The financial industry is a highly competitive sector that keeps banks and credit unions constantly looking for a competitive edge. And, while considered by some to be outdated, email marketing is still the best ROI by channel. Yes, you heard us correctly. E-marketing has an average return on investment of 4400%.
Many financial institutions experience a higher open rate than peers from other sectors. For example, financial services receive a 27.1% open rate on average while retail grasps open rates of just 17.1% and restaurants get 18.5% in the same study.
The key to a successful email marketing strategy is to provide quality over quantity when it comes to communication. Your FI can provide relevant content that serves customers/members on their financial journey by using data insights about that them you already have. Customer or member data gathered from website engagement and internal information can be used to generate relevant content and offers that go beyond marketing to dually serve as good customer service.
Great credit union marketing exists to authentically serve the members. If your data shows it is the right financial time for a product or service, tailor your email to that offering while also sharing key insights into issues that may affect your customers. For example, an email to millennial house hunters about your “Make the Move” promo from your mortgage team while also including financial literacy information or an article on the current state of the housing marketing is a welcomed and meaningful service you are providing. When customers feel seen as individuals, their relationship with their financial services provider deepens.
And, since many of your users already access their bank accounts and email with their phones, using SMS (Short Message Service) communications offer up to 160 characters of engaging content in a format which most smartphone users are highly familiar with and inclined to respond to quickly. With open and response rates far above any other channel, text messaging is a communication strategy that painlessly builds engagement with customers across their financial journey.
This low-cost, high engagement balance means SMS marketing needs to have its place in your FI’s strategic communications toolbox. The untapped power in SMS marketing is that it goes directly into your consumers hand at a time when agility and ease of access is more valued that ever. Plus, the statistics are on your side:
• Banking/Finance makes the top three industries of which consumers are most likely to opt in to text messages.
• Businesses see open rates of 98% and 60% of those surveyed answer within 1-5 minutes.
Short and sweet texts that communicate operational and marketing messages including announcements/reminders, appointment confirmations, timely notifications, and balance alerts can be planned twice monthly for a simple, personal, easy edition to your overall communication strategy.
Combining the high ROI strategies of email and SMS with other channels including OLB, mobile banking and more is a key to crafting a community bank digital marketing strategy that will bring success to your FI and its customer. Many FIs are doubling down on these highly performant and automated outbound communications mechanisms. Next step - focus on how to make these content rich, relevant and captivating.
