I received a “personalized” email last week titled 5 Savings Strategies for Your Down Payment. Strategy #5 on the list was: “You may need to make more money.” (Well yeah. Always sage advice.)
The email annoyed me for two reasons:
According to recent research What’s Going On In Banking 2018, 64% of mid-size bank and credit union executives don’t believe their marketing is future ready. And it was 64% when the question was asked a year ago.
In a recent session on Future Ready Marketing hosted by Harland Clarke and facilitated by Cornerstone Advisors, we polled bank and credit union executives on their marketing delivery and content. Let’s define delivery here as the way the customer interacts with sales, marketing and service processes across the bank. Let’s define content as knowledgeable and interactive information put together to stimulate action. While I recognize that a poll of webinar attendees isn’t exactly scientific research, practically none of the attendees rated their content and delivery as strong—and a lot of bankers feel the same way. What’s to be done?
Two Turntables: Content & Delivery
“I got two turntables and a microphone.” –Beck
Content is growing in importance as more consumers and businesses shift many of their interactions toward digital self-service. The freewheeling conversations with customers who saunter into their local branches on impulse are less and less frequent, so engaging customers digitally with knowledgeable content that encourages them to participate, respond and share is critical. A good example recently published in American Banker is how some banks coordinated helpful webinar content to guide small businesses and treasury prospects.
Delivery that is designed to interact first digitally is increasingly important because that’s how more and more customers begin the discovery and onboarding processes now. Instant credit decisions and Amazon purchasing have birthed customer expectations of smarter and faster interactions based on behind-the-scenes analytics they never even see. The resources necessary to build and maintain an analytically informed delivery channel are staggering to many management teams and boards, but as industry veteran Niel Devasir pointed out in this quick video, analytics leadership cannot be outsourced, even if some of the technology is.
In the Future Ready Marketing poll, although more bankers felt they had strong content than felt they had strong delivery, neither was felt to be strong by a majority. This is consistent with research on technology priorities in What’s Going On In Banking 2018 and what I’m seeing in our advisory work. Reshaping delivery is the main project right now, with sales and marketing delivery processes the hot ticket for system deployments or replacements. In keeping with this trend, at a recent industry roundtable, half of the executives in the room were in the process of deploying a new marketing automation platform.
Delivery may be THE current reshaping project, but content cannot be neglected. With the industry never more competitive for customers’ attentions, here are three tips banks can use to improve their message:
It’s important to continue having the funding/resourcing debate. To keep it from becoming just another heated set of opinions, some setting of the table with a newer management accounting approach can be really healthy.
What’s in your message?
-Sam
Sam, couldn’t agree with you more. In it’s simplest form, marketing does just break down into the message and the delivery.
But I think your headline is biased. Based on your story, it could have easily have been written: Are Banks Missing the Mark on Delivery?
Yes, the message was lame without a way to respond or react, but I would argue that this message should never have been delivered to you in the first place.
John, Thanks for jumping in with thoughts. Agreed I shouldn’t have received that email, but I still wouldn’t have wished it on someone who WAS thinking about a down payment. How helpful is it really to tell someone they might need to make more money? It’s like, if we follow that thought, if the readers all MADE more money, they wouldn’t necessarily even need to BORROW the money, would they? And no encouragement of even a conversation. No way to respond or interact. Just preachy and unhelpful. So I’m thinking it’s not just about delivery. It’s also about having something of value to start a conversation, improve customer experience, grow revenue.
Sam – I get just as an angry over thoughtless content from financial companies that fills my inbox. I think your most important point in this article is that analytics leadership can’t be outsourced. Banks have not quite figured out that a dashboarding tool can’t replicate this form of leadership.
And while content is bludgeoned into the brains of everyone today, it still amazes me how little time is spent on the quality and sequencing of information. Do something before a webinar that feeds into it, hold the webinar, provide a second chance or additional content afterward. Do that a few times and see what types of leads you get, banks! It’s not that tough.
Thanks for chiming in, Hunter. Yeah, the What’s Going On 2018 research found that while 64% didn’t think their marketing was future ready, 81% didn’t think their analytics was future ready. Analytics leadership is a BIG part of the issue. How can an organization be a marketing leader now without being an analytical leader ? Still, beyond analytics and delivery, I’m puzzled by anyone would be sent a message that doesn’t encourage any kind of engagement at all. Beyond lack of effectiveness when there is no call to action, what kind of message does it send that there is no apparent desire to engage. Just slamming it out there.
Sam,
I have two concerns about future content:
1) Many FIs will screw up too many times in trying to get it right and will have lost the audience in the process. How likely are you to read emails from that lender again? 0%
2) Until AI is effectively deployed (years), content development is often not seen as a strategic within companies. How many times have you seen senior executives caught off guard by something the company said, posted or emailed?
Scott, Totally agree with your comments. The big concern for me is #1. Losing the audience due to disregard for reputational risk. Branding 101. You are right that I won’t read emails from that sender again.
I’m late to the party, but glad I caught this, Sam! I saw a financial institution auto loan ad near me featuring a stylized sports car and the rate. The area is primarily middle- to upper-income, younger to middle-aged families. How does that speak to a suburban soccer mom? Maddening that marketing departments are still treated like the pretty poster people who are an expense line on the budget. Know your audience. Don’t just assume they’re attracted to what the CEO or board would like to see. Financial institutions must do their research and analysis to really know who they want to attract, and then they need to execute based on the data-driven insights. Rant over.