CrossState League InfoSight Highlight: Spotlight on the Marketing Team
Effective marketing is critical to any credit union’s success. From website and home banking content to social media posts, email marketing, lobby boards, and statement stuffers, the marketing team is responsible for reaching existing and potential members through engaging information about the credit union’s products and services while also ensuring that all marketing messages are compliant with federal and state advertising laws and regulations.
The number and complexity of compliance rules can make it hard to keep up. Here are 5 ways the Advertising Channel in CrossState InfoSight can help ease this burden!
1. Ensure your marketing materials are accurate: All advertisements, promotions, and communications must be accurate and not deceptive or misleading in any respect and may not misrepresent the products and services that credit unions offer to their members. The Advertising Channel provides product-specific compliance information such as advertising loans, deposit accounts, consumer leases, and overdraft programs.
2. Help you understand and follow relevant regulations: The topics in the Advertising Channel are written in concise, easy to understand language that explains the law or regulation, why it’s important, and what the credit union needs to do to comply. InfoSight covers topics that might be less familiar to your staff like Website Accessibility, Endorsements and Testimonials, NCUA Advertising Signage Requirements, and Night Deposit Facilities.
3. Train employees in compliance: All staff who contribute to marketing efforts need to be aware of and follow regulations. InfoSight is available free of charge to ALL staff members of affiliated credit unions. Helpful items from InfoSight, including advertising checklists, compliance summaries, FAQs, and resources, give your marketing staff the information they need in a format and language that is straightforward and will help inform and educate your staff.
4. Monitor compliance changes: The marketing team needs to stay on top of changes in laws and regulations and update marketing materials and messaging, and policies and procedures accordingly. The InfoSight dashboard can be customized to show updates to selected channels (like Advertising!) so you can be alerted when changes are on the horizon. Most recently the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was updated to include the effective date of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act), which was originally published back on February 25, 2021.
Partner with the compliance team: Compliance extends to and is the responsibility of all departments of the credit union. Collaboration between the Marketing and Compliance teams is essential, and InfoSight helps bring your teams together with valuable information to get you on the same page to create an efficient process and ensure that any marketing or advertising efforts are both in compliance and meet the credit union’s messaging goals and objectives.