Peek Inside: Neighbor FCU’s In-House Marketing Department

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DESCRIPTION GOES HERE

Name of Financial Institution: Neighbors Federal Credit Union
Area served: Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Website: www.neighborsfcu.org

Assets: $519 million
Number of members: 57,610
Number of branches: 9
Members per branch: 6,401 « HIGH
Loans: $372 million
Investments: $109 million
Capital: $50 million (9.9%)
12-Month Share Growth: 13.41% « HIGH
12-Month Loan Growth: 11.28% « HIGH
ROA: 0.88%

Number of total employees: 220
Ratio of members to employees: 262:1 « LOW

Number of employees in marketing department: 5 (2.27% of entire workforce)

  • Brett Reynolds, VP Marketing
  • 1x Business Development Officer
  • 1x Community Outreach Coordinator
  • 1x Market Research Analyst
  • 1x Media Specialist

Number of campaigns run every year: 4-6

Systems & Tools

Have Now Don’t Have Not Yet,
But Plan To
Formal written marketing plan X
Brand standards manual (addressing design) X
Brand guidelines book (for staff) X
CRM system X
MCIF system X
Onboarding program X
Matrix mail program X
Social media strategy X
In-branch video merchandising system X
Formal SEO strategy X

In-House vs. Vendor

In-House Vendor Both
Advertising X
Design X
Media buying X
Direct mail X
Email marketing X
Web design/development X
Online advertising/marketing X
Social media n/a
Promotional items, giveaways X
Sales collateral, brochures X
Public relations X
Community relations/events X

Social Media Strategy

N/A – No social media channels used currently, but a plan is on the horizon.

Marketing Channels Deployed

Using Now Don’t Use Not Yet,
But Plan To
Direct mail X
Print ads X
TV ads X
Radio ads X
Billboards/outdoor X
Ads within online banking/bill pay X
Paid banner ad placements X
Search engine marketing (e.g., Adwords) X
Microsites X
Email marketing X
eStatement ads X
QR codes X
Facebook X
Twitter X
YouTube X
LinkedIn X
Foursquare X
Blog X
Online forum X

Marketing Strategy

Biggest challenge in the next 12 months?
We are currently merging with a smaller credit union which will add at least three new branches to our current branch network. Familiarizing their members with our products and services will be a priority in 2012. We are also currently completing an overhaul of our website and expect it to be completed during 2nd Quarter 2012.

Favorite campaign?
I believe our TV campaigns for the last few years is what sets us apart from other financial service marketing departments in the Baton Rouge market. We produce absolutely everything in-house including mass media, outdoor, print, and direct mail. Our media specialist films, edits, and produces our TV spots allowing us to eliminate almost all production costs and allocate those resources to our media buys. This gives us the opportunity to be very aggressive with our television advertising and has resulted in top-of-mind brand recognition in our market. We are currently implementing a Personal Finance Management tool which I believe will be one of our most successful campaigns due to the comprehensive manner in which we are marketing the service. I believe it will go down as one of our best because it required the involvement of our entire department and successfully engaged our front line staff.

Critical products/services to market this year?
Consumer loans will continue to be a primary focus while also increasing the visibility of our Business Services products. We will promote these products through a variety of channels including TV, Billboard, Radio, Web, and Target Marketing.

How are branches and front line staff integrated into marketing initiatives?
Branches and front line staff receive a brand standards kit which includes their marketing materials for the month as well as information on any on-going promotions. Depending on the promotion, staff may receive regular communication on the initiative, have incentives tied to the initiative’s success, and/or be required to attend informational meetings at each branch to review a new product or service.

How do you track marketing ROI?
Application volume, new accounts, new members, peer comparatives, service penetration, profitability, etc. Reports are generated through our core processor, MCIF, and other systems.

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