What’s your brand plan, Stan?
Managing and curating your bank’s brand has always required discipline, vision and creativity. Today, industry disruption and COVID-19 have added a new mandatory: Relevance. [Continue]
The language of gratitude wields great power
Many of you operate family-owned banks. How might personal notes of gratitude play into prospecting for new business? Imagine a young couple in town who recently closed on a mortgage receiving an email from your president reflecting on the excitement he or she felt when they had closed on their first home. Could such a personal note offer a word of caution borne of experience? Imagine the impact of such a personalized communication from a new friend at the bank. [Continue]
Define your target market to stretch your marketing budget
Many bank marketers went into 2020 with flat year-over-year budgets but were expected to produce greater results than in years past. Then the pandemic came, pushing the need for digital transformation to the forefront and compelling executives to reallocate marketing budgets to support critical digital enhancements. [Continue]
Banking expectations of different generations
Financial services are in the unique position of being relevant and significant across all generations. No age group will outgrow the need for some form of banking, but what they expect of institutions differs. Here’s a closer look at the four primary generations in today’s market and what their banking expectations are. [Continue]
Turn PPP borrowers into core customers
Thousands of lenders across the country have loaned more than $230 billion to small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. While many banks focused on serving existing customers, perhaps equally as many attracted new customers. If your bank has acquired new customers through PPP, now is the time to solidify these relationships. [Continue]
Using digital tools to connect with customers during COVID-19
In response to travel bans, school closures and recommendations to limit group gatherings, many community banks are relying on digital tools, including document management systems, to ensure regular communications and to keep some semblance of normality. [Continue]
Social sharing helps you connect to the community
Consumers gravitate toward community banks in part because they enjoy supporting locally owned businesses. That relationship should be reciprocal — as customers support your bank, give back to them by supporting their community. [Continue]
Win young customers through reputation, better advertising
While younger generations happen to be primarily big-bank customers, it’s not necessarily because they like to. Big banks capture their attention by focusing their marketing efforts on their “superior” technology, which overshadows smaller community banks. The truth is consumers across all generations prefer the localized, personal service they receive from community institutions. [Continue]
Content is king
Breaking Banks, the No. 1 fintech podcast in the world, relies on word of mouth for marketing. Instead of creating sound bites highlighting products and services, banks seeking to reach customers through audio content should embed financial products into an examination of a customer’s bigger journey. [Continue]
10 banking podcasts to try
Though podcasts on everything from sports to true crime are popular, and some of the larger banks do have them, they’re not yet standard among community banks. Here are 10 to try. [Continue]