Fill in the most urgent needs, but also look for some quick wins

Turn your CU website into a virus fighter

Now that we’re here in the new normal, your credit union’s website is the focal point of contact with your members.

With everyone hunkered down and branches mostly closed, now is the time to beef up your website to make sure your members get what they need to weather the storm.

Here’s what we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks as our CU website clients adapt and overcome.

Plan and prioritize

What are the most immediate member needs that your website’s abilities and content could help fill in?

Fill in the most urgent needs, but also look for some quick wins, things you can roll out fast. Contact your web developers for some problem-solving and strategizing. Possibilities include:

  • Alerts for pressing news (at top of home page or pop-ups)
  • A resource center or landing page that gathers all relevant info in one place
  • FAQs to help keep phone lines less overwhelmed
  • Simple directions or explainer videos to help people use live chat, video tellers, or sign up for SMS/text messaging
  • Webinars or virtual events (such as your Annual Meeting)

Push paper processes online, pronto

Darn near any paper or PDF form can be quickly turned into a secure. mobile-friendly online form and embedded seamlessly on your CU website.

Our favorite online form providers are Formstack and Cognito — both are US-based, offer amazing form builders with advanced logic, notifications, integrations galore, the ability to collect images and electronic signatures, and much more.

Most importantly, they offer the appropriate grade of security and the added layer of encryption needed for securing sensitive member data.

Be nice to the newbies

There’s a large chunk of your membership that’s new to doing things online – and they’re burning up your phone lines. Do everything in your power to help them succeed.

Ask your call center folks what the top ten questions are, and get the answers on your website ASAP and PDQ. Use screenshots, use screen recording to make explainer videos, and anything you can to help folks figure out bill pay, online banking, mobile banking, and mobile check deposit.

If you have how-to videos from your vendors, they might be confusing if they don’t look the same as your environment – but they’re a lot better than nothing.

Make sure your home page answers the Six Questions at a glance

On every credit union website we’ve built, the data from internal searches and Google Analytics are remarkably consistent. These are the Six Questions members have when they visit your website. The faster you answer them, the better.

  • What’s your routing number? The top internal search term on every CU site is “routing number”.
  • When are you open? Are you open? Especially crucial questions right now. Things are changing quickly.
  • How can I communicate with a human? Put your phone number at the top of every page, with links for email, contact form, chat, etc. nearby.
  • Where are you? If only certain branches are open, or drive-through only, make sure this info is easy to find.
  • What’s going on right now? Most of the time this is a special rate or offer. Right now, of course, the answer is whatever you’re doing to help your members cope; payment skip, special loans, etc.
  • What are the Current Rates? Make sure your rates pages are easy to find, so that rate watchers can bookmark it.

Crank up your content machine

What do YOUR members need to know? What’s happening in YOUR town, and what can YOUR credit union do for them that no one else can?

Communicate, communicate, communicate on your website and in your chosen social media platforms. Maybe it’s time to dust off that neglected blog or scare up your Facebook login. For example, what are the scams going around in your specific community?

And communication has to be two ways; make sure members have several ways to ask questions and get answers. Contact forms on your website, Facebook messages, email addresses, carrier pigeons, whatever it takes. Make sure someone is staying plugged in so you can respond quickly.

Running out of ideas and time for research? Our pals over at CUcontent.com have released a free library of COVID-19 content for credit unions. Customize to fit your CU and enjoy the time savings!

Refocus on mobile

How does your website work on mobile devices? Right now, more mobile eyes than ever are viewing your website. Maybe it’s time for some tweaks.

For example, many mobile users won’t bother with your navigation; they’ll just use your site search. Make sure your search form is up top and easy find and make sure it’s exposed or available with one tap.

You’ll also want to make sure your internal search engine can cope with “natural language”; close to half of all searches on mobile use voice search.

Get professional help

Credit union marketers have a strong do-it-yourself (or do-it-ALL-yourself) streak, but there are times it really helps to get an outside perspective, fresh ideas, and the benefit of wider experience.

And this is one of those times if there ever was.

Here at iDiz, we’ve helped hundreds of credit unions handle every kind of challenge. We’re proud to support credit unions as they support their members. Just let us know how we can help.

Brian Wringer
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