Updated Tue August 11, 2020
Published Under: Digital Marketing
While your mobile app is central to the virtual banking experience, it’s not the only thing you need to worry about in order to have a successful digital bank. The overall experience from your financial institution’s website to your marketing strategy is what will attract new customers and retain current ones that value a digital experience.
Oftentimes when we work with banks or credit unions, they want to do something that’s similar to their competitors so they can keep up with industry trends. But we say, who cares about what your competitors are doing? (kind of). When you have a customer-first digital strategy, the leads will come and then your competitors will look to you to set the trend. As you read this article and evaluate your current platforms and strategy, let these four customer-centered tips be your guide to a successful digital bank.
1. Invest in an Easy-to-Edit Website
Your marketing coordinator shouldn’t need a degree in computer programming just to update your website. As your interest rates, discounts/deals and events change, the information on your website should be updated as well. Updating your website to communicate your current products and services more effectively will help you gain and retain customers for two reasons: customer service and on-page search engine optimization (SEO).
Why Customer Service? Consider your website as a part of your customer service team. It’s easier to gain and retain digital bank customers with a seamless, all-online experience because individuals are more likely to follow through on the desired action over the same medium where they discovered your brand. For example, if someone finds your bank while using their mobile device to search, they are more likely to fill out an online application if they can go all the way through the application process without having to switch devices.
Why on-page SEO? On-page SEO is when you optimize the page name, URL, meta data, headings and page content of a specific web page in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. When you implement best practices for on-page SEO, you are more likely to be found online by a digital audience that’s likely to utilize your virtual branch.
If you’re looking for a new website to make editing your website easy, check out BankWeb™. A website platform designed specifically for financial institutions for a secure, user-friendly and mobile-friendly experience.
2. Personalize Your Communication
In other words, write for your audience. As a community bank, you know who your audience is and that each demographic responds to different communication tactics. For example, we all know that Millennials are a tech-savvy generation that’s adapted to doing virtually everything from their phone, but many businesses overlook the fact that Millennials aren’t kids anymore. The youngest Millennials are in their mid-twenties, with most of their generation having settled down by buying houses, pursuing graduate studies, having kids or establishing their careers. This means that when you talk to the Millennial audience, you’re finding the shortest way to express information because it needs to be consumed on a mobile device while they balance work, kids and the chaos of everyday adult life.
Bonus: If you have automation platforms, like conversation bots on your website or email marketing, take personalization a step further by utilizing information you’ve collected about your audience. Using information like first names can set your communication a step above the rest.
3. Go Beyond “Marketing Touchpoints”
Most marketers have heard that on average it takes x touchpoints/interactions with your brand before a lead converts to a customer. So, marketers typically tried to get in front of leads a handful of times through direct mail, live events, email, etc. But the new digital landscape allows marketers to build ongoing relationships with their audience, so it’s less about how many times you can get in front of them and more about how well you build trust with the tools you have.
Learn more about effective ways to communicate with your audience depending on where they are at in the buyer journey by watching this video below.
Utilizing the Buyer Journey to Convert Leads:
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
There is no way to guarantee a successful marketing or customer retention campaign. As you develop your strategy, you pull insights from research and analytics (like online behavior from Google Analytics, social media insights, industry data, email campaign results, etc.) in order to cater to your audience. But as we said, there are no guarantees with even the most well thought out plan. So, get comfortable experimenting with new tactics that you’ve never used before. Perhaps ones that enable you to build ongoing relationships like the ones outlined in the video we mentioned above. Don’t forget to record your results to determine how valuable the campaign was! In any case, and a new campaign is always an opportunity to learn more about your audience!
Resources to help you enhance your digital bank:
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BankWeb™ – a banking-specific website platform
Or if you’d like to have a one-on-one consultation about your virtual branch, fill out this form below.
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