Give SEG Member Loyalty a Boost at Your Credit Union

  by Amy Neale

A natural outcome of any SEG relationship is that at some point membership growth will level off or even decline. Either the newness wears off or your one-on-one relationship with the SEG relationship has hit a roadblock. This is where a member rewards program can be your credit union’s best friend.

Reward programs have become the go-to strategy to build customer loyalty for marketing departments in all industries. For your credit union, you should already have strong SEG member loyalty, so a rewards program is your opportunity to reinforce, and even boost, that loyalty.

Since they were first introduced as S&H Green Stamps in the late 1800s, reward programs have played an important part in customer loyalty. Today, the number of reward programs in the U.S. has reached 1.3 billion, according to Colloquy research. Your average American belongs to about 18 reward programs and 54% of them would consider increasing the amount of business they do with a company that offers a loyalty program.

But not just any rewards program will do for your credit union. You need to choose one whose goals underline your credit union’s brand strategy and mission and your SEG goals. To help make your SEG relationship a sticky one, your rewards program needs to be well-planned and well-executed. 

Invest in America was created solely for the credit union industry to help credit unions align their core products with its exclusive discounts and to help members save. It strives to have something for everyone with the Credit Union Discount from GM, the Sprint Credit Union Member Discount and more. But what if your members aren’t looking to buy a new car or cell phone? That’s where Shop America comes in. It gives members cash back on more than 1,500 retailers in its online mall. From Sears and Macy’s to Target and Best Buy, Shop America is assured to have something to offer all of your SEG members.

However, a great reward program means nothing to your SEGs if they don’t know about it. That’s why the Invest in America team offers free marketing materials for all of their partner discounts. You’ll also want to make sure your staff and SEGs are trained and up-to-date on all of your reward program benefits through emails, newsletters, websites and social media posts.

Getting it Right: Langley Federal Credit Union

Name: Langley Federal Credit Union
Assets : $1,699,949,400
Members : 166,955
Website Facebook  Twitter
 
While Invest in America has Shop America, Langley Federal Credit Union has its own Shop Langley. Shop Langley lists discounts from local companies as well as from national Invest in America partners. Langley FCU uses their website as a key marketing tool for Invest in America and a simple way to grow member loyalty.

“We built the Shop Langley section of our site to feature many discounts and offers provided to our members. The Invest in America program is a major part of that area,” explains Langley FCU Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Brett Noll. “We also cross-educate the deals on relevant pages, such as mentioning car savings where we present vehicle loan information.”

Its membership is the cornerstone to everything Langley FCU does, including providing its members with Invest in America’s valuable discounts, “We’re always looking for ways to enhance the value of membership. The program has grown and now offers a variety of great deals and our members truly appreciate their credit union for making these avenues of saving available,” states Noll.

Staff and member reactions to Invest in America have been nothing but positive, “To sum it up in a word, appreciation,” Noll says. “Staff and members simply appreciate the fact that the credit union cares enough to help them save money when they’re shopping.”

To learn more about Invest in America visit LoveMyCreditUnion.org. 

Cultivating Loyal Members

It all started with earning air miles or credit card reward points. Nowadays people are flocking to deal-of-the-day websites like Groupon and LivingSocial. Consumers are always looking for a discount and have gotten used to never paying full price for the items they want. To keep up, businesses both large and small are adding reward or loyalty programs.

Your members are also looking to save money where they can. Credit unions that offer some kind of rewards program not only provide members with valuable discounts, they are also cultivating member loyalty and overall goodwill. Other benefits of an effective rewards program can result in purchases that help stimulate the economy and, when promoted correctly, can help credit unions grow.

It’s these reasons that CU Solutions Group created Invest in America, a member rewards program that offers discounts from trusted U.S.-based companies like GM, Sprint, AutoNation Direct, TurboTax, FTD, DIRECTV, Allied Moving, Shop America and more. They’re companies your members frequent and your credit union can tie to its core services like auto loans and credit/debit transactions. Discover what Invest in America can do to help your credit union grow at LoveMyCreditUnion.org.