Marketing inside financial institutions is changing fast. As Jennifer Cortez explained during her conversation with Sarah Snell Cooke of The Credit Union Connection, the role today looks very different than it did even a few years ago. It is no longer only about campaigns or branding. Modern marketing leaders increasingly have to think like data and technology leaders because the member experience is now deeply tied to digital channels.
Jennifer, CMO at Alkami, has spent years working alongside credit unions navigating that shift. In the interview, she reflects on how digital banking, changing consumer expectations, and new generations of members are pushing institutions to rethink how they connect with people. Credit unions have always been relationship-driven. The real challenge now is recreating that same personal connection inside a mobile and digital environment.
“It’s not just about marketing anymore. You have to be equal part a data and a technology leader if you want to truly shape the customer experience.” Transcript
One of the most interesting ideas Jennifer introduces is something Alkami calls anticipatory banking. Instead of simply personalizing an experience, institutions can use data to anticipate what a member might need next. It is the digital version of the kind of guidance credit unions have historically provided in person.
The conversation also touches on something many credit unions continue to wrestle with: brand awareness. As Sarah points out during the discussion, credit unions often have powerful stories but do not always recognize or tell them effectively. Data, insights, and modern channels can help bring those stories forward in ways that resonate with newer generations of members.
At the same time, Jennifer stresses that technology alone is not the answer. With new tools, new platforms, and even AI entering marketing workflows, authenticity still matters. Credit unions that succeed will be the ones that combine modern digital experiences with the community-driven mission that has always set them apart.
NOTE: If the AI that spewed out this transcript were a chef, we’d all be eating cereal for dinner.
Sarah Cooke
I’m here today with Jennifer Cortez, welcome.
Jennifer Cortez
Thank you. Thanks for having me. Sarah, so excited to be here.
Sarah Cooke
Yeah, it’s awesome to have you. Jennifer is the CMO at Alkami, and so, yeah, tell us a little bit about yourself, because you’re new. Yeah, right. Tell us a little bit about yourself in the company. Yeah.
Jennifer Cortez
Well, I’ve actually, I’ve been Alkami and in the FinTech space for seven and a half years, spent a lot of my time coming in, doing events, digital marketing, done a little bit of product marketing, and so now I’m leading the team at Alkami. So it’s been great work with a lot of customers in the credit union space, obviously, and it’s just been a fantastic experience overall. Yeah, credit unions are awesome. They are. They really are. I have a relationship with a credit union that has, you know, guided me and some of the early times of my life and early stages of my financial journey and being an advisor to me. So I always really appreciate what they do and how they support their members. So it’s been a great experience, and it’s really cool to come and work with a company that supports credit unions as well.
Sarah Cooke
Oh yeah. Can’t get credit unions, especially nowadays, and it’s not just guardians, but banks, too. They can’t do all the technology themselves anymore. They sometimes they build their own core, and
Jennifer Cortez
it’s overwhelming the way everything changes so quickly. So we love that we can be there to help and support awesome.
Sarah Cooke
So yeah, you’re a CMO, yeah, marketing for a little bit. Yeah, a little minute. How is the role of the well, there are some credits of CMOS, but how’s the role of marketing in general? Kind of changed with time.
Jennifer Cortez
I mean, I think obviously, you know, the emergence of digital, really, you know, has changed a lot in that space. And then post pandemic, digital became more prevalent. I think nowadays that marketers that are leading this function at financial institutions and credit unions, it’s not just about your marketing craft and knowing the traditional marketing branding and what we’ve known in that in those channels, you actually have to be equal part a data and a technology leader in that marketing role now, because I think marketing leaders have a big role to play and what that customer experience is, and part of doing that well nowadays is being a data and a technology leader, and knowing how to leverage data and tech to take that customer experience and digitize it for the member, so that they have that that feel that relationship that’s always been there with their credit union, but in the channels they like to interact with now, right, right?
Sarah Cooke
And we mentioned covid that we saw where credit unions did not measure up in technology services. Because, you know, that was the time when bank satisfaction kind of went up and credit union satisfaction kind of came down a little bit. But, yeah, I think that we’re definitely in the in the process of closing that gap, for sure. Yeah. And so why do you think credit unions need to be involved in marketing in a, you know, kind of like you were saying more relational, using the data rather than transactional.
Jennifer Cortez
Yeah, you know, it’s interesting. We do a lot of our own research. Every year. We do a big generational trends research report with this center for generational kinetics, with Jason Dorsey. And as we do that, you know, sometimes people are leery of data, or that we say we’re leery of data, but our research actually shows us that 60% of those digital banking consumers actually expect you to use that data to help give them a more personalized experience. At Alkami, we talk a lot more of going beyond personalization. We talk about anticipatory banking. It’s not just I want you to personalize, you know, something with my name or know something about me. I actually want you to look at the data and the channels that I’m, you know, that I’m active in, and anticipate what I might need next. And I think that if credit unions, in particular, like I said, the biggest strength that they have is that relationship they’ve had with that member. So you’re taking that relationship where they know their members deeply, they actually were doing probably some level of anticipatory banking and in person, and it’s, how do I recreate that relationship in now that digital channel? Because that’s where they want that to happen a lot of the time. I also think what’s great, and we saw this coming out of I think covid is what I love about credit unions is they want to be innovative. So when it comes to regional and community institutions in general, they like to be the first. So coming, you know, when all that hit during covid, they were like, Okay, it’s time. Let’s make sure that we’re really active. We’re creating a really great digital experience out there.
Sarah Cooke
Yeah, and obviously that’s more important these days, like the member experience, I would argue. You is more important than your rates. I’m sure you guys are finding that as, yeah.
Jennifer Cortez
I mean, the other piece of our research that shows is, if they, if they aren’t feeling that that relationship is there and that experience is there, you risk attrition, right? And so you have to, it’s, it’s kind of another way we recommend looking at data. Data can tell you what to offer. It can help you grow the institution and offer relevant products, but data can also tell you, if you have at risk membership, that might be likely to go somewhere else, I think, especially as we see this with the younger generation. You know, I’m raising two Gen alphas, and I feel like with each generation that that there’s that impatience there, and they want everything right now, and they want it to work like immediately, so that need for immediacy becomes really, really prevalent. So I think that’s where data plays a role in multiple different ways. As you look at what that member experience is.
Sarah Cooke
Yeah, Gen Z is not going to put up with your, you know, ancient old app or no, I’ve watched it myself. I’ve had some Gen Z kids too, not at home on their own, but yeah, they really demand more. And I think in addition to the technology, obviously, in the data and the personalization, because that’s very important to them as well, but they also want you to support good, like, support, you know, be a pillar of the community, basically. And, you know, there’s no better than credit unions.
Jennifer Cortez
I think that’s such a it’s a really good thing that you call out there. It’s a really good point that credit unions can stand apart from other institutions out there is how much they do give back to their community, and how much they care Gen Z in particular. And we’ve also seen this in some of the research we’ve done. They care deeply about causes like that, and so there’s an opportunity to develop a rapport there with them early, because credit unions do so much for their local community out there. You know, the other thing that I have been a part of is we do a big women in banking movement, Alkami. We do regional events, and we had some of our credit union customers come and talk about their community events and kind of talking to the next generation through the generation that banks there. Because, you know, when you think about the members you have, a lot of times younger generations open an account or bank where their parents did. So. It’s a great opportunity now to tap into those younger generations, as you see, maybe behavior from, you know, members where, Hey, maybe I have a kid that is starting a job, or they’re going to go off to college, and I see something that’s showing me that something could be happening. Let’s start a relationship, or talk about developing, you know, a youth banking relationship there. And then you start to kind of educate those younger members about the types of community things that you’re doing, and then the world’s come together, the brand
Sarah Cooke
Hopefully this will get us there, because I feel like one of that’s one of the greatest threats for credit unions is is the lack of brand lack of brand awareness of credit unions overall, not necessarily individual ones, but as an industry, we could go out there and nobody, nobody tell you what a credit union is. And they do. I think a lot of the problem too, is credit unions don’t even recognize when they have a story, you know, and the data, yeah, you can actually say, Okay, this happened when these many things, you know, followed through and whatever. So yeah, using the data, can also absolutely tell a story. I love data journalism.
Jennifer Cortez
Yeah, it’s no, I you know, I think that that’s true. And I think so you kind of start with the relationships that you have, and then you look at, you know, how you can grow those relationships further. You know, we look at what we do in our technology, and we think beyond just like digital banking, we talk about digital sales and digital service, we want to have a place where you can, not just like your service channel for these members, but where can you equally take one platform and have that service there. How can you acquire new customers, and then how can you leverage data to continuously market and be, you know, provide what they want when they want it, at the right time and the right channel. But beyond that, you know, it’s the marketer’s dilemma. It’s, it’s no different for credit union than it is any other modern marketer out there, like I think about how the world’s evolved and how people want to consume content. I’ve spent most of my career in B2B marketing, and now I go, You know what? We have to start creating content in different ways that younger generations absorb. Maybe I do have to create videos for channels like Tiktok, because they’re out there getting financial advice in places like that. So it’s actually a really great opportunity to go out there and amplify your brand, but you just have to look at the modern channels to do it. I remember, like, you know, when social media started, and one of my earlier jobs, and I was like, I think we should, I think we should start this Facebook page. And people looked at me like I was crazy. And now social media is load up. I think we’ve we see that same relationship as marketing continues to be evolving, and as a marketing leader, no matter where you are, look at and take that and go, Okay, let’s see what channels the next generation is engaged in, and let’s get ahead of that, and let’s see how we can do that in a way that is still authentic to ourselves and our brand.
Sarah Cooke
Authentic to yourselves, but also authentic to the people who are the intended audience. Because I think that’s one of the issues, because I’ve seen credit unions on Tiktok and God love them, yeah, but it can be, it can be done wrong too, but yeah, using data for example, you know, you know. You can know what people want. Generally speaking, you can kind of figure that out.
Jennifer Cortez
Yeah, I think the authenticity point is really important too. Because obviously nobody will talk about AI. Everybody’s using AI, and we see in marketing, a lot of it’s being leveraged for content. And I think you’re going to see kind of a way where some of that type of content, those channels, gets it kind of unoriginal, because everybody’s doing the same thing. So you really have to go in there and personalize that to be authentic to that audience as well, to make sure that you don’t become noise. I think that if we’re not careful, every time something new with technology emerges and everybody starts to use it, it picks up. Everybody adopts it really quickly. But sometimes it can become noise, especially in digital marketing channels. So I think making sure, I think that’s where that human led piece will still play a role, to make sure that whatever you leverage data to do when it comes to your marketing does have that personal touch, does have some of that authenticity. I think why is allowing that.
Sarah Cooke
Allowing for that, for sure, get more humans involved in front of the member? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, what would you advise credit unions that are, say, looking to build up their brand, maybe even through their mobile banking? For example? Yeah, there’s lots of opportunities there. Where would you suggest credit unions work on that?
Jennifer Cortez
I think, you know, make sure that there’s so many tools out there, you know, it can be really, really confusing. So think about, you know, just where your priorities lie, and think about how you’re integrating all the different solutions you have. It’s very easy, with so many tools being out there, to actually overwhelm the member, because you’re having all these bells and whistles, but you’re sending them multiple places to do it. But if you can find one hub, one centralized hub. If you interact with them, most of them are interacting on digital in many cases. Now, how much can I offer them within one place? So they’re not having to go multiple places? Because at the end of the day, you know, we talk about digital creating less friction, in a way, with so many different tools out there, we sometimes create more. So look at where you can go out there, and like I said, that’s where we’ve really been talking about digital sales and service in one place. How do we create that same experience in one place, to make that experience for that end user, you know, seamless and frictionless and very, very personalized, to meet their needs.
Sarah Cooke
And anticipate what they might need down there. 100%
Jennifer Cortez
100%, they expect you to do it like I said, as weary as people can be with data, we all are, I think, at the end of the day about, you know, the channels where I interact. And so as you get nervous about your data, you go, no, what? No. But I want you to do this for me. I want you to make it easy for me. Have to give me the day. Yeah, yeah. There’s like, a balance there, right?
Sarah Cooke
And I think especially in the banking app, there is a real opportunity to deepen the relationships too 100% and that’s really important for Gen Z and younger people as well, because there again, you’re trying to come across as genuine. You’re coming across as a pillar of the community, and you’re also helping them with a solution, yeah, in the time of need, yeah, because you see their car loans three years old, and maybe they want a new car, you know, things like that that you can anticipate, yeah.
Jennifer Cortez
And I think that that’s when you go into those examples, anticipating that and really make sure. Making sure you’re paying attention to the data is key, because what you don’t want to do, and this was, you know, I’ve been in digital marketing for a while, when we got our hands on digital tools, it was like, oh, man, I can target this audience, that I can turn on this ad and run it. What we don’t want to do is turn things like that on, and then all of a sudden, you just had somebody apply for a loan. You offer him another ad for a loan, right? So it’s, Hey, they’ve done this action. Now, what can I do with my data? What can I look at to see what what’s next for them, or if they just did this, maybe I can actually offer some them, some education or some advice. I think it’s you want to be that that advisor to them at the same time, so that they come to you for their financial advice. I still the relationship I have with my credit union. You. I have relationships with banks and credit unions, and I have larger institutions that I kind of feel are more of that transactional relationship, but I know the name of person I work with at my credit union, and that’s more of that advisory type of relationship. So how do I take that and make that even easier for them to engage in that way in the digital channel?
Sarah Cooke
Yeah, and I think too, you. Know, credit unions have not been strong on cross selling and that kind of stuff, yeah. And so this offers perfect opportunity to be able to do that.
Jennifer Cortez
Yeah. We love in what we do in our digital sales and service platform, our data product looks at all the transactional data there, and we have what we call, you know, key lifestyle and indicators that help group all that data, so that we are looking at like, what could be next for them, and trying to make sure that we’re really, really personalized and paying attention to that member, so that they feel like that person that knows them in branch, they’re also getting that same kind of engagement in digital and it feels authentic there that like, Hey, you really are paying attention to me as an individual, what my buying patterns are, what it is that I may need assistance, you know, on in the future, that’s, that’s the whole idea there is to recreate that in that space. And that just makes that, if you do that, that loyalty will increase over time.
Sarah Cooke
And I think, too, this is also going to really change the perception of marketing within credit unions, because I feel like there are times when marketers are like, the pretty poster people.
Jennifer Cortez
Oh my gosh. My pet peeve is, you guys throw parties in order swag, right? And I’m like, No, we drive growth. We want to be a growth engine, but we also want to be part of that customer experience in our world, member experience in the credit union world, exactly. It’s really crucial that marketers are engaged. We have access to all that data, and so I think that we own a real important part of that member experience and that relationship.
Sarah Cooke
And so I always allow my guests to final thoughts as we wrap up here. What would you like to leave our credit union audience with today?
Jennifer Cortez
Don’t be afraid of the new and modern marketing channels out there. I think you got to be willing to take risks. If you want to be a leader, you want to be at the leading edge, that means testing out new channels and new strategies that maybe others haven’t jumped in on yet. So you know, don’t be afraid of taking those risks, because that’s what’s going to set you apart from others in the space.
Sarah Cooke
Bigger risk of not doing it right. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much for your time Jennifer.
Jennifer Cortez
It was so nice to meet you. Thanks. Sarah.