“CAST was easy to work with and the deliverables really exceeded our expectations.”
– Lori Hays, Marketing Manager, Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union
The Challenge
With budgets stretched and time tight, organizations find that success is often at the mercy of resource limitations. Such was the case for Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union (MSDFCU), a leading financial institution supported by a small but mighty marketing team.
Merck Sharp & Dohme FCU is one of the largest credit unions in Pennsylvania, serving the needs of more than 33,000 members. To promote its offerings to members and potential customers, the credit union takes advantage of a wide array of channels—necessitating breakthrough work to ensure visibility and success.
The Solution
In support of its move to the Paymentus Bill Pay solution, Merck Sharp & Dohme FCU worked with the Paymentus Client Adoption Success Team (CAST) on an incentive campaign (sweepstakes) wherein two members would be awarded a $500 Visa gift card. To enter, members simply needed to make an online payment using Bill Pay. Paymentus provided the prizes, as well as the full creative to support the sweepstakes.
A key aspect of Merck Sharp & Dohme FCU’s marketing strategy revolves around the usage of a wide variety of marketing channels. This multi-channel deployment strategy ensures all members can view and act upon the credit union’s initiatives, though it does create challenges in terms of the development of promotional materials. CAST met this challenge by providing finalized creative that included:
- Copy for Website
- Web banners (Across several platforms and sizes)
- Email headers
- Social media posts
- Online banking messaging
- Mobile ads
- Bill inserts
- Lobby posters
- Banner statements
The Results
Encouraging the use of Bill Pay was a major part of the credit union’s internal goals. CAST allowed MSDFCU to meet its goals by delivering fully fleshed out creative for every marketing channel typically used by the credit union. The turnkey incentive campaign allowed the marketing team to focus its efforts on additional campaigns, providing the set-it-and-forget-it convenience needed by the team.
One major caveat of any incentive campaign is the necessity of disclosures, and terms and conditions. CAST handled all of the legalese, with very little fine-tuning being required.
During the three-month period of the incentive campaign, MSDFCU outperformed comparable financial institutions in several key metrics*, including:
- Bill Pay activity (1.5X stronger performance)
- AutoPay adoption (2.5X stronger performance)
- Bill Pay user growth (2X stronger retention)
