Why do you need an Internet marketing strategy? There are scores of compelling reasons.
For one, the Internet saves you money. The efficiencies of managing member interactions on line far outweigh the initial investment in technology and ongoing maintenance. For another, your competitors are doing it—so you don't want to fall behind. Perhaps most compelling of all: Your members expect you to make their lives easier by serving them on line.
But the Web can be daunting. Member expectations are high. New applications come out daily. Whizzy features abound. Legacy systems remain a millstone. It's hard to keep up, never mind marshal the resources needed for continuous innovation.
So let's step back and look at a simple way credit union marketers can carve out an effective Internet marketing strategy for themselves, without investing a lot of time and money in tools, or agencies, or fancy consultants. In fact, most of this you can do on the back of a cocktail napkin.
Developing a reasonable, effective Internet strategy involves five easy lessons.
Lesson One: Marketing Basics. Ask yourself: Am I doing everything I can to understand my members' needs and expectations, and satisfy those needs, every day?
OK, that's not an Internet strategy, to be sure. But it does make an important point: No Internet strategy can work if the basics are not in place. First you must excel at marketing, and then worry about great Internet marketing.
When an exciting new tool comes along, it's very easy to get excited about its cool features, and forget about marketing basics. So, first, look at your members and their needs, and deliver extremely well against those needs.
Lesson Two: Go-to-Market Strategy. Credit union marketers already have pretty good strategies in place. They know their members, their buying preferences, and how to sell to them and service them. So lay out that process, step by step.
Lesson Three: Automation. Do this with the best processes, using the Web wherever it fits, wherever it adds value.
This is pretty simple. But it works. Here's an example. Let's say a credit union goes through the following stages in its marketing process. I'll list beside each stage several examples of excellent Internet techniques that make the process cheaper or faster or more satisfying to members.
* Research customer needs: Try switching to online focus groups, or simple customer surveys on your Web site.
* Communicate, run campaigns: Use e-mail, put an offer on your Web site, or shift some of your seminars to the Web, especially those involving current members.
* Fulfill campaign inquiries: Make your collateral material available for Web download, and deliver it via e-mail. That way, collateral material can be not only updated instantly, but also customized to the individual respondent's interests. Prospects can be qualified by e-mail or by Web-based surveys.
* Transact: Migrate your teller function on line. Customers can check balances, manage their accounts, or pay their bills 24/7.
* Manage relationships: Use ongoing communications, via e-mail or Web site, to keep those relationships nurtured and growing.
* Gain referrals: Viral marketing offers within your e-mail messages will encourage your happy members to introduce you to their friends and colleagues. A referral request box can also be part of your Web site.
Lesson Four: Re-engineer Sub-optimal Processes. When reviewing your go-to-market process, you surely found some areas of weakness where a change is indicated. A bad process should not be automated. Instead, review and refine it. I'm not saying this will be easy, politically or practically, but take advantage. This is an opportunity to add value across the board.
Lesson Five: Brainstorming. Pull together a team, put them off site for a day or so, and ask them to Think Great Thoughts. There are plenty of great Internet applications emerging that are new and different, and do not necessarily fit into your current go-to-market process. This team's mission is to identify them.
The team should be made up of creative marketing types, the most tech-savvy ones you have, plus an equal representation from IT, plus some sales people. Together, these folks should come up with some new ideas that will make your members feel way beyond satisfied, to the point of being excited. Some of the great new ideas the Internet has allowed are instant messaging and low-cost auctions. New ideas are there, for the taking, to apply to serving your members.
Now, I haven't even approached the whole opportunity the Internet provides in other areas of the business. Just think, if your back office is more efficient, and your HR benefits administration is humming on the Web, then more resources may be freed up for great marketing investments. Go figure it out. And have fun.
By RUTH P.STEVENS, one of the World’s Most Influential People in B-to-B Marketing. MORE articles.
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