The Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union initiative is a cooperative venture — the more credit unions that participate, the more effective it will be. Plus, the campaign has engaging creative content that’s research-tested and designed to connect, elevate, and enhance (or maybe even expand) what you’re already doing in marketing and branding.
And, here’s the kicker … The campaign’s overall objective is to increase consumer awareness about credit unions engage them when they search for banking needs online. The idea is to keep credit unions “top of mind” in the financial services marketplace, thereby growing membership and market share.
That means your participation will not only help our industry overall, but it will increase your visibility in the communities you serve and, potentially, bring new members, accounts, and loans to your door.
If you’d like more information about the national awareness campaign, take a look at these slides from our October 1, 2020 call with Christopher Lorence, executive director of CUNA’s Credit Union Awareness campaign.
We’ve worked hard with the experts in our PR Team at The Summit Group to design a digital campaign that is effective yet affordable — and we need funds to execute it. Our goal for the 2022 campaign year is $75,000 and we’re asking our affiliated credit unions to chip in to support this effort.
The suggested contribution for each credit union is 10¢ per member (using June 30, 2021 numbers), and MCU is matching the funds raised. Just fill out our pledge form.
If you have questions about the amount, email Karen.
Montana’s Credit Unions (MCU) is committed to ensuring that every credit union in Montana can participate. To that end, we’ve done two things:
- purchased the rights to the customizable campaign assets for our affiliated credit unions to access and use. That includes a wealth of possibilities (see the FAQ on Campaign Assets for more details).
- secured enough funds to match the contributions of our affiliated credit unions so we can execute our targeted digital campaign for Montana.
Montana’s Credit Unions is committed to this initiative and has purchased the customizable campaign assets for our affiliated credit unions to access and use, even if you don’t support the campaign financially (though we hope you do!). That includes all of the following:
- Private Contributor-Headquarters portal to access creative assets and resources
- Customizable and co-brandable OYE posters, signage, out-of-home, website banners, organic social posts, and more
- Resources like the OYE Messaging Guide, Creative Asset Guide, marketing video tutorials, contributor chats, etc.
- Private Facebook community, opportunity to follow us on social media platforms to like and share posts
- Exclusive consumer research to stay on the pulse of consumer sentiment
- Placement on CreditUnionMatch.com and preferred placement in the credit union locator at Yourmoneyfurther.com
Reaching potential members at EVERY touchpoint is our goal. Not only do we want Montanans to learn of the #CUDiffernce from messages shared on billboards or buses – we aim to reach them where they look most… their phones! With Americans spending around 5.4 hours a day on smartphones (not to mention the time spent on their other favorite digital devices), we will keep credit unions “top of mind” by meeting consumers on their playing field. Our partners at the Summit Group have designed a strategic digital campaign that will help us accomplish this.
It has three major components:
- Digital Video & Display Ads. Digital banners ads will be placed across a network of sites next to relevant content for optimal viewing. These ads will be placed in front of a specific audience of non-credit union members. We will also be retargeting ads to those who visited the site but didn’t stick around.
- Social Ads. Social ads will appear on targeted individual’s feeds. These ads will allow people to engage with our message and creative content through likes, reactions, views, and clicks to our site.
- Paid Search. We will target users based on their online search habits if they are looking for a new bank or specific offering. We will also target based on geography, demographic, and interest terms.
Our Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union digital campaign will cover all bases and help us reach consumers during every part of their digital journey!
This is an awareness campaign, so it’s designed to target people who are NOT currently credit union members but who are looking for financial services. Market research suggested the following five key audiences:
- Unsettled Beginners. People aged 25-34 who have recently moved or gotten engaged or married
- Future Thinkers: Parents aged 35-55
- Young Thrify Parents: Parents aged 20-34 who are also recent grads or renters
- Educated Young Women: Females aged 20-34 who have a college or other higher education degree
- General: People aged 20-55
