Bank Marketing Strategy + Ideas

What truly makes a bank a community bank? Is it because it’s in a small town or community? Is it because the money comes from and stays in the community?

If that’s the case, why isn’t the local grocery store called a community grocery store? Or the local pharmacy called a community pharmacy? Is your favorite restaurant referred to as a community restaurant?

I think most bankers in “community banks” want you to believe they are there just to serve you and the other people in that community. They want to give the impression that they know your name and your kids’ names, your birthday and anniversary – especially since you go to the same church and sing in the same choir. Their kids play with your kids and they eat in the same restaurants as you. They know what kind of house you live in, what kind of car you drive, and therefore, they know what kind of financial help you need – right?

The problem is that when you walk into most community banks today, they don’t look any different than the large national or regional banks.

They’ve still got the same old rack that has been sitting there for years with the same old generic brochures imprinted with the bank’s name on the back with a rubber stamp. In the middle of the lobby is an old marble table with an ink pen chained to it. Some banks even have a candy dish with candy leftover from the “community Halloween party.”

On the wall is a large screen TV with either CNN or Fox News playing. (It’s as if a team of very good TV salesmen traveled the country a few years ago, convincing bankers that their customers want to watch TV while they stand in line waiting to make a deposit. In reality, banks are now paying $80 a month for cable to irritate 50% of their customers at any given time by playing political commentary from the wrong side of the aisle.)

Over the last couple of years, many successful community bankers have begun using technology to start putting community back into their community banks.

One of the greatest things about technology is that it levels the playing field for many industries. Small businesses can now compete with large businesses, and community banks can now compete with large banks.

These successful banks are turning their TV’s into “community event calendars” by putting a small computer – a little bigger than the size of your hand – on the backs of their TV’s. This enables them to communicate with their customers in a more meaningful way. Banks can now instantly congratulate the local football team on a big victory or show graduating seniors from the local high school instead of paying $80 a month to show footage from the war in Afghanistan.

They can promote the community dance recital or concert, introduce a new employee, or talk about the bank’s new products and services. 

For roughly half of what most banks are paying for cable, they can now subscribe to a digital sign solution from companies like www.BankMarketingCenter.com. 

All they have to do to get started is go to a web-based marketing portal and simply customize and personalize an ad. Once created, that ad can be running on their TV’s – in front of their customers – in seconds.

Banks can even select the date and time they want these messages to appear. For instance, they can promote remote deposit capture during lunch hour, when most of their business customers are lining up to make a deposit.

With BankMarketingCenter.com, community banks are able to put “community” into their communication pieces as well. For example, when a loan officer is calling on a customer, she can instantly put in the customer’s name, logo and picture. And all of the bank’s football program ads can now include real pictures of the football team!

By putting a little technology into these community banks, they are now able to put more “community” into their business.

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Neal Reynolds has worked with hundreds of banks and credit unions around the country helping them to grow core deposits and market share without growing their marketing budgets.  Contact him at nreynolds@eadshop.com.

I work with a lot of community banks around the country and many of them are asking about social media. Should we be on Facebook? Should we Tweet? What about LinkedIn?

I tell them that before they start worrying about all of this new media, they should concentrate on two of the oldest and most proven forms of social media: the mail and the telephone.

Instead of worrying about being “liked” on Facebook, try picking up the phone, calling your customers and telling them how you like having them as customers and how you appreciate their business! Then they will like you and your bank a whole lot more.

Or, try using the social media that has worked for hundreds of years: the postal service. Handwritten notes and phone calls work because, typically,  the only correspondence most people ever get from their bank is a monthly statement or overdraft notice.  

I have had my personal and business checking accounts at Bank of America for over thirty years and I have never gotten one phone call or thank you note. But you can bet that their senior management at corporate headquarters is trying to figure out what to do with the millions of complaints that are showing up on the Internet, including a website named BankofAmericaSucks.com. 

So before signing up for Facebook or Twitter, try picking up the phone or licking a stamp. It will sound better, taste better, and your customers will like it a whole lot more.

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Neal Reynolds has worked with hundreds of banks and credit unions around the country helping them to grow core deposits and market share without growing their marketing budgets.  Contact him at nreynolds@eadshop.com.

A few years back, my cable went out suddenly during a football party.

The wings were hot, the beer on ice. We were all sitting eagerly in front of the television, decked in orange and blue . . . and then, just after the first play of the game: blackout.

I was so angry that I vowed to never pay for another service from them ever again. I called a satellite company the very next day and made an appointment. But when the serviceman arrived, he had disappointing news: too many trees for satellite.

And it didn’t stop there. Not only did I have cable service through the cable company, they also provided us with Internet and phone service. In the end, I stayed with them. Bottom line: dropping them was too much trouble.

Cable companies are experts at cross-selling and up-selling customers, making themselves so “sticky” that it becomes very difficult for customers to switch providers. Now, finally, banks are following suit. But there is still a huge opportunity for growth.

Take online bill pay, for example.

Though paperless billing continues to gain popularity with both businesses and consumers, research shows that only half of online banking users are currently enrolled! This is despite the fact that those who use these services are among a bank’s most loyal and profitable customers!

So much of marketing your bank is successfully up-selling and cross-selling products and services to existing customers and then providing them with exceptional customer service so that they stay happy and become customers for life.

Online bill pay is an easy sell because of the benefits it provides. Customers – both business and consumers – can access their accounts remotely, make secure payments at any time without having to write and mail a check, transfer funds between accounts, and view and print past statements. Businesses also benefit by setting-up online payment arrangements with vendors, which saves time and cuts administrative costs.

The bank also wins. In addition to saving thousands of dollars a year in printing, posting and administration, enrolling customers in e-statement and online bill pay programs increases customer loyalty. A customer’s bank account is linked to multiple vendor and creditors, ultimately making it more difficult for them to change banks.

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Neal Reynolds has worked with hundreds of banks and credit unions around the country helping them to grow core deposits and market share without growing their marketing budgets.  Contact him at nreynolds@eadshop.com.

In this new era of banking, banks need to start rethinking the way they handle their customers. In the past, most banks just looked at how many new customers they acquired each month or how many new checking or CD accounts were opened.

But today, banks have to think about cross-selling or up-selling their current customers to additional products or services. The more products or services a customer has with a bank, the longer that customer will stay. 

Banks must begin analyzing their customers to see what other products they could use. Could they use a home equity loan? A car loan? A safe deposit box? Money market account? Online bill pay? Remote capture?

Ask yourself: How well does your bank know your customers?

Two of the most important services a bank should promote to their existing customers are 1) online bill pay and 2) remote deposit capture.

Once a customer has set-up all of his or her vendors and payables into a bank’s online bill pay, they’ll have second thoughts about ever moving to another bank. And once they get set-up with remote capture, just the thought of changing banks will make them sweat.

So instead of sitting around trying to decide what interest rate you should pay to get more customers, try looking at what other products or services will keep your current customers’ money in your bank until death and beyond.

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Neal Reynolds has worked with hundreds of banks and credit unions around the country helping them to grow core deposits and market share without growing their marketing budgets. Contact him at nreynolds@eadshop.com.