Your Marketing Needs More Fiber

By Tammy Douglass

Your marketing needs more fiber, Bo McDonald and Mark Dudley told attendees of a recent "Doing it Different" meeting held in Raleigh, N.C. And marketing fibers are not all created equal, emphasized McDonald and Dudley, president and business development manager for CUES Supplier member Your Marketing Co., Greenville, S.C.

"Your marketing needs more relevant fiber," they told attendees. "What does fiber do? It's an impactful little grain that keeps your marketing consistent."

According to McDonald and Dudley, relevant marketing:

• includes a call to action;
• takes into account your target audience;
• answers "what's in it for me?" (the credit union); and
• meets members where they are.

To check if your marketing is impactful, ask yourself the following questions, McDonald and Dudley suggested:

• How does it impact the member?
• Do you fill a need?
• Did you make an emotional connection?

Finally, they offered these tips for being consistent with your marketing:

• Have a plan. Follow the plan. Trust the plan. Avoid abrupt, unnecessary changes.
• Know your members.
• Make sure your message is the same across all media.

Tammy Douglass is CUES' director of member relations, southeast.

CUES School of Strategic Marketing will be held July 16-18 in Seattle.