Year Three FiLab Results: Finfluencer

Executive Summary

Credit unions were built on trust, but trust, especially with Gen Z, requires a new approach. As younger consumers struggle to understand and trust financial institutions, while at the same time increasingly engage with social media creators for guidance, the credit unions that fail to show up in those spaces risk becoming invisible to the next generation of members. However, "showing up" means more than posting on Instagram, it means partnering with voices that younger audiences already trust. That's precisely the premise Filene's FiLab set out to test in its Finfluencer: Testing Social Media Strategies report, where 13 credit unions launched influencer-driven social media campaigns to measure whether authentic creator partnerships could move the needle on awareness, engagement, and early indicators of member conversion. The findings suggest they can, often dramatically.

What this report makes clear is that influencer marketing isn't just a social media tactic, it's a trust architecture play. Filene research has shown that when it comes to building trust with Gen Z, authenticity matters. The Finfluencer campaigns that gave creators authentic creative freedom consistently outperformed traditional branded content in ways that surprised even the more seasoned credit union marketers that participated. Engagement lifts, website traffic spikes, and overwhelmingly positive audience sentiment were common themes across the cohort and the investment required was far more accessible than most CMOs might expect. Download the full report to see how the numbers compare to industry benchmarks, and what separated the top-performing campaigns from the rest.

Credit Union Implications

For credit union executives weighing whether influencer marketing deserves a seat at the strategy table, this research points to several high-value opportunities:

• Driving engagement with younger demographics: Influencer campaigns reach Gen Z and Millennial audiences who are actively forming their first financial relationships, precisely the future members credit unions need to engage before larger institutions and Fintechs do.

• Trust-building at scale, on a community budget: Creator partnerships offer a cost-efficient path to credibility, leveraging an influencer's built-in audience trust rather than requiring credit unions to build brand awareness from scratch.

• Competitive differentiation through authenticity: In a financial services landscape where institutional messaging blends together, influencer storytelling cuts through, sparking the kind of organic, positive audience response that no ad campaign can manufacture.

• Accelerating digital engagement goals: For credit unions focused on deepening digital channel performance, influencer campaigns drove measurable lifts across key marketing KPIs, see the full report for the results.

• Organizational readiness building: Participating in a structured influencer pilot builds the internal capabilities, compliance confidence, and partnership frameworks credit unions need to compete in an increasingly social-first marketplace.

The full report includes campaign case studies, performance benchmarks, a four-phase implementation framework, and actionable implications, everything a credit union needs to move from curiosity to successful execution.