field of membership can be challenging. Understanding the right platforms to use and their limitations on financial institutions can hinder marketing to your eligible audiences. There are a few different techniques you can explore when targeting eligible audiences. Credit unions' unique field of membership regulations do not jibe with traditional marketing methods, even with geographic targeting. 

Advertising on social media platforms such as Facebook and Linkedin have their own set of advertising rules for financial institutions. They can be confusing and hard to follow which makes it difficult to specifically target only your eligible audiences without spending marketing dollars on nonqualified leads. Google Adwords is the same way and a lot of it has to do with discriminatory practices. 

Here are 5 ways I recommend to obtain the highest ROI on your ad spend.

1) Direct mail campaigns- With the right data you can create a whole marketing campaign based on specific triggers around people looking for a home or car - responsive and predictive. Many companies buy user data that allow you to learn where people live, work, worship and even who may qualify as a family member. By selecting the right triggers and focusing on higher converting groups - people who work in your defined community - you can serve direct mail campaigns only to those who are eligible to join without wasting a dime. You can even narrow it down to individual census tracts.

2) Ad Retargeting- Your marketing team can learn a lot about someone who visits your website through different analytic tools. If you haven't already, set up audiences based on your field of membership rules. Then you can use those audiences in Google Adwords and serve them display ads for a fraction of the price. It is much more cost effective to focus on marketing to people who have already visited your site. If done properly, it is a way to reach your audience far beyond your website and traditional marketing media.

3) Platform Diversification- Are your leads on Google or Bing? Are you trying to reach a younger audience? Maybe Instagram is where you want to spend your ad targeting. Diversifying your ad spend will allow you to target your customer across multiple platforms and build a strong brand impression. Linkedin is the best example for being able to really narrow your market. If you have an association or a list of names you know qualify, you can upload a list into Linkedin to specifically target those people. Linkedin also has other affiliates outside of their platform should you decide to go that route. It is similar to Google's Ad Network.

4) Analytics- There are a few tools you should make sure you are using correctly to get the most out of your marketing. The first is google search console. Once you connect your domain, you get access to your search performance and analytics for all of your pages. The second would be Google Analytics. As I mentioned earlier, Google Analytics data can be used for remarketing and targeting eligible potential members. When using analytics, the most important thing to do is to make sure all your tools are communicating with each other. Information is power. 

5) Eligibility Tool/ Lead Capture- Being able to market to leads that have gone through your qualification tool and have abandoned cart could be a game changer. For instance, our platform JoinCU is an eligibility tool you can place on your website to capture and qualify potential members. The first step for anyone looking to analyze this would be to create a lead flow. You need to understand what pages your visitors are interested in, where they are coming from and why they are leaving. Next you want to assess the different options you have to capture a new lead. Look at how to qualify someone through a chatbot, form, popup or whatever works best for your audience. People will avoid talking to people as much as possible which is why chatbots and other communication tools have become so popular over the last 3 years. 

Finding the right marketing mix is crucial to successfully expanding your membership base. CUCollaborate can help you with all 5 strategies and more. Learn more about our marketing services.