Financial Marketing and Cross Selling Blog
Generating referrals from your banks website -
In a recent ABA Bank Marketing magazine article, Little Changes -Big difference, it was noted that “nearly 95% of visitors to a bank home page visit to login”. This is a staggering figure, especially when you consider all the other areas of your site and the importance they hold in building relationships.
If this is where your customers are going, then this is where you need to be talking with them about all the other great services you have that can help solve their problems. But you can’t look at online advertising the same way you look at print, radio or TV advertising.
In our recent post on bank marketing we highlighted a report by Forrester that showed 32% of customers don’t mind targeted ads in their bill statements but only 8% said they didn’t mind these same ads on the web. This clearly shows consumers view information they receive online differently from the information they receive in the mail.
So what should you be talking about with your customers online and how should your messages look? It should appear natural and not too flashy. Anything with bells and whistles will turn your customer off. Unlike with print ads where if the design doesn’t catch the eye within the first couple of seconds its next location is the waste basket.
In this same October issue of the ABA magazine another article, Build the... Read More >>
Bank marketing gets a boost from recent Forrester Research report
In a recent MarketingWeek article, they highlight findings from a Forrester Research report that shows citizens from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Italy are alright with receiving targeted advertisements in their banking statements they receive in the mail.
What was shocking to me was the finding that showed the percentage of consumers who still get and also read their mailed statements. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve checked the “eco-friendly” button for my statements. In fact, 70% of my demographic (25-34 yr olds) read their bank statements on paper. Who are these people?
However, one finding I hadn’t thought much about but when I do it does make sense is people are more willing to read targeted advertisements in paper form then online – 32% prefer statement ads while 19% said email and 8% said web. Direct mail was the worse with only 6% saying they don’t mind reading this approach.
The Internet is looked at as a free society and when ads disrupt this freedom it throws the viewer for a loop. Whereas the more traditional mailed materials are expected and not as intrusive.
Bank marketers need to make sure that these two forms of communication are different in nature. Online, the marketing must be more subtle and not as flashy. The more natural it looks the more likely you are to attract readers. Unlike print where it’s important to catch the eye with a bold design otherwise it will end up in the waste basket in lighting speed.
We like to tell our clients that the biggest advantage they have over competitors is the many touch points they have with their... Read More >>
Bank customers turn the corner on branches and head to online channels
It’s not a surprise but in a recent American Bankers Assocation survey report it shows that the online channel is now the #1 place for customers when it comes to conducting their banking tasks. The survey spoke to 1,000 consumers over the phone ages 18-55+ and 25% said they prefered going online then to any other channel. Branches came in at #2 with 21% saying they go here to conduct activities (This includes all age groups). If you segment out the 18-35 age group the online channel is a whopping 38%! 
The moblie channel appears to have gone backwards. This raises a few eyebrows considering the massive amount of new moblie phone users and the number of new banking applications that have been developed over the past year.
Netbanker has some interesting insight on to how these numbers came about. Read more here.
But no matter how you slice it, more and more people are moving away from what was and still is the heart and soul of the community bank – the branch.
In recent posts we’ve discussed the need for banks to look at this new migration as an opportunity for developing deeper relationships. If... Read More >>
Developing leads through your bank website
As more and more bank customers find their way around the online platform, the harder it becomes to drive cross selling opportunities at the branch level. All signs point to more effective marketing techniques online where customers are spending most of their time.
But what does it take to get the dialog started online? How can you transition a transaction minded customer to research mode?
For starters, you need good, easy to read content. Most consumers today are not reading the Wall Street Journal or Financial Times on a regular basis. The typical American hears the word Tax Deferred Bonds and cringes. So when you want to build or purchase education, keep this in the back of your mind.
Once you have the education, make sure you use it in a way that gets customers to raise their hand. Remember, most people don’t visit their local library because they want to. To make education exciting, tie it to financial situations that we all face. Make it pop and most importantly, make all content connected to your professionals. Make it easy for customers to submit requests to talk or meet in person.
And finally, make your content portable. The easier it is to walk away with information the more likely customers will read it. Better yet, give the customer the option to enter their contact information before... Read More >>
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