Persona Card Management, a Lesson from Amazon

Have you ever felt like 'big brother' is watching you? Have you visited a website and seen an advertisement for a product you were shopping for on Amazon earlier that week? How does the website know you were shopping for that item? Did Google tell them?

Understanding Cookies

When you shop on Amazon.com (or other sites), they drop something called a cookie, a small file, onto your computer or browser memory. This cookie contains information that websites can use to remember you, including what you were shopping for on Amazon. The next time you visit Amazon, they have a list of items you might be interested in based on these cookie files on your PC. It’s fascinating how Amazon can track your online behavior and use that to market to you in an intelligent and targeted manner.

Feeling Creeped Out or Inspired?

At this point, you may feel one of two ways:

1. Completely creeped out and no longer wanting to use the internet.
2. Wondering what your credit union can learn from Amazon's marketing strategy.

If you’re feeling creeped out, don't worry, many people do. However, if you’re curious about applying these strategies, read on.

Implementing Persona Marketing Strategies

Another marketing strategy used by Amazon and many other companies is persona marketing. A persona is a semi-fictional representation of a customer based on market research such as demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, income, purchasing patterns, etc. Personas create a precise image of an ideal customer to market to.

How to Implement Persona Marketing Strategies with Your Card Management System

A credit union data processing system should provide a card management system that offers an infinite number of card spending limits. When implementing a card persona strategy, how do you balance keeping your credit union in control while allowing members spending freedom based on their needs? Here are a few tips:

Create Member Personas

• Develop unique and descriptive examples of credit union members.
• Analyze their spending habits, transaction amounts, and spending sprees.
• Create several personas that delve into the granular details of your members' spending habits.

Create Card Categories by Persona

• Once member persona definitions are complete, create a card category for each persona.
• Find similarities in behavior to meet member needs through grouping.

Set Limits by Card Category

• Use the information gathered from member persona research to set limits by card category.
• Establish daily limits for ATM, POS transactions, and maximum debits for each card category.
• This step gives credit unions control over members who need to be closely managed while liberating stable members to spend freely.
  
  

Serving Members Based on Their Specific Needs

By implementing persona marketing strategies to your card portfolio, you can serve each member based on their specific needs. Stop casting a wide net that hopefully appeases everyone. Remember, while you can't please all people all the time, you can increase the number of members you can please most of the time.