Digital Experience Report

Content Is King But Credit Unions Struggle to Make it Relevant

Topics: Best Practices, Content, Digital Strategy

Last month, Finalytics.ai released its 2023 Credit Union Digital Experience report on the state of digital at the largest 100 credit unions in the United States. Over several weeks we are publishing blog posts that drill down into the various categories and scoring that made up the final results used in the report. This blog post focuses on how the top 100 credit unions measure up in creating original content on their websites that attract and engage.

In the 2023 Finalytics.ai report, the following criteria assess how credit unions performed in:

  • home page content quality
  • product pages content quality (integration and cross-promotion)
  • original financial education content
  • content hubs
  • content density
  • content freshness
  • content variety
  • supporting content

 

Our analysis discovered that credit unions still struggle to create relevant and effective content, meaning there is a clear opportunity for those willing to invest to generate product and education content that stands out.

best content credit union dx report 2023

The five organizations with the top scores in content were Delta CU 3.11, CommunityAmerica CU 3.00, First Technology FCU 2.89, Suncoast CU 2.89, and Vystar CU 2.88. All scoring in the Finalytics.ai report is on a scale of one to five, with one being “poor” and five being “most innovative.”  Findings from our evaluations include the importance of the following areas.

Home Page Content

Visitors don’t visit financial sites because they want a loan or a checking account. They want a new car, ways to pay for college, or any other financial goals that a credit union can help them achieve. Despite that, only 7% of sites devote any space on their homepage to modules that explicitly address goal-based behavior, such as tools to help them choose the right product. In contrast, over 80% of credit union homepages promote products, and over 70% advertise their rates. The rest of the homepage is usually devoted to a mix of brand, educational, and community content that varies widely from site to site. The lesson here is this:

Stop thinking like an employee of a CU and start thinking like a member trying to solve a problem.

Content’s Role in the User Journey

Once they arrive at a product page, visitors may be at a different point in their journey. Some users are ready to convert, but others are still in the research phase; they want to learn more about the topic before making a decision. For that reason, product pages need to connect to related educational content – and vice versa.

Although 80% of sites provide at least one link to educational content, it’s often inconsistent. We found that not every product page is linked to educational content. Even when it is on the product page, it’s more likely that the link is generic rather than a recommendation for specific articles that are directly related to the product.

 

Read the entire 2023 Credit Union Digital Experience report.