Part 2 of 3 about word of mouth marketing for credit unions

A well-crafted, strategic, and thorough word of mouth marketing program is a smart move for any business. But for several reasons, word of mouth marketing is especially appropriate and well-suited for credit unions. It is—dare I say it—one of the keys to this movement reaching its potential.

Word of Mouth Marketing is Cost-Effective

Most credit unions do not have the [perceived] luxury of outspending the competition. Bank competitors often have much heftier marketing budgets, and can get more media saturation as a result. In other words, they can emphasize quantity over quality. As credit unions with generally smaller budgets, we can’t do that…nor do we want to. With word of mouth marketing, we focus on quality over quantity—having a bigger impact on a fewer number of people. That way, we’re not paying for “waste” media. In other words, WOM lets credit unions work smarter rather than harder.

Credit Unions Are WOM-Ready by Design

When you bring together people with similar characteristics—let’s just call it a “common bond”—something not-too-surprising happens. People can relate to each other! And what happens when people can relate to each other? They tend to get along. To build friendships. And to…talk!

Consumers Trust Credit Unions More

It’s no big shocker that due to the events over the past several months, consumer confidence in financial institutions has taken a big hit. And while, yes, that unfortunately reflects on credit unions, I believe it’s safe to say that many people are feeling that it’s banks—not credit unions—that in all the negative national headlines and news stories. As a result, many credit unions have been able to not only keep the trust of their members, they’ve been able to further solidify their position as stable, trusted financial resources.

Stay tuned for the next installment, part 3 of 3, “Social Media and WOM.”

Click here to read part 1, ‘Have You Heard About WOM?’.

Homework

• Get a sense for what has worked for other companies, by checking out the case studies at http://womma.org/casestudy/
• Join the FREE Society for Word of Mouth

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Jeff Stephens is CEO of Creative Brand Communications (a multi-sensory marketing and experiential brand development agency), whose new division, PSST! is the world’s first word of mouth agency for financial institutions. Drop Jeff a line at jeff@psst-marketing.com.

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