A credit union has plenty of market research options dedicated to solving common challenges of a financial institution. Many financial market research studies center around new, current, and past members, such as new account surveys, member satisfaction surveys, and closed account surveys.
While these three surveys are great resources for banks or credit unions, there is a study that often goes overlooked: non-member community surveys.
Our bank and credit union market research company shares three reasons why your financial institution needs to start surveying non-members. Enjoy!
Create Customized Messaging
When should a credit union conduct non-member surveys? Drive Research, a market research company that specializes in the financial space, believes a community survey should be conducted at any time of the year (and often). If we had to choose, a great time to start this process is before executing any new marketing or advertising materials.
By conducting a non-member community survey before launching a marketing campaign, credit unions are able to use fact-based evidence to create advertising messages that are most unique and appealing to their target audiences.
This type of credit union market research will also shed light on top sources of awareness. By knowing this information a credit union understands exactly what media channels their ad placements should be present to get the most attention.
For example, if a majority of community survey respondents use Google to find a new financial institution, a credit union should consider running Google Ads to people in their community who search for terms such as, “credit union near me,” “where can I get a car loan?” and other keywords or phrases.
Measure Community Awareness
By surveying non-members, a credit union is able to measure the community’s level of awareness, negative or positive perceptions, and words or phrases associated with their financial institution. This allows the marketing department of a credit union to modify sales materials and advertising messaging to put your branch in the most positive light possible.
The biggest growth for a credit union is non-members in the community. The more you understand what these people think of your financial institution the better (whether it be positive or negative).
If the perception of your credit union is negative, use this feedback to make necessary changes and take back control of how your branch should be perceived.
If the perception is positive, make sure these attributes are mentioned everywhere in your marketing materials and collateral. For example, if a large majority of non-members know your credit union to have the friendliness staff, leverage this on your website, in your commercials, in radio ads, on social media, etc.
Here are 3 findings from a financial market research study that may shock you.
Gain a Competitive Advantage
In a highly competitive industry, banks and credit unions are always looking for unique ways to gain a leg up against their direct competitors. Often times, our credit union market research company recommends conducting non-member surveys to gain insight into how and why members in the community decided to open an account with a competing credit union.
A non-member community survey is a sneaky way to poll customers of a competing credit union about their process for decision-making. Specifically, a non-member survey can ask customers of a competing bank or credit union questions surrounding factors of choice, likelihood to switch to a different financial institution, levels of satisfaction, and much more.
The answers to these questions can help your credit union understand why your institution was not the credit union of choice and how you can grow to become one. Use why customers are not satisfied with their current provider as a reason customers should switch or be more satisfied with your credit union.
Drive Research is a national market research company located in New York. Our team has the knowledge and tools to design a robust quantitative or qualitative study specifically for banks and credit unions.
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