The Question Every Credit Union Marketer Is Asking
If you're a part of your credit union's marketing team, you already know the challenge of reaching and engaging younger current and potential members. It's one of the most pressing priorities in the industry right now and remains one of the hardest problems to solve. Traditional marketing channels that worked for previous generations are ineffective for Gen Z, and the pressure to find a new strategy is mounting.
Finfluencers are social media content creators who build engaged audiences around personal finance content and many of them have figured out something when it comes to connecting with younger audiences. However, the big question for credit unions has been whether that same magic could translate to a financial institution brand. That's exactly what Filene's FiLab and 13 participating credit unions set out to answer.
How the Test Worked
Filene's FiLab partnered with 13 credit unions to participate in a structured finfluencer discovery test, pairing each one with a social media influencer to launch short-form content campaigns across platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Campaigns ran for approximately two weeks and were designed to measure performance across three core areas:
- Engagement: Understand how influencer-driven content can spark two-way dialogue and interaction with credit union messages.
- Conversion: Explore how influencer campaigns translate attention into measurable action.
- Reach: Examine whether influencers can introduce credit unions to new audiences, particularly Gen Z and young Millennials.
Participating credit unions followed a four-phase approach that spanned:
- Goal Definition
- Influencer Sourcing and Contracting
- Content Creation
- Post-Campaign Measurement
What made this test particularly interesting is that 11 out of the 13 participating credit unions had never worked with an influencer before, which means the cohort was largely starting from scratch and the results reflect a true first-time experience rather than a polished, seasoned program.
Results? Spoiler Alert: It Worked, Really Well
The numbers from this test are genuinely exciting, especially when you consider the relatively modest investment required to run these campaigns. Across the cohort, the campaigns collectively achieved an average of :
- 300,000+ total social media impressions
- ~37K views per campaign, with one credit union alone racking up 103,300 views on a single TikTok campaign
- 1,700 likes per post, a 166x lift over the pre-campaign baseline of just 11 likes per post
Follower growth told an equally encouraging story, with the cohort averaging 3% growth across platforms during the campaign period, outperforming typical financial services benchmarks on every major social channel. Even early conversion signals were promising: Redwood Credit Union's campaign drove 297 click-throughs from influencer content, which accounted for 29% of their total website traffic on campaign launch day alone. All of this was achieved at an average total campaign spend of just $4,300, making influencer marketing a surprisingly accessible strategy even for credit unions with lean marketing budgets.
The beauty of influencer marketing: it pushed us outside of usual content habits, and the end result resonated with audiences in ways that branded posts just can't.
Key Findings and Perceptions of the Participating Credit Unions
Beyond the campaign performance, one of the most compelling findings from this test came from the credit unions themselves. After completing their campaigns, 100% of the 13 credit unions said that they were either somewhat or extremely likely to leverage influencer marketing again, and 63% said they felt more comfortable with the approach after going through the process. That's a significant mindset shift for an industry that has historically approached new social media strategies with a mix of curiosity and hesitation. The feedback from participants pointed to a consistent theme: the credit unions that gave their influencer partners creative freedom and built genuinely collaborative relationships saw the strongest engagement and the deepest audience connection. The takeaway is clear, authenticity isn't just a buzzword in the context, it's actually the key to building trust and engagement with Gen Z.
What This Means for Your Credit Union
The findings from this test offer several practical lessons for credit union marketers who are considering taking the leap into influencer marketing.
- You don't need a massive budget or an enormous existing social following to see meaningful results
- The quality of the influencer partnership matters far more than the size of the influencer's audience, focus on value and brand voice alignment more than follower count
- Building your tracking infrastructure before the campaign goes live, is essential to capture the full picture of your campaign's impact to make the case for continued investment
The Bottom Line
Influencer marketing in the credit union space is still in its early stages, which means there is a genuine first-mover advantage for the organizations that start building this capability now. The FiLab Finfluencer test showed that with the right partner, a clear creative brief, and a willingness to trust the process, credit unions of all sizes can generate real engagement with younger audiences in a way that traditional marketing simply cannot replicate.
If you want to go deeper on the findings, the full FiLab report is available now, and be sure to join us for our member-exclusive webinar on March 26 at 11am CT, where we will share everything we learned from this test and how credit unions can start utilizing influencer marketing themselves. If you need help with getting started, we've recently published our Finfluencer Campaign Playbook, developed by Filene's Center for the Next Generation of Member Growth, which offers a practical step-by-step guide for launching your own influencer campaign.
