SWAP 2025-2026 Results: Strong Growth, Strong Reach

​SWAP Campaign nears 12 million impressions despite shortened schedule.

By Lindsey Hefta, VP of Marketing and Communications 

The Dakota Credit Union Association's (DakCU) Statewide Awareness Program (SWAP) continued to build momentum throughout the 2025-2026 campaign year, generating more than 11.8 million impressions across North and South Dakota and approaching the 12 million mark.

This year's campaign represented an important transition as DakCU brought the initiative fully in-house and launched a refreshed creative strategy centered around the theme, "Your Money. Your Values. Your Credit Union." Although campaign development and production resulted in approximately three fewer months of advertising than a typical year, SWAP still achieved results comparable to previous campaigns!

The program's success is particularly noteworthy given the shortened advertising window and slightly reduced overall budget. Through strategic media planning and targeted audience outreach, SWAP maintained strong statewide visibility while continuing to promote the credit union difference to consumers across the Dakotas.

The majority of impressions were generated through a combination of billboards, GSTV placements, and targeted digital display advertising, which remained the campaign's highest-performing channels.

This year also introduced several new tactics designed to connect with younger and underbanked audiences where they already spend their time.

Streaming audio advertising, added for the first time this year, generated nearly 200,000 impressions, extending the campaign's reach across popular music and podcast platforms.

Additionally, Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising was incorporated into the media mix, delivering approximately 230,000 impressions through placements in gyms, colleges and universities, recreational venues, and other high-traffic locations throughout the Dakotas. These placements provided another effective way to engage consumers while driving traffic to the campaign website and credit union locator resources.

Since its inception, SWAP's mission has remained consistent: to increase awareness of credit unions throughout North and South Dakota. The campaign is designed to complement, not replace, the marketing efforts of individual credit unions. By working together through a unified statewide message, participating credit unions help ensure that when consumers search for financial services, explore membership options, or simply want to learn more about credit unions, they are more likely to consider a local credit union as part of their decision-making process.

As planning begins for the 2026-2027 campaign year, I am seeking additional volunteers to serve on the SWAP Advisory Team. This opportunity is not limited to marketing professionals. Anyone interested in helping shape the future of the statewide awareness program and providing input on how marketing dollars are invested is encouraged to participate.

The advisory team helps provide feedback on campaign messaging, creative concepts, media placements, and overall program direction to ensure representation from credit unions and communities across both states. Participation requires minimal time commitment, typically just a few emails and feedback opportunities throughout the year.

For those interested in learning more about the SWAP Advisory Team, please contact me for additional information.