How to Leverage SMS Marketing for Credit Unions

As a local credit union, you handle a multitude of responsibilities. Managing member accounts, offering financial advice, and ensuring satisfaction with each interaction require keen attention. But how can you strengthen your relationship with your members and prospective customers in a fast and convenient way? The answer lies in SMS marketing.

Implementing SMS marketing strategies can work wonders in enhancing your communication with customers, all while positively impacting your overall business growth. Here at Podium, we are committed to helping you capitalize on the effectiveness of text-based communication. Here are our top 10 SMS marketing tips for credit unions.

1. Implement List Segmentation

Credit unions serve a diverse range of customers. Therefore, not all messages will be relevant to every member. That’s why it’s essential to segment your contact list based on different parameters—member profiles, behaviors, and preferences. List segmentation assists in delivering personalized messages that resonate with each member group.

Optimal customer segmentation ensures your communication remains relevant, enhancing member engagement and response rates.

2. Time Your Messages

Sending SMS messages at the right time is crucial. Identifying peak response times and scheduling your messages accordingly can significantly boost engagement rates. This way, you will show respect for your members’ time without intruding into their busy schedules.

SMS scheduling helps you manage member communications effectively, maintaining your brand in focus without seeming intrusive or overwhelming.

3. Use a Texting Platform

Managing SMS communication can be hectic without proper tools. Using a text marketing tool like Podium Text Marketing can streamline your communication effectively. It allows you to send bulk messages, schedule text messages, and automate responses, saving you time and effort.

The convenience offered by Podium’s Text Marketing tool leaves your team with more time for personalized member interactions, enhancing your service quality and client satisfaction rate.

4. Respect Text Etiquette

Like all forms of communication, SMS marketing has its set of etiquette norms. It’s important not to spam your members with excessive messages. Remember to always get your members’ consent before adding them to your marketing list and offer a clear option for them to opt-out.

Following text etiquette paves the way to building trust and appreciation with your members, sustaining a comfortable communication environment.

5. Use Call-to-Action Buttons

A compelling SMS message is incomplete without a direct call-to-action (CTA). This guides members toward the next step, be it visiting your website, physically coming to your credit union, or initiating a service. The key is to make your CTA concise and irresistible.

Effective CTAs act as a magnet in drawing customer engagement, tapping into your members’ motivations, and guiding them smoothly along the customer journey.

6. Enable Two-Way Communication

Remember, it’s not just about sending messages but about facilitating a dialogue with your members. Enable two-way communication and be prepared to provide timely responses. Encourage your members to share their queries, feedback and even craft some simple surveys to understand their preferences better.

Two-way communication humanizes your credit union operations, fostering deeper connections with your members.

7. Automate Reminders

One great usage of SMS is to send reminder messages about upcoming meetings, overdue payments, or important alerts. Automation ensures these cumbersome yet critical tasks can be handled with accuracy and timeliness.

Setting automated reminders keeps your members informed, making them feel cared for while saving your team from the struggle of hand-delivered reminders.

8. Measure your SMS Campaigns

To ensure your texting initiatives are driving the desired results, monitor and measure your campaigns regularly. Tracking parameters like delivery rates, open rates, clicks, and conversions can provide valuable insights to adjust and fine-tune your strategies.

Regular measurement of your text campaigns keeps you updated about what’s working and what needs amendment, strengthening your communication strategies over time.

9. Encourage Feedback & Reviews

Why not use SMS marketing to boost your credit union’s reputation? Text your members requesting their valuable feedback and reviews. Given that text messages have a high open rate, accruing positive reviews becomes easier. You can integrate with platforms like Zendesk to manage and display these reviews.

Encouraging member feedback and reviews not only aids in brand building but also strengthens member trust and loyalty towards your credit union.

10. Streamline Internal Communication

Texting isn’t just for your members. It can also be used to streamline internal communication. You can send out important announcements, updates, or reminders to your staff. This is where tools like Podium Inbox can simplify your internal communication process.

Adopting text marketing for internal communication keeps your team well-coordinated, facilitating smoother operations and enhanced service delivery.

Podium Assists Your Credit Union’s Growth

In conclusion, SMS marketing has immense potential to take your credit union to the next level. It’s about tweaking your strategies and delivering personalized, timely content. At Podium, we understand the unique dynamics of credit unions and have crafted tools to simplify and optimize your SMS marketing outcomes. Partner with us and watch as seamless communication revitalizes your member relationship, boosting your business growth.