Millennials are the largest generation in the U.S.  Just how large? While Millennials already are the largest segment in the workplace, within the next two years, 50% of the U.S. workforce is expected to be made up of Millennials. And it will be a whopping75% by 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics!  You can bet that banks and credit unions know that their future growth and sustainability depend on a successful relationship with this group of consumers. Our partners at Segmint recently released a report stating that one in two Americans who have a bank are open to receiving marketing communications and personalized advertising from their financial institutions, and that proportion increases significantly among millennials.

This is great news for banks willing to embrace a customer-centric marketing model that focuses on each individual customer’s specific needs. In fact, financial institutions with relevant, personalized messaging not only sustain marketing