Nothing's Wrong With Being the Best-Kept Secret

By Shari Storm

At our board meeting this weekend, our newest board associate admitted to the group, "I didn't even know about credit unions until I met Sherry Steckly."

Those of us in credit union land have often heard this type of remark. For years this made me cringe. I always took it as a criticism of my advertising strategy.

This is until Denise Wymore introduced me to Net Promoter Score and the idea that a member you get through a referral is worth more than a member you get any other way.

And that made me re-think my reaction to the "you're the best kept secret" conversation. Now when I hear someone say "I didn’t even know about credit unions until…." I think, "Wonderful! We were there at the precise moment you were ready to change institutions. Not only were we there, but you met a person so impressed with us, they convinced you to move your accounts and now you are lamenting the fact you didn’t know about us years ago."

How many commerce relationships have you had that made you say, "I wish I knew about you ten years ago?"

My guess is, not many.

That leads to an important question. Which is better, having a small group of people who love you a lot or a large group of people who are familiar with you?

Enter Twitter.

When I started Twittering in 2007, I had a small group of friends who I conversed with and I felt like I was in an elite club who really “got” social media. Twitter was where the cool kids hung out. I invited several of my friends to join me and my circle on Twitter grew. This went on for some time.

Then Ashton Kutcher came along. He and CNN started competing to see who could have more followers on Twitter. Oprah joined in and so dd P. Diddy, or whatever the heck he's called these days.

Suddenly you couldn't throw a stone without hitting someone saying something or other about Twitter. Now there are millions and millions of people using it. It was on the cover of Time magazine last week.

Does being a household name make Twitter any better? I don't think so. The experience on Twitter has been diminished somewhat due to the sudden influx of users. I no longer feel like I'm one of the cool kids who knows a cool secret and so I no longer refer anyone ot the site. I hate to admit it, but I'm a little biased against the Jonny-Come-Latelies too.

Credit unions have been pining over more market share since I entered the movement ten years ago. But will it really solve anything? It didn't seem to help WAMU or Bank of America. Just because everybody knows your name, doesn't mean you are any better off, and it can, in fact detract from the user experience.

Perhaps the goal shouldn't be to gain name recognition, but to capitalize on the best kept secret.

Three considerations:

1. Develop strong referral programs. I think programs that offer an incentive to both the referrer and the refer-ee are good. We've done a couple of things with groups like churches and clubs where the association gets $25 when a person opens an active checking account and another $25 after three months. The beauty of these types of promotions is that the association does the marketing for you and the acquisition costs are direct and variable.
2. Remind your current members to refer you. Ask any good sales person and they'll tell you, you don't get business until you ask for it. Credit union people are great people, but we are often not good sales people. I don't know why we are so shy about asking for business. But start bucking that trend and get your people chatting up your current members for more business.
3. Consider targeting your current members for some of your advertising. I realize this sounds counter-intuitive. The only reason we advertise is to tell people who don't know about us about the credit union and our services. It's to get new members. But I think there is wisdom in reinforcing with your current members that credit unions are a good choice for them. Credit Unions of Washington has an advertising campaign that, while not the original intent, has helped build a stronger sense of affinity with our current members. The same can be said of BECU's current advertising campaign. 

Credit unions were formed to serve affinity groups. Many of the marketing lessons learned in those days can still apply today. Don't be afraid of being the best kept secret, leverage it. 

(Author's note: This blog post was written before Twitter became the only source of Web communication in Iran. While current affairs weaken my analogy some, I believe my considerations are still valid.)

Shari Storm is VP/chief marketing officer for Verity Credit Union, Seattle, and a CUES member. She is also an author. Her first book, Motherhood Is the New MBA: Using Your Parenting Skills to Be a Better Boss, will be released Sept. 29, 2009. Read her Motherhood is the New MBA blog in the meantime.