The Advantages of E-Marketing

Ron Daly, DigitalMailer, Inc.
January 25, 2007

Ever feel like TV commercials, radio spots, bus butts, and newspaper ads are just a lot of shouting? Your members could be feeling the same way. With a technology-infused society, traditional mass media just doesn’t connect with most consumers today. Yet, out of convention, advertisers still spend the bulk of their marketing budgets on these tactics.

Don’t get me wrong: The Madison Avenue approach that built many Fortune-1000 companies worked well when there was less competition, fewer marketing channels, and goods and services were somewhat scarcer. Now, it’s beginning to fall on deaf ears. That makes it tough in the financial services sector, where the mass media is constantly shouting at consumers about where they can get the best deal on home financing or to save for the kids’ education. How do you cut through the chatter to make sure what you have to say is heard above the din?

Click and Connect

The answer is right at your keyboard. With 147 million American adults now using the Internet, why not meet your members online? Using the right digital technology, you can connect with them at the moment they’re in the market for your products and services. That makes moving a portion of your marketing resources to online applications not only a smart relationship-builder, but it also saves you time and money:

Cost savings. E-marketing eliminates printing and postage costs. You can take the best of traditional newsletters, ads, or direct-mail offers and customize them, sending them electronically at a fraction of the cost of other methods.

Targeted. Instead of the usual shotgun approach, e-marketing gives you the opportunity to customize the right messages for the right audiences. Have a member who wants to know when you’re planning a car-loan sale but doesn’t want to refinance his house? A well-planned e-marketing program provides the tools to specifically target that need.

Measurable. With interactive tools, such as online surveys, you can immediately track and assess members’ responses to your e-marketing program. Not getting the results you want? You can easily rework your message for greater effectiveness.

Top of mind. E-marketing allows you to create niche e-mail lists. That means you can remind specific members of what you have to offer when they are most ready to act.

Pack Your Virtual Toolbox

By creating a comprehensive, integrated e-marketing strategy, you can conserve precious marketing dollars while improving the frequency, reach, and impact of your promotional messages. A variety of digital tools are available that that can drive members to your website or provide opportunities for member interaction, which ensures multiple entry points for members along the technology path:

• Online banking allows members 24/7 access to their accounts, not just during typical banking hours. And every transaction takes your member to your website, providing you with more cross-selling opportunities.

• E-statements offer a logical first e-communication tool, especially for your online-banking members. You can provide account statements and notices online, strengthening member connections while reducing postage and printing costs.

• Bill payment offers another way to draw members to your website, while allowing them to safely and efficiently pay bills at their own convenience.

• E-mail alerts that are preference-based bring out the best in e-marketing, reaching members who want to receive specific types of promotions and information – a ready, receptive target.

• E-surveys are fast-becoming the new walkie-talkie. A two-way communication tool, e-surveys deliver a high-value, low-cost means to obtain member feedback.

Thanks to digital technology – and consumers’ growing comfort with it – getting the right message to the right member at the right time is an easier connection than ever before.

Ron Daly is president/CEO of DigitalMailer, Inc., an e-marketing firm providing digital communication tools to credit unions. For more information, call 866-994-4900 or visit www.digitalmailer.com.