CUSG Newsletter Sept. 2011

September 2011
Attracting Younger Members

Featured Products/Services

• Mobile Websites
• Online Services
• Web Development
• Market Research
• Invest in America
• HR Consulting
• Performance Management
• Digital Media

Name: Coca-Cola Family Federal Credit Union
State:  Georgia
Assets: $167,714,297
Members: 12,679
Website   

Coca-Cola Family Federal Credit Union got it right by appealing to the younger select employees group of the Coca-Cola Company based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Georgia Credit Union Affiliates, through the Getting Ahead Association, contracted CU Solutions Group to create an entertaining two-minute animated video educating potential members on the difference between banks and credit unions. The end product, “Banks vs. Credit Unions – What Makes Us Different”, is a stylistically animated and playful take on the credit union difference.

The objective behind creating the video was to include it on the homepage of their website (click on the Video tab) and to use it virally through channels such as YouTube. We’re proud to say that this video went on to win a 2011 CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Diamond Merit Award.

Your 411 to the CMS

SIDEBAR CONTENT

If you have a youth site or youth page on your website, sidebar content is a great way to add interest. Just add a “Youth Sites” or “Youth Page” category to your Sidebar Content Module. This makes it easy to add fun to add fun linkable graphics or small amounts of text like Internet Safety Tips for Teens for example. Creating a designated category makes it simple to add new information to the Module/Region areas of your website, keeping content fresh and relevant – and most important, keeping the interest of your younger members.

 Not a Content Management System client? Learn more about our CMS here.

iCount

We recently redesigned and renamed our young teen website. iCount has a graphically inspired energy to it and a powerful message that lets young members know that they matter. It engages kids by incorporating useful information on saving, budgeting, etc., with fun extras like polls and games.

We have also created a full line of print marketing materials to support the iCount branding and messaging. Your credit union can welcome your teen members into the program with a welcome postcard and membership card. You can then maintain contact with them throughout the year with birthday postcards, statement inserts and inserts for mom and dad as well.

iCount materials are available in a money-saving package (excluding website) or individually. CU Solutions Group strives to offer the best prices in town and charges no licensing fees.

Online Gallery

The CU Solutions Group Online Gallery is now open for your viewing pleasure! On exhibit are examples of Marketing Solutions' and Technology Solutions' works of art.

Visit our Online Gallery here.

Why Now is the Perfect Time to Attract Younger Members

For retailers and families alike, August is traditionally known as “back to school” time. With parents sending their kids off to college or sending their college graduates across the country for new jobs, now is the time to communicate to them that they can take their credit union membership with them. Reminding your members how you are able to help them with this transition and how they can access all of your services remotely means they don’t have to find a new financial institution.

College freshmen are inundated with credit card offers. Banks pay millions of dollars each fall to nab freshmen when they first hit campus. Nip this in the bud and promote your student credit cards to young adults before they go to college. According to a study by the Filene Research Institute entitled The First Credit Card, one in three high school seniors has a credit card and 56 percent of undergraduates say they got their first card by age 18. And the average consumer relationship with a credit card lasts 15 years. Why shouldn’t it be your credit union’s credit card?

Credit unions are already uniquely positioned to appeal to this demographic, thanks to their not-for-profit, member owned dynamic which aligns with these generations’ penchant for altruism. Be sure to reinforce your credit union’s mission of putting people first and its member-friendly practices when it comes to lower fees, great rates and responsible lending practices to your young adult members.

If you’re thinking through your products and services that are targeted to this audience and find them falling short, it may be time for your credit union to sit back and evaluate what you have to offer young adult members. How robust is your online banking? (See table below.) Do you offer a mobile website to meet them where they gather information – on their mobile devices? Do you offer online applications and facilitate remote interaction with member service representatives? Do your younger members understand what the CO-OP Network is (if you’re part of it) and what they can do at a credit union service center? All of these considerations factor heavily into the decision for young adults to take you with them when they go to college or potentially move out of state after college to find a job.

