Credit Unions Do a Terrible Job of Branding and Marketing – Eric Isham, CEO of Omnicommander

Episode Summary

Eric Isham, Founder and CEO of OMNICOMMANDER, a company dedicated to helping credit unions grow by using well-thought-out SEO and marketing strategies. Based on his experience with credit unions, Eric claims that they do a terrible job of branding and marketing. How does that affect their overall performance and success?

Eric sees marketing as an essential tool for growth. However, marketing is only part of the answer. Credit union executives need to communicate well with their employees, members and partners. They need to answer all those why questions. Why should I become a member? Why should I stay at this credit union? By knowing the answers, credit unions can make significant changes in their workflow and grow memberships.

Eric explains how marketing and email campaigns can help credit unions grow, despite the common misconceptions about such an approach. He talks about branding, messaging, and the unified approach credit unions should embrace to go a step further.

Key Insights

⚡ Credit unions do a terrible job of tooting their own horn. According to Eric, credit unions are not good at marketing and self-promotion. He claims that the lack of effort in these areas may affect their reputation, especially if they form part of a smaller group.

⚡ Email is liquid gold for credit unions. Most credit union executives underestimate the power of email campaigns. However, this can be quite a powerful strategy that fosters membership growth. In fact, “the truth of the matter is that people want to open up emails from their credit union,” claims Eric

⚡ The job of credit union executives is to educate their members of the products and services they provide. Credit union members get confused by all the products and services offered by their credit unions because the executives often don’t provide enough information. As an example, says Eric, “A lot of members at credit unions don’t understand that they can come in and get a signature loan.”