Benefits. Advantages. They make strong selling points when you’re promoting your financial institution’s products and services.
But when you go about your daily routine, you often forget the information you take for granted is new or unusual to your customers or members or prospects.
That’s why a little explanation about one of the current hot products could make that product more popular and help your bank or credit union open more accounts.
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Yes, there is a major downside to mobile check depositing.
Fortunately, the downside is to banks and credit unions – not to consumers using mobile deposit.
Growing up how often did an adult caution you that “you can’t have your cake and eat it too?”
I know I heard it fairly frequently when I was making an unreasonable request or had some unreasonable expectation.
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Comparison charts, once a fixture in direct marketing checking acquisition campaigns, could be ready for a comeback.
Checking account acquisition promotions in the 1980s and ’90s used comparison charts that named names and showed real features of the competing banks’ checking programs. Here’s a typical example of those historic charts.
Typical Free Checking comparison chart from the '80s and early '90s.
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Occasionally the creative team gets it wrong or misses a golden opportunity. This is one of those instances.
Last Sunday I came across a familiar credit union ad in the local newspaper. I immediately recognized it as being part of an overall marketing campaign carrying the three-word message “compare, choose, save.”
The campaign message has appeared in numerous newspaper ads and on area billboards over the past several months. Read more…
Years ago, when I opened my current checking account, the financial institution gave me something I’ve come to appreciate. It wasn’t a cup of coffee while I waited for the account manager. Not a still-warm chocolate chip cookie I sometimes see in the lobby. It wasn’t a premium gift or cash bonus.
It was a simple 2 x 3.5-inch card with the routing number and my account number printed on it.
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Why does your bank or credit union have a website? I know the real answer is, “Because all the other financial institutions do.”
That’s apparent when I visit some FI websites, as I do every week.
Certainly, some financial institutions have great sites. Full of useful information. Easy to use. Well designed.
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Have you ever given serious consideration about the need for cross-selling?
What does it really accomplish…if anything?
I suspect most bank and credit union customer-contact employees engage in cross-selling only after being urged or forced to do so by their managers.
Most people dislike selling or cross-selling. They hate the ongoing rejection that comes with selling. It’s tough to do well.
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The vast majority of consumers hate paying a monthly fee for their checking account.
It’s probably safe to say most of them also hate having to jump through hoops to avoid paying a monthly fee for today’s new fee-based checking accounts crammed down their throats by the mega-banks.
Why?
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Or maybe it’s EVP of Checking Products.
While many banks, and likely some credit unions, look to hire a senior level person to head up mobile banking initiatives and another for social media management, one really critical position remains unfilled.
One of the hottest job openings in banking today is the compliance officer.
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Product. Product. Product. That’s what your financial institution offers. Just like the hardware store, the supermarket, the clothing store all push products, your bank or credit union pushes checking, loan, and savings products.
There’s a new series of broadcast spots created by an agency for Union Bank, a regional bank based in San Francisco. The TV ads feature celebrities talking about “doing right.”
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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.
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How much organized business-to-business marketing do you do at your financial institution?
Too often the answer is, “Very little.”
Your business marketing can be successful, just as it is for the community banks in our two latest case studies:
- Business-to-Business Checking Account Promotions
- Business Checking Account Promotion using Retail Marketing
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Lately, I’ve noticed two points about bank and credit union marketing.
I watch for financial institution print ads, direct mail, billboards, even outdoor banners and lesser media. That statement is no surprise if you’re a regular reader of this blog.
Here’s my first point. Banks and credit unions are advertising again. Remember what it was like just a few years ago? Advertising budgets were slashed. No institution wanted to advertise because of the financial crisis. News stories about the crisis hit the papers and broadcasts daily.
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If your bank or credit union isn’t using a Tell-A-Friend (TAF) program, this story could change your mind.
A community bank went through ACTON Marketing’s training program for the financial institutions that use our customer acquisition strategy. As usual for these sessions, the staff learned about the TAF program and heard hints and ideas they could use to promote the customer-as-advocate system.
During the three months that followed, the program was a big success. TAFs accounted for nearly one-fifth of the new checking accounts the bank opened. Easy, easy, easy promotion. The bank didn’t need to hunt for those new customers or reach out to them. The bank’s current customers did the recruiting.
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I’ve had this belief for a number of years that at some point in the future something would come along to dramatically change the way consumers handle their money – specifically the money placed into a checking account.
It wasn’t the ATM or debit card that caused me to think this way.
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Look at this bank’s checking promotion postcard and see if you can find the secret hidden there. (Click to enlarge.)
Time’s up. No, there’s not a secret message encoded in the light bulbs. For a clue, read the last line of the long subhead: “…and a Free Gift!”
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Who or what is the most important aspect of your advertising? You can tell the correct answer by the headline on this post.
I saw a marketing tip for retailers that said their holiday marketing should focus on the customers.
My advice — customers should be your year-round focus.
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When a prospect sees banking as a two-way relationship, it can be easier to recruit them as accountholders. How do you accomplish that? Here are a few “educational” ideas.
Ocean Spray accounts for 80% of all raw cranberry use and holds a 65% share of the U.S. market. That doesn’t mean the Massachusetts-based company is content with its status. It continues to promote its products and uses one unique idea that shows ingenuity and its ability to strengthen bonds with current customers and influence prospects.
It’s the Ocean Spray Bog-osphere, a life-size moveable cranberry bog the company takes to venues like Walt Disney World and Rockefeller Center. The 1,500 square feet bog is packed with one ton of fresh berries and visitors can see how the berries are harvested, why they float, and attend demonstrations by bartenders and others. The actors who appear in the TV commercials also meet and greet the folks.
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“…72 percent of Americans said they would consider switching banks if their financial institution raised its fees on checking accounts….”
That quote comes from an article on the Bankrate website where the author summarizes a Bankrate study that focused on banking fees. The 72 percent figure is up from 64 percent Bankrate recorded in 2011.
That’s not all. An ABC News story covering the same Bankrate consumer study says those households with annual income of $75,000 or more are the most likely to switch (82 percent).
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Today’s young adults don’t realize that there was a time when going to the local bank branch was fun. It was an adventure – especially for kids.
In some respects, technology has changed consumer banking for the worst.
It’s now mostly a very impersonal activity experienced primarily online and via mobile phones.
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