(Albany, NY) – More than 40 credit unionists headed to Saratoga last week for the Credit Union Association of New York’s 2012 Marketing Conference. The agenda included seven unique sessions focused on the latest consumer trends, branding, social media, guerilla marketing and industry best practices.
“The conference offered such a large amount of great information,” said attendee Jason Cuoco, Greater Chautauqua FCU. “The best insight I gained was to market more on who you are, not what you do. Because everyone offers similar products and services in the financial industry, we as credit unions need to capitalize on our cooperative mission. Being more about the purpose than the products is what is going to earn the greater support of our membership.”
The conference kicked off Nov. 7 with morning sessions on differentiation and social media. In the afternoon, the group learned how to build legislator awareness and implement guerrilla marketing tactics to promote innovation. As the day ended, attendees were offered easy, low-cost, innovative ideas to take back to their credit unions.
On Nov. 8, presenter Josh Allison focused on two key topics: new strategies for reaching Gen Y and best practices in member recruitment, member retention and community creation.
“I have attended the Marketing Conference for nine years, and the speakers are always relevant and energetic,” said attendee Erica Volpe, MONEY FCU. “The most enjoyable part is the interaction between the presenters, as well as my professional peers. It’s a giant roundtable discussion with like-minded, creative people! I left with a notebook full of ideas.”
First-time attendees also benefited from the conference. “I am new to my credit union and wanted to take the opportunity to better understand ways of marketing who we are and the importance of what we do,” said attendee Krista Svedberg, Suffolk FCU. “The conference was very well done. The sessions were interactive and fun, and they helped me better understand that we need to reach our members through emotion, human connection and a greater personal commitment.”
The Credit Union Association of New York has served as the trade association for the state’s credit unions for 95 years. New York credit unions have assets of more than $57 billion and serve 4.6 million members. To learn more about the Association, visit www.cuany.org.