It’s been a standard rule of marketing for generations. I’ve made references to The Rule many times in my blog posts and when talking with clients. But is it time to revise The Rule, at least for financial services marketing?
I’m talking about the 40-40-20 Rule. You should know it well. It says every direct mail marketing promotion consists of… Read more…
You probably don’t remember the old Burma-Shave billboard campaigns. The signs were used — and were popular — along highways from the late 1920s until the long series ended in 1963.
The Burma-Shave technique was to place one “jingle” style message on a series of small signs. Here’s one…
Offering your prospects multiple ways to respond to your promotions increases the success of your marketing campaigns. Today, let’s consider one response channel, your website.
There are two possible ways to use your bank or credit union website with a marketing campaign.
The fundamental banking account for consumers is the checking account. When you ask an individual where he or she banks, the name of the bank or credit union you hear is the one where the person has a primary checking account.
So it’s logical that you want to gain new checking customers or encourage current non-checking customers to open a checking account.
What are you doing to develop your professional marketing career?
Typically, when you read my blog posts, you see me tell you how to improve your marketing campaigns, give you examples of marketing ideas you can adopt, or I comment on events in the marketing world.
But today, I’m addressing your position as a professional marketer.
Typically, when you talk about versions for a marketing campaign, you’re referring to a direct mail campaign. However, the practice can also apply to print ads and even broadcast spots.
For simplicity, let’s assume you have a targeted direct mail marketing campaign and you wonder if or why you should have versions of the mail piece. I’ll give you some examples of when different versions can be used.
I’ve seen it happen to dozens of financial institution marketing promotions. The bank or credit union tries to squeeze as many product promotions as possible into one mail piece.
That’s not only wrong, it’s ineffective.
I suppose there are plenty of reasons mixed messages happen: Office politics (“Their product line gets a promotion and we don’t!”), or an attempt to save money (“If we put everything in this one mailer we can eliminate the other three!”), or even inexperience, as well as others.
It’s ironic. A bank releases a video promo about a bomb plot and the campaign blows up in the marketer’s face.
You may already have heard or read about Commonwealth Bank’s YouTube video where one of its marketing campaign mascots in the story tries to smuggle a bomb into an Olympic venue.
Let’s all say it. “What were they thinking?”
One regional bank that eliminated free checking a couple of years ago has reinstated the popular account to its checking lineup. In a press release on June 27, TCF Bank announced TCF Free Checking is again available to customers.
Since many major banks eliminated free checking, consumers showed their opposition by moving their checking business to community banks and credit unions that continued to offer the product. You know this story.
Recently, I described the three parts of a solid direct marketing promotion letter. But there’s another key area of the letter that typically gets overlooked.
The paragraph before the signature, the last paragraph of the letter’s body, usually is filled with phone numbers, website URLs, and other contact information.
That’s wrong.
You’re probably wondering why you should read a blog post that tells you how to sabotage your projects. You have people who do that for you. (Sabotage, I mean, not read.)
Well, if you can identify tactics and methods that doom or damage a project, then you can act to prevent them from doing their worst. (And of course, you want your co-workers to read this because they’re the ones who need to see it the most.)
So here are 11 tactics (better than a top 10, less than a dozen) I recommend you avoid…
“We deeply care about you, Mr. Resident. That’s why we sent you this important message. About nothing.”
No, that’s not what the postcard says. It’s my interpretation of the “personalized” message one of my colleagues found in his mailbox, sent by a local bank.
Front and back of this 5x7 postcard.
A few days ago, one of the ACTON Marketing sales guys asked me if I had a summary sheet that compared the practice of giving premiums to new accountholders when they open the account versus a system of multiple steps that earns a premium at the end.
Usually, I ignore anything sales guys say to me. (Just kidding.) When I looked through my files, I didn’t find anything written on the topic. But what a great idea for a blog post.
One aim of this blog is to share ideas with the readers. For today’s treat, here’s an example of a small self-mailer that gives you two different ideas you can use for your own marketing campaigns.
Slumberland Furniture sends these petite, cardstock self-mailers to prospects at the beginning of their birthday months. On the outer panel, it says, “Happy Birthday.” The mailer measures 6.25 x 4-inches when folded.
If you’ve been a financial services marketer for some time, you probably know about Tell A Friend programs. Here’s an example of what a marketing-savvy company does to generate new business through its Tell A Friend (TAF) program.
If you’re unfamiliar with TAFs, or even if you’re using a TAF program, you can pick up some ideas from this marketer.
Marketers are sometimes too impatient. I don’t mean they’re impatient to make a sale. That’s the reason for the job — selling. Or in the case of financial services marketers, it’s about opening accounts.
I mean they’re impatient with their advertising. Too quick to toss aside good advertising without a good reason.
What can credit union and bank marketers learn from a toy company? How to turn an unexpected event into a marketing advantage.
A few weeks ago, a Mitt Romney senior campaign aide made a comment that was picked up by the national media. Eric Fehrnstrom said, “Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You kind of shake it up and restart it all over again.”
Opponents and political wits jumped on the statement and it made news across the country.
It’s been about two decades since I was involved in the American ritual — a vacation trip to Disney World. Now I see, Disney wants me back.
If you’ve ever visited Las Vegas or other resorts, you’ll open your mailbox to find similar mail promotions that offer you special room rates and other discounts as encouragements to return.
Interest has perked up again, and I don’t mean the rate paid on deposits.
The general press has picked up on the story that Wells Fargo Bank intends to eliminate its free checking accounts in six more states. Add word that Bank of America is once again planning to charge customers additional fees and you see a frenzy of topical news reports.
Next to my computer at the moment, I have a story from the L.A. Times that was reprinted in the local paper. It’s typical of many follow-up reports and sidebar articles on the subject. It includes an old standby, the “man on the street” quote.
Recently, I wrote a series of product promotion posts for the ACTON Marketing Twitter site. These will be posted over a period of time and interspersed with information other members of our staff gather, write and post.
A few days earlier, I talked with clients who are updating their company’s website. The company has Facebook and Twitter accounts, but those fell into disuse. After changes in the staff, the responsibility for updating the social media sites hadn’t been reassigned to anyone.
