How to market as a Fintech
Credit unions need good design, creative ideas and niche audiences that they understand well.
When you say “fintech” to a crowd of credit union people, you get mixed reactions. Some faces twist in disgust at aggressive competitors. Others beam with satisfaction from lucrative partnerships.
But whatever you think of fintechs, you can’t deny their wild success. One reason they are so successful is their creative, boundary-pushing marketing. They also know how to appeal to their target consumers.
Does your marketing push boundaries? Are you appealing to your target consumers?
If the answer is no, you want to start marketing as a fintech. That means you need good design, creative ideas and a niche you understand well.
Create fun, stylized designs
What makes you pick up a book at the bookstore? That’s the cover design, isn’t it? Like it or not, people judge books by their covers.
And they will judge you by your marketing designs.
Create eye-catching marketing materials so that consumers notice you. Try colorful, artistic images that display images in a new way. Show people, characters and society in stylized fashions.
PayPal does this throughout its marketing, featuring cartoonish illustrated people splashed with bright colors. A unique way to implement this concept as a credit union is through debit card design. Element Federal Credit Union ($47.8 million, Charleston, WV) allows members to choose debit card designs, and there are many animated zombies for members to choose!
It’s okay to stray from “normal” designs if it makes your brand memorable. Remember: Those who are noticed get business.
Generate unique ideas
Out-of-the-box marketing campaigns are also noticeable, so don’t bore the consumers. Saying you have free checking accounts or a rewards credit card isn’t a difference anymore. So what can you do?
The answer: Offer something completely new and exciting instead. Cash App chose to launch a clothing line. Wealthsimple created its own 10-part Master Class on investment topics. These campaigns don’t necessarily promote specific products, but they promote fascinating brands.
UNIFY Federal Credit Union ($4 billion, Allen, Texas) generated interest when it drove around a sleek “mobile branch” van. Consumers can enter the van and receive quality service right on the street.
Get consumers to buy your brand and they will buy your products later.
Know your niche
Fancy designs and cool ideas mean nothing if you don’t know your target consumers.
Oxygen narrowed its niche to gig workers and freelancers, a group underserved by the banking community. Instead of placing ads on the sides of buses, it placed ads on the backs of buses. Why? They knew gig workers like Uber drivers and DoorDash delivery people would drive behind the buses.
Frontwave Credit Union ($1.3 billion, Oceanside, Calif.) uses imagery that targets rough, blue-collar people. Their marketing won’t appeal to everyone, but it doesn’t need to – they know their niche.
Don’t market to those who are ready to ignore you. Market to the susceptible.
Credit unions cannot afford to sit on the sidelines any longer if they want to survive and thrive. You must take risks if you plan to grow in a changing financial environment. As the famous saying goes: “Fortune favors the bold.”
Mark Arnold is the founder and president of On the Mark Strategies, a Dallas, Texas-based consulting firm specializing in branding and strategic planning for credit unions.
