2009 Will Be The Year of The Credit Union to Gobble Up Market Share

One of my clients is heading into a budgeting meeting next week. They are looking to slice 6 million from the overall budget. As usual, marketing dollars are first in line for the chopping block. I sent my client this e-mail in hopes to protect budgeting dollars:

Client,

Thanks for sharing about your budget meetings. I hope you are able to secure as many marketing dollars as possible next week.

I think the magazine is a great tool to implement in 2009 for your top depositors and members who have mortgages with you.

Three primary points for your budget committee to consider:

1. The majority of your top depositors have multiple accounts at other institutions. You can leverage the magazine to steer more deposits your way, especially in light of new insurance levels.

2. Offset Attrition: Given a 2% per month attrition rate, at any given time 8% of an existing household’s deposits are in transition. The magazine is a great way to keep the benefits of your credit union in front of your members.

3. Your magazine will generate referrals. Because there is a heightened mistrust in the banks in your market, 2009 is going to be a pivotal year to gobble up market share for your credit union. According to Cook Research, publications still have a high pass along readership level; 21% of surveyed readers of publications from financial institutions have shown an article from their publication to someone else.

Attached is a paper with other reasons to hold steady or devote even more dollars to your marketing efforts.

Also, this link will take you to an article that provides the average marketing budget for U.S. credit unions according to annualized 2008 market data: http://www.creditunions.com/article.aspx?articleid=2844

I hope this is helpful,

JD Valerio