How HubSpot’s New Features Boost Credit Union Email Efficacy

Members’ inboxes are crowded. From retail promos to community updates, they receive dozens of messages a day.

Your credit union emails are competing for just a sliver of attention. That’s why, even with a strong message, campaigns can stumble.

The challenge isn’t just what you say; it’s when and to whom you say it.

And even the most thoughtfully crafted campaigns still run into two big challenges:

• Timing emails to send when people are paying attention
• Reaching contacts who are actually likely to engage

Luckily, HubSpot’s Send Time Optimization and Optimize Email Engagement solve both of those problems.

Now in public beta for Marketing Hub Enterprise accounts, these new features bring long-requested functionality into HubSpot, helping credit unions send smarter, better-timed emails to the right audience segments.

Why Timing & Targeting Have Been a Challenge.

Until now, credit unions using HubSpot have had limited options: send all emails immediately or schedule them for a single fixed time. Marketers had to guess when members might be most responsive, often relying on “best practice” blogs about Tuesdays at 10 a.m. or similar benchmarks.

The problem? Your member base isn’t generic. From students to retirees, engagement patterns vary widely, and guessing leads to lost opens, wasted clicks, and rising risks of unsubscribes or “graymail” (emails that aren’t spam, but are ignored by members and hurt deliverability).

How Send Time Optimization Works.

With this update, HubSpot uses machine learning to analyze each member’s historical email behavior (opens, clicks, and responses) to predict the optimal send time for that specific person.

Instead of blasting your entire list at once, HubSpot stagger-delivers emails so members receive them when they are most likely to engage.

You’re still in control:

• Set earliest and latest send times to avoid impractical hours.
• Choose a delivery window (e.g., 24–72 hours).
• Send according to the member’s time zone, not yours.

This small but mighty feature removes guesswork and turns timing into a competitive advantage.

How to Optimize Email Engagement in HubSpot.

Timing is only half the equation. HubSpot also introduced engagement-level targeting, giving credit unions more control over deliverability and recipient quality:

• Highly engaged: Members who frequently open and click your emails
• Moderately engaged: Members who occasionally interact
• Least engaged: Members who rarely respond

You select this in the Send to tab when creating an email. By narrowing recipients to engaged members, you:

• Protect deliverability and sender reputation.
• Focus energy on those most likely to respond.
• Build healthier long-term lists with fewer unsubscribes.

Why it Matters for Credit Unions.

Credit unions serve a wide range of member personas, each with unique behaviors and needs. These updates address common challenges like:

• Boosting campaign performance: Loan offers, card promos, and community event invites reach inboxes when members are most likely to act.
• Protecting list health: By excluding the least engaged contacts, you maintain deliverability and avoid damaging your sender reputation.
• Personalizing at scale: Every member gets a tailored experience without requiring more staff time or manual effort.
• Supporting lean teams: Marketing teams wearing many hats can send with confidence, knowing their emails are reaching the right people at the right time.

Practical Use Cases for Credit Unions.

Here are a few ways to put these features to work:

• Monthly Newsletter: Start with a non-critical send to test how optimization improves open rates.
• Loan Campaigns: Deliver auto loan or mortgage offers at optimal times for each member.
• Credit Card Promotions: Improve engagement with upgrade or reward campaigns.
• Financial Education & Community Outreach: Ensure newsletters or event invites aren’t buried in inboxes.

Why These Updates Are a Game-Changer.

Email has always been a top-ROI channel for credit unions. But until now, HubSpot users had to rely on generic benchmarks and batch-and-blast tactics.

With Send Time Optimization and Optimize Email Engagement, you get two critical improvements:

• AI-powered timing that delivers messages when members are most likely to respond.
• Engagement-level targeting that ensures you’re reaching the right audience with every campaign.

The result? Higher open and click rates, stronger member relationships, and healthier email lists.

Stop Guessing, Start Optimizing.

HubSpot’s new tools make it easier than ever to cut through inbox noise, but knowing when and how to put them into practice is where credit unions often get stuck.

At Geear, we don’t just flip the switch on new features; we help your team translate them into measurable growth. From smarter segmentation to optimized send times, we’ll make sure your campaigns reach the right members at the right moment.

How much engagement are you leaving on the table? Let’s talk about what smarter timing and targeting could do for your credit union.