AMARILLO, Texas–The ways in which Education Credit Union is using artificial intelligence (AI) to better execute “smarter, targeted campaigns with speed and efficiency to modernize engagement” has been featured by BAI.
BAI says it provides financial services leaders with training, research, thought leadership, and benchmarking to help them make informed decisions and stay current with industry trends and regulatory changes.
In a post by Tiffany Sharpensteen, vice president of marketing at Education Credit Union in Amarillo, Texas, it was noted that the largest barrier to enabling strategic engagement and acquisition is siloed data.
Better Data Analysis
“Historically, pulling target audience data within our credit union required coordination with multiple departments, and relying on external vendors for segmentation and campaign execution limited our flexibility,” Sharpensteen wrote. “ECU implemented AI-driven marketing tools with a vetted AI partner to address these challenges, which allow our team to better analyze member data, identify high-potential prospects, and launch campaigns with greater precision.”
Sharpensteen said one of the credit union’s first initiatives was a checking account campaign, branded Smart Checking, for which it offered no sign-up incentive and instead targeted prospects who best matched the characteristics of our most engaged members to maximize impact.
“By applying AI-based targeting models to our member data, we narrowed down a large pool of 100,000 potential prospects into focused lists of just under 10,000 high-propensity prospects,” Sharpensteen shared. “The campaign leveraged a combination of digital advertising and postcard mailers, achieving results that validated our approach. Click-through rates exceeded 6%, far above our historical benchmarks, and conversion rates increased significantly beyond previous efforts.
Measurable Results
“Our campaign demonstrated how data-driven targeting can translate into meaningful, measurable outcomes,” Sharpensteen continued. “The focus on high-propensity prospects rather than broad outreach enabled ECU to garner a 270% lift in conversion rates compared to the prior year, reaching individuals who were more likely to engage and driving tangible growth. Targeted campaigns contributed directly to $2 million in new loan balances and $250,000 in deposit growth, while new members adopted 8% more products on average, signaling stronger initial engagement and the potential for deeper, long-term relationships.”
For the full post, go here.
