Idaho Central Credit Union was organized as a state-chartered credit union in 1940. Today, with over 25 branches and 500 employees statewide, they serve a healthy, growing 180,000+ membership.

The secret to their success? For Idaho Central, it's simple: Every decision they make puts members first.

Business Challenge

Idaho Central's mission statement-Helping members achieve financial success-is the heart of their business. But in the fast-moving and highly competitive financial services industry, meeting members' needs requires a communications approach that's both personalized and innovative.

Solution

In 2010, Idaho Central invested in the Salesforce Marketing Cloud to launch several email marketing campaigns. These campaigns, which are designed to take members on a financial services journey, are strategically sent throughout the first six months of a new membership.

Idaho Central's successful campaigns include:

The New Member Onboarding Program

Before partnering with the Marketing Cloud, Idaho Central would give new members a welcome packet that consisted of hard copy brochures outlining all available products and services. With their Onboarding Program, Idaho Central's new members now receive a series of email offers introducing products and services on a more timely and relevant basis. The series includes offers for checking and savings accounts, auto loans, Visa card applications, and mortgage loans. Members can engage with the emails at the time of send, or they can revisit information online as their needs change and evolve.

A Spring Refinance Offer

In the spring, Idaho Central runs a home equity line of credit (HELOC) campaign to encourage members to either consider refinancing their current mortgage or open a HELOC account to fund summer projects. The emails are targeted to members who could potentially benefit from lower rates and to those who currently have mortgages with no home equity line of credit attached.

The Skip-A-Payment Option

Every July and December, Idaho Central sends its prequalified consumer loan members the option to skip a scheduled loan payment. Before partnering with the Marketing Cloud, this process was time and labor intensive for both employees and members. Direct mail offers had to be sent; responses had to be printed, signed, and returned; and paperwork had to be manually scanned and recorded. With Email Automation, members can now skip a payment with an online signature (via DocuSign™ technology) and a few clicks. The initial run of this email campaign resulted in the highest offer acceptance rate in Idaho Central's history.

In addition to Idaho Central's highly successful email campaigns, they've also recently implemented the Marketing Cloud Email + Salesforce.com integration. With Salesforce as Idaho Central's customer resource management (CRM) provider, relevant and timely member and prospect information can be easily accessed by the sales team and integrated into digital communications.

Results

Idaho Central's results have been impressive. In fact, investing in Marketing Cloud technology and leveraging the Marketing Cloud Email + Salesforce.com integration has fundamentally changed the way Idaho Central serves its members.

In 2011, Idaho Central used the Marketing Cloud to send a total of 320,384 emails. They have developed 48 campaigns and sent nearly 1.2 million emails. They currently have 12 automations occurring regularly, and six of those are triggered sends. Overall, email delivery has increased 31%. Their volume and efficiency have improved due to increased automation and confidence in the system.

For the past two years, Idaho Central has experienced 20% annual growth, and in 2012/13, SNL Financial named them the nation's Top Performing Credit Union.

But what's most important to Idaho Central is the knowledge that they're creating stronger member relationships and delivering on their mission to help each and every member achieve financial success.

"Our biggest win," Marketing Data Analyst, Wes Bell, explains, "is that our members can now accomplish what they need to accomplish in a timely manner. We're creating an environment where we can support their financial success and minimize the amount of time it takes them to conduct their financial affairs. The Salesforce Marketing Cloud helps us build credibility, strengthen our brand equity, and better serve our members."

That's bankable success.