Bank Marketing Strategy + Ideas

Why do you call yourself a community bank?

Is it because your bank’s owners, directors and employees live in your community? Are they involved in the community? Do they belong to the Rotary Club? Do they sing in the church choir? Do they lead a Boy Scout Troup?

If not, why not? Being involved in the community is the only way to really be a community bank and it’s one of the best ways to market your bank – much better than newspaper ads, TV spots or radio commercials. Think about it: what’s more impressive – having one of your bank’s employees coach a community’s little league team or to have the bank buy a banner on the left field fence?

Is it better to have one of your commercial lenders lead a Girl Scout Troup or to just buy a few boxes of their cookies?

If you really want your bank to stand out in the community, get involved. Do some research and put together a list of all the community organizations, clubs and events in your area. Then decide – as a bank – which employee is going to get involved in each group. Make sure you have representation in the Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, different religious organizations, homeowners associations, little leagues and city councils, to name a few.

To be a community bank you either have to put bank employees into the community or bring the community into the bank. There are multiple ways to do this.

Does your bank have a large boardroom or training room? Open it up for community meetings. Offer classes and training on marketing, financial planning, insurance, long-term health care and accounting. Local businesspeople would love to be invited to lead these types of events and most would probably sponsor a breakfast or lunch for attendees!

Many in your community are looking for information and expert advice from people they can trust. And they will do business with those institutions that can provide this type of information.

Think of ways your bank can get involved in your community. You’ll be amazed at the kind of response you’ll get. Instead of worrying about all the new “social media” out there, just concentrate on being social!

Have a great example of how your bank is involved in the community? We’d love to hear from you!….

###

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.

As you know, I spend a lot of time writing about marketing and advertising plans for financial institutions. The most common response I get is, “Great ideas, but where do I start?”  So, today I want to help you put these ideas on your calendar!

January: Start today promoting your IRA and SEP’s. Most people in America are starting to think about filing their income taxes before April 15th and many may be considering these types of products.

February: As the snow begins to melt, many cities hold their annual “home show.” This is a great time and place to promote mortgages and home equity loans.

March: When the weather starts to warm up, boat shows pop-up all over the country. It’s a great time to offer boat loans in all shapes and sizes. The local little league teams will be selling “sponsorship ads” in their programs, so promote the fact that you’re a community bank and there to support them.

April: As we close in on April 15^th, you can run your IRA ads a few more times to get those last minute filers. People are also starting to think about vacations, so you could begin promoting your Travel Clubs.

May: Many high schools and colleges will be holding graduations, so promote the fact that wherever these graduates go in the future, you’ll be there to help. Also this month, since people will be traveling more, it’s a great time to promote car loans. Many people are also thinking about remodeling their home, so promoting home equity loans could be profitable.

June: As kids get out of school, many families go on vacation. Credit cards and debit cards are extremely popular this time of year.

July: As the country celebrates the nation’s birthday, it’s a great time to talk about being a community bank or credit union that supports the local community. Plan a Customer Appreciation Day with a bar-b-que and invite the whole town!

August: As parents begin sending their kids back to school or college, it’s a great time to promote education loans. The local high school will also be selling sponsorship ads in its football programs, so personalize your message for that specific school.

September: Christmas seems to get earlier and earlier each year and September is a great time to start promoting your Christmas Savings Plans.

October: Since Roth IRAs have to be done by the end of the year, October is a great time to begin advertising these. You can also start promoting Health Savings Accounts, since many people will be researching them before the end of the year.

November: Car dealers start promoting their end of year deals – a great time to promote car loans!

December: Take time to say, “Thank You” to all of your loyal customers. It’s also a great time to remind everyone that you are a community bank. Their money stays in their community and any loan decisions are made by people who know them.

Put these dates on your calendar today and get started. You’ll be surprised what a little planning can do!…

###

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.

Years ago, I invested in a flower shop. It wasn’t your typical corner flower shop filled with red carnations and yellow roses. In fact, we didn’t even have a shop. All we had was a van for deliveries.

I researched the flower industry and found that flower shops have very high margins, but very small profits. The main reason for this is the overhead cost and the fact that flowers are perishable. Since flower shops are typically in high traffic areas, their rent is often high. And they have to spend a lot of money on coolers and air conditioning.

We all know that flowers only last so long. If they don’t sell within a few days, you have to throw them away. So the secret, I believed, was to eliminate the overhead and sell the flowers before they wilted.

I hired a floral designer and we sent flower arrangements to all the top law firms, doctor’s offices, ad agencies, and insurance companies in town. This floral designer was also the salesperson. When one of our flower arrangements showed up to an office, our main salesperson got to meet the customer face-to-face. And because they came with flowers, the gatekeeper secretary always let them in!

We would deliver a large arrangement and let them know that we could deliver something similar every week for just $50. We started signing up customers. We would buy the flowers on Saturday from the wholesaler, make the arrangements on Sunday, and make all the deliveries before noon on Monday.

Since we knew how many arrangements we needed, we knew exactly how many flowers to buy. And instead of spending hours designing multiple arrangements, the designer would arrange all of them the same way. The best part was that when we delivered the arrangements on Monday morning, we’d pick up the vase from the week before, saving another $5. Our flowers were always fresh, and we had very low overhead and very high margins.

When you think about it, banks have similar challenges as flower shops. They are usually in high traffic areas, so their rent is high, and the money they collect in deposits needs to be invested in something quickly.

In banking, the secret is eliminating the overhead and utilizing the money instead of letting it sit in the vault. That’s why banks need to stop thinking about expensive branches and start investing in mobile banking.

People are spending hours each day on their phones, doing everything from e-mailing, texting and checking the weather to finding their way around a city or country. Most of these people, I suspect, would love to make deposits using their cell phones instead of driving through traffic to get to a bank.

And, chances are, they would also like to use their phone to pay their monthly bills as well as paying for the hamburger they are having for lunch.

Chipotle Mexican Grill has an app for the iPhone which allows you to order and pay for food right from your phone. You can use the app to find the nearest Chipotle and build your taco or burrito exactly how you want it. You can even include special instructions, like “easy on the beans” before you check out and pay for it. And yes, it saves your order so you can get your favorite burrito every single day without going through the process of rebuilding it every time.

Many banks haven’t even considered mobile banking. The market is still young and the time is now! Look at what PayPal, Ally Bank, ING and other internet banking services are doing.

My 25 year-old son and all of his buddies are using PayPal for almost all of their banking needs. When they all go out to dinner together, PayPal has an app that allows one person to pay the bill and then all of the others in the group can calculate what they owe and send the money to that person instantly. No need for pulling out a calculator or counting quarters, dimes and nickels!

My son doesn’t even open his monthly bank statement he receives from Bank of America. Everything is done on his phone or computer.

All you have to do is look at the sale of smart phones to see where banking is going.

If bankers don’t hurry up and find ways of cutting their overhead, they’ll be just like the local flower shop. They’ll be pushing daisies.

###

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.

Brace yourself: here come the fees.

Last week, we talked about how the country’s banking environment is evolving in light of recent regulatory changes and their negative revenue impact on banks. Recent federal regulations have capped overdraft fees, certain levies on credit cards, and even what banks are allowed to charge merchants when customers use their debit cards.

Now, banks are making a move to recap some of that lost revenue.

Check out these recent headlines about how banks like Wells Fargo, SunTrust and Regions Bank are beginning to charge monthly fees for debit card use for customers in some states. Will community banks follow suit?….

Atlanta Journal-Constitution – Debit card fees could signal trend:

http://www.ajc.com/business/debit-card-fees-could-1122638.html

CNNMoney – Wells Fargo to test $3 a month debit card fee:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/16/pf/debit_card_fee/index.htm

Wells Fargo: No more debit card rewards:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/22/pf/wells_fargo_debit_rewards/

###

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.