Though it feels like the theme every year, 2026 has truly shown us that the speed of change continues to accelerate. As marketers, we need to be responsible for being content creators, analysts, strategists, member experience experts, event managers… all the things. The stakes continue to get higher with more platforms thrown into the mix, and it can be incredibly overwhelming—with many of us wondering where to even begin to get onto a train that feels like it already left the station.
Just like with a house, however, all of the new, fun, and exciting things need to wait until we ensure our foundation is sound. Let’s take a quick look at what makes a solid digital marketing foundation in 2026 (and beyond):
Website
This is your digital branch. Each year, more members and prospects will visit this than will visit all of your branches combined. Take a look at your SEO, website speed, content, and structure on a minimum of a quarterly basis. Your website should answer common questions and address common issues. It should be relatable and use language that non-financial experts use, while providing fast load times and updated features.
Pro Tip:
Your website should go through a redesign or a refresh every 2-4 years to keep up with the pace of technology!
Analytics
Whether you use Google Analytics (GA4), Adobe Analytics, or something else, having an analytics tool in place to measure your website performance is critical. This will give you insights as to where prospects and members are going, what products they care about, what parts of your site are frustrating them, and where they most often convert. (Aka apply to become a member!)
Pro Tip:
Most analytics systems don’t show all of the information you want to see out of the box, they take additional customization to really get the most out of them.
Tagging System
Though we are a fan of Google Tag Manager, you can also use tools like Shopify. Ultimately, a tagging system allows you to decrease reliance on programmers and still get the most out of your analytics tools and advertising campaigns—as well as track application completions or drop-offs!
Pro Tip:
Google Tag Manager is free with many resources out there specifically for marketers to learn how to harness their data and their website.
Member communication is critical, but also a fine line to balance. We of course need to keep members informed, without becoming spam. Do you have an updated distribution list and an effective means of reaching members at the touch of a button?
Pro Tip:
There are many secure email marketing platforms that you can use! Not sure where to start? Here at Synergent, we offer a secure email marketing portal for our credit union partners.
Social Media
Even if all of the social media platforms scare your executive team, go out there and secure your credit union’s handle on each. This is great to protect your brand and ensure you have flexibility down the line to add in those new platforms once internal confidence is established.
Pro Tip:
Social media content is evolving rapidly, moving away from highly polished and really embracing the raw/realness of life as seen through a phone camera. Incorporating video into your organic social posts can occur as you experiment with what you can capture from your own device! Try asking a member of your team that’s part of Gen Z. 😊
Business Profiles
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), Microsoft Business, Yelp—these and more are critical to manage, as so many different apps and sites pull information directly from here. Most importantly, your members and prospects also will be looking for information here. They will search for branch hours, locations, etc., even before they reach out to you, and often after they’ve visited your site.
Pro Tip:
There are many tools out there that will update every site out there all at once for you with this information to make it easier to manage (i.e., Moz), but you can manage them for free manually through each site, too!
Digital Banking App
Your digital banking app is one of the most powerful tools you have to use to connect with your members. This gives you direct insight into their behaviors, what they care about, how they engage with you—and many times—ways to provide them with personalized offers.
Pro Tip:
It’s never too late to review your digital banking app’s capabilities. Before you start building out a plan, check your adoption rates and see if you need to increase adoption before stepping into personalized offers!
Q3 is a great time to check your foundation, start to build a plan for next year as to how to shore it up, or to just do something fun! Did we miss anything? What do you consider to be part of your digital foundation?