    From Filene Research Institute Publication #221

To ensure your efforts to attract younger members are effective, consider creating a youth advisory committee, a focus group or survey to find out what they really want and the best way to interact with them. Further their level of trust with you by offering financial education or financial independence seminars. And consider offering student loans, planning tools, savings programs and carefully researched loyalty programs for added appeal. Now is the perfect time to start reaching out to your younger members and show them what your credit union is all about.
 

Related Services:  Market Research, Website Development, Mobile Apps & Sites

Attract Millenials with Member Discounts

It’s commonly known that although Millennials may not have a lot of money, they do like to spend it. Show that your credit union is there to help by offering valuable member discounts.

For many, a big ticket item like a new vehicle may be out of reach. However, for those teens and twenty-somethings that have landed a job, the Credit Union Member Discount from GM provides credit unions a real opportunity to attract new members and increase auto loans. While GM’s College Graduate Discount is only available to degree holders, the Credit Union Member Discount from GM is eligible to all credit union members, no matter what their education level is. Why not establish a first-time buyer program at your credit union where all your qualified younger members would be eligible?

You can also attract Millennials where it matters most to them – with their cell phone. 94 percent of this demographic own a cell phone and 41 percent have no landline, relying completely on their cell phone for their communications needs. Being somewhat cash-strapped, Millennials still appreciate value, the latest technology and are image conscious. The Sprint Credit Union Member Discount satisfies all these needs perfectly. Its 10 percent discount and the waived activation fee (value of $36), partnered with an affordable Android device such as the Replenish, is a strong value proposition for your teen or twenty-something member. Credit unions can also suggest Millennials use auto-pay for their Sprint phone bill, since they often have account spending limits that are based on their credit score. Highlight that combining auto-pay with Sprint’s Everything plan, which includes talk, text and Web at one price, is the stress-free way to go.

Tapping into their love of technology, don’t forget to have them take advantage of CU Solution Group’s Invest in America program where they can get exclusive discounts on high tech products from online retailers such as Dell, HP and Best Buy. Shop America also offers a vast array of youth-targeted clothing from Pac Sun, Moose Jaw, Crocs, Teva and UGG.

When you align your credit union with any or all of these discounts, you’ll soon be attracting younger members with the discounts and everything Invest in America partners have to offer.
 

Related Services:  Invest in America, Credit Union Member Discount from GM, Sprint Credit Union Member Discount,Shop America

Make it Easy to Share (and Members under 25 Will Thank You!)

Gen Y (also known as the millennial generation) is growing up and making financial decisions that will likely affect their lives for years to come. They also represent a significant sector of the population that your credit union (if it isn’t already) will want to attract and retain as members.

Think New School with a Bit of Old School Mixed in…
Gen Y members are “28% more likely than the average consumer to have a smartphone”¹ and are much more likely to use mobile banking online personal finance management tools and an online person-to-person service. In what seems a contrast, though, Gen Yers “prefer to develop relationships face-to-face … and want to be more comfortable with the financial provider before transacting a loan online.”²

That means the positive in-person relationship is still important—and that’s good; you probably have that part of the equation down to a science. Now it’s time to take a look at your website—and make sure the information is credible; because while Gen Yers like to use the Internet, they know that plenty of misleading information appears online—and so they do not take the information they read for granted. Once you’ve done that, what’s next?

Go Mobile
It’s a bit different than what The Who sang about in 1971’s “Going Mobile” but it’s just what your credit union needs to do—extend your relationship with members to the mobile and online social worlds.

Your credit union can become something that Gen Yers take with them wherever they go—whether they’re going on vacation, out to eat, or just to a friend’s house. One simple way to achieve that is through a mobile version of your site. Let your members find the information they need at the moment it’s relevant. (Think: I’m going to dinner with friends and want to get some cash from the ATM. Where’s my credit union’s nearest branch?)

A mobile site is just the beginning. Your credit union can be more than just a financial institution; it can be a source of information that Gen Yers can share with their friends and family. After all “most young adults share interesting or useful websites with their families and friends … and 60% of young adults use the Internet to find information about companies.”³ If, in addition to product and service descriptions, your site contains financial education tips, that’s something useful that can be shared. But don’t let those tips stop at your site; tweet them and post them on Facebook. Consider posting brief video tips, too, either on your site or on YouTube. Start an online blog—and ask your Gen Y members to post as well. Start the conversation about finances—and invite your members to keep it going.

With the right blend of technology platforms and a bit of the human touch, your credit union can be the “go-to” source for financial products and services—and the source members can reach and share when they’re on the go.

Related Services:  Mobile Apps & Sites, Digital Media, Online Services

Gen Y at Work

More than likely, you have received an email or birthday card that begins with “You Know You’re __ (fill in the blank with your age) When …” followed by a list of pop culture references, fashions or fads that contributed to the decade of your age group. But have you ever thought about what contributed to the values and expectations we associate with the generations in the workplace? Factors such as growing up during the Depression, the profound effect of the civil rights era, cultural and familial experiences of our childhood, and the invention of the Internet all play a part. Without a doubt, those values and expectations are brought into the workplace.

Whether you call them Millennials or Generation Yers, they are 82 million strong and in less than 5 years will make up almost half the workforce. Although stereotypes are oversimplified characterizations, it’s important we recognize the common traits, creating a foundation for us to understand and acknowledge the differences which appear in the workplace.

Communication
So, if we’re a Baby Boomer or Gen Xer, how do we communicate with this generation? We know that Gen Yers grew up with technology at their fingertips from the time they drank out of their very first sippy cup. The toys and games they played provided instant responses, and often they played independently as they held Gameboys in their hands. Similarly, they prefer communication through technology. According to a 2010 Millennial Inc. survey of 1,000 Gen Y employees, three-quarters have profiles on social networking sites. Even email is outdated communication for Gen Yers, so they may respond more quickly to a text message or instant message (IM).

The key is speaking the language and using the correct media to connect to your Gen Y employees. Gen Y employees value relationships, but they don’t need face-to-face encounters to build them. Find out how they communicate. Do they prefer text messages over emails? Then, create diverse channels of communication to build that relationship with them.

So what about the reverse? What if a Gen Y employee is in a customer service role where they are required to have face-to-face encounters with customers? Gen Yers may need some additional training from a mentor to sharpen their face-to-face verbal communication skills.

Managing and Feedback
Gen Yers grew up participating in soccer games with constant encouragement and rewards for effort. Parents commonly shifted their schedules around to accommodate their multiple activities. Now Gen Yers are in the workplace and often have the same expectations from management, which may result in offering more flexibility in the workplace. Their focus is on getting the work done, not workplace presence, as they can complete work anytime, anywhere with technology.

As a manager of Gen Y employees, you can also be a student of your young employees. You may be the most experienced and have the longest tenure, but you are no longer the smartest one in the room. Learn from their technical skills and show acceptance of their energy and enthusiasm. They’re impatient and aren’t used to having to “pay their dues,” so help balance that by providing changes in their work projects, roles and responsibilities. Gen Yers expect communication and constant feedback, including being “in the know” on executive decisions and developing business strategy.

In the end, the Millennials are here and they are having a strong presence in the workplace. Let’s do our best to embrace them, doing what’s right for our business culture to succeed. As they would say, that would be “XLNT”!

Related Services:  Performance Management, Compensation Management, HR Consulting Services

Using Social Networks to Recruit Younger Employees

There are millions of people on social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. As a credit union looking to hire younger professionals, it’s your goal to attract the most talented pool of applicants. It’s no longer enough to post a job opportunity on Monster.com or CareerBuilder. According to a July 2011 study by Jobvite, 82 percent of U.S. jobseekers have used social networks and 64 percent have been hired through social networks. Back in March, LinkedIn reached the 100 million user mark. And as the size of its network grows, it’s getting more useful.

If you’re are not already using social networks for recruiting purposes, consider this: LinkedIn just launched a one-click “Apply Now” button to job postings, making it even easier and more powerful for employers to post jobs and appeal to a generation of digital natives.
 

Related services: Online Services

Coming in October:

Shifting Your Strategic Outlook

Saying your credit union needs to reevaluate and rework its strategy is one thing, actually finding the time and putting together a viable plan is quite another. Get some fresh insight, some useful tools and hopefully some food for thought to get you motivated - and discover how to align your strategic goals in all areas.
 

For information about our products and services,
contact your CU Solutions Group business consultant.