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Best Practices

Ralph W. Hillman Marketing Award

A group of six Rochester credit unions comprised of:  Advantage FCU, Family First of NY FCU, The Summit FCU, St. Pius X FCU, WCTA FCU & Xerox FCU was named the 2006 recipient of the Ralph W. Hillman Marketing Award during ceremonies at the New York State Credit Union League Annual Meeting & Convention held in May in Saratoga Springs.

The “Rochester Joint Marketing” effort was unique in its approach and delivery.  Their effort marked the first time that such a large and diverse group of credit unions pooled resources and energy to create a customized, local campaign designed to promote shared branching to both the general public as well as current credit union members. 

With clearly defined objectives mapped out across the calendar, their six-week campaign included print ads, radio, a press release and in-branch posters. The consistent commitment to marketing the shared branching network during the campaign helped to set the tone for ongoing efforts to increase member awareness.  With these initiatives, the group captured the essence of Hillman’s message – a message focused on bringing greater convenience to more credit union members.

2007 Ralph W. Hillman Award Application

Target Marketing - Best Practices

Take a few minutes to tell UsNet about your successes every quarter. Mail us your marketing campaigns, newsletter articles and other innovative ideas on how your credit union markets the network. From these success stories, you equip us to build a clearinghouse of ideas.

Employee Education

Orientation Packages

  • We provide shared branching information to new employees as part of our new hire orientation. The orientation packet includes complete details on CU Service Centers. We include a Q&A that we purchased through UsNet. The Q&A helps give staff an idea of the types of questions they may receive from members. We also provide staff a sample CU Service Center Passport to Convenience for a complete listing of national locations.
  • Neutrality

  • We always train new employees on network neutrality. After educating employees on the importance of following the neutrality rules, we require the employee to sign a statement confirming that they will uphold the neutrality agreement. This helps our employees realize how important neutrality is to the success of the network.
  • Updating Staff

  • When our credit union management team holds its regular staff and management meetings, we include updates on new CU Service Centers and reinforce to staff how the Centers benefit our members.
  • Marketing CU Service Centers to Members

    Travelers Cheques

  • When members request Travelers Cheques at the teller lines, our tellers inform members about CU Service Centers and their benefits. If members mention where they are traveling, our tellers provide them with a list of nearby CU Service Centers to visit, along with our web address, where they can go for new and up-to-the-minute locations. We also provide a Passport to Convenience locator handbook that members can take with them.
  • Dormant Accounts

  • Some of our members’ accounts may become dormant simply because members are not aware that they have a convenient way to access their funds. Our credit union sends out a dormant account letter to members explaining the availability of CU Service Centers.
  • Senior Club Members

  • We mail an annual Passport to Convenience directory to members in the senior club, as they tend to travel a lot. We send the directory early enough so it reaches members before the snowbird season begins. We take a minute to explain the convenience and benefits of visiting a CU Service Center.
  • College-bound Students

  • We educate parents on the benefits of CU Service Centers and the locations available where their children can access their credit union accounts while away at college. We include this information in our college loan package and in all communications we send to parents and college-bound students.
  • Retaining Members

  • We utilize CU Service Centers to help attract and maintain members who are in the Service. CU Service Centers offers our credit union members the ability to maintain their accounts, while they serve the country.
  • Target Marketing

  • When a CU Service Center opens near our existing membership base, we send those members a letter informing them of the new location, offering them another convenient way to access their accounts through the credit union.
  • Utilizing Turnkey Campaigns

  • We purchase turnkey marketing campaigns from UsNet. UsNet has several campaigns available to choose from. The campaigns are designed to educate members on CU Service Centers and the communication pieces are all customized with our credit union information.
  • Receipt Messages

  • We include shared branching information to members on receipt messages. This cost-free method of advertising provides our members a little reminder on the number of places where they can access their accounts.
  • Cost-free Marketing

  • We often utilize UsNet’s cost-free materials by going to their website for newsletter articles, web banners and press releases. It’s a great option for us when we don’t have a lot of money or time to spend on marketing.
  • We use an on-hold message to market our new locations to members and we send e-mail marketing messages as well.
  • We include a message inside our online banking message board, display a web banner on our credit union website home page and display a permanent link on our web site to the UsNet site for members to connect to the national locator.

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