The email addresses of a bank’s customers and a credit union’s members are valuable assets for the financial institution. An email list gives you another channel to build loyalty and cross-sell other products and services.

Of course, to keep customers and members on your email list, you must offer something of value in your messages to them. I have an example of one bank’s email that satisfies the kind of value people expect.

Here’s a promotion for a special event the bank organized for its customers. Shred Days are popular with consumers because of the fear of identity theft. Now, this could have been just another announcement like so many others you find in your inbox, but when you click on the image above to enlarge it, pay close attention to the red bullet copy.

Let’s back up for a moment and look at the layout of the email. Headlines tell you everything you need to know. Just like the old newspaper rule for a good story, you get the who, what, when, where, and why in those three lines. The large graphic makes this a no-miss message even for readers who simply scan their emails.

Copy is brief. No one wants to read a long story in the body of an email without a good reason.

That brings us to the bullet points and the core value of this email message. The bullets could have been a reminder of the sort of personal items customers should shred. It could have reiterated reasons for shredding. Those and other lists are helpful.

But the bullets in this bank’s email are links to greater information:

• Get event details
• Check out the Shred Day video
• Take the Identity Risk quiz
• Get tips to prevent becoming a victim
• Union Bank & Trust on YouTube

Notice the last one? They slipped in a link to videos of their TV commercials. There’s your soft-sell cross-selling angle — and no one is going to opt-out because of it.

In fact, many customers will be grateful they have a chance to take the quiz and read the tips.

Value. That’s what customers want if they allow a business to send them email messages.

So now you have an example that shows it is possible for financial institutions to successfully use email as another avenue for marketing promotions.

There’s the idea. So what’s your plan?