Case Study: Corporate Central Credit Union

Sector: Nonprofit
Project: Social media marketing

After Sarah Best Strategy (SBS) delivered a well-received presentation at their 2021 Digital Marketing Forum on social media and Google Analytics, Corporate Central Credit Union (Corporate Central) sought us out for additional consultations on credit union social media ad strategy. After a series of customized sessions with SBS, Corporate Central was better equipped to target audiences, create and optimize ad campaigns, and interpret campaign results to maximize the cost effectiveness of future ad spends.

The Challenge

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Corporate Central is a corporate credit union, meaning they are a "credit union serving credit unions." Corporate Central, and their family of Credit Union Service Organizations (or CUSOs), offer innovative products, investment services, and lending programs to their members nationwide. Built on the values of commitment to service, fiscal responsibility, and respect for the individual, Corporate Central is set apart by firm adherence to their vision—“people helping people”—as they work to advance financial wellness for their members and for the people their members serve.

SBS first engaged with Corporate Central when Sarah gave a presentation titled “Is It Working? Understanding Social Media + Google Analytics” at Corporate Central's 2021 Digital Marketing Forum, receiving positive audience feedback. Following the forum, Corporate Central's marketing team contacted SBS to collaborate on a series of customized trainings on credit union social media marketing. 
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Having developed their own organic social media following, Corporate Central wanted to grow audiences for their family of CUSOs: InterLutions, Think | Stack, and QuantyPhi. They also wanted to develop their in-house team’s ability to develop and manage an effective social media advertising strategy.
Primary goals for our work together included:  

  • Effectively market Corporate Central's products and services to a niche, B2B-focused audience 
  • Increase followers for Corporate Central's family of CUSOs 
  • Understand how to buy ads promoting CUSO services and products and generate leads 
  • Develop team’s skills and confidence to manage social media advertising strategy in-house

The Idea

SBS guided Corporate Central through a series of trainings on creating LinkedIn ads for themselves and their family of CUSOs. The hour-long sessions covered the following topics:
  • Researching and setting up target audiences;
  • Planning ad campaigns and gathering assets;
  • Setting up LinkedIn ad campaigns; and
  • Interpreting and optimizing ad results. ​ ​
“Sarah created lesson plans that she shared with our team before each session. The homework assignments and in-session worksheets helped prepare us to maximize our learning objectives for each training. With her guidance, we were able to understand how to maximize our ad spends on the platform and were able to plan digital ad buys from start to finish, optimize our campaigns, and gain confidence to move forward in social media advertising.”
​        –Orianna Valentine, Marketing Communications Coordinator, Corporate Central Credit Union
In 2022, Corporate Central invited Sarah back to present at their 2022 Digital Marketing Forum, where she led a two-hour workshop, “How to Determine Your Social Media Mix,” to a similarly excellent response from participants.
“Attendees ranked Sarah’s presentation at our 2022 Digital Marketing Forum as one of the best. We received direct, positive feedback from attendees, including seasoned social media marketers, that the presentation was valuable in auditing their current tactics and adopting new goals and procedures for planning their social media marketing.”
        –Orianna Valentine, Marketing Communications Coordinator, Corporate Central Credit Union

The Results

As a result of our work together, the Corporate Central team has been empowered with best practices and next steps for developing and maintaining an effective, efficient in-house social media advertising strategy for themselves and their CUSOs. 

They have been equipped with the tools and techniques they need to confidently plan and maximize digital advertising spends. SBS also helped them understand how to utilize reporting and analytics to assess impact, and how to optimize subsequent campaigns based on those results.

"Working with the Sarah Best Strategy team is a dream. We appreciated the quality of instruction, the caliber of talent, and the responsiveness of the team. Our consultants were always well-prepared, the lessons were customized to our specific marketing needs, and the team supported us every step of the way with professional, timely communications. The takeaway worksheets and preplanning for campaigns set us up for success in future campaign planning. The Sarah Best Strategy team is a phenomenal marketing partner that helped us demystify social media and digital ad buying strategies and guided us through actionable steps to gain the confidence we needed to tackle our unique business objectives. They're a partner we trust and will go back to consistently when we need help with our digital marketing projects." 

​— Orianna Valentine, Marketing Communications Coordinator, Corporate Central Credit Union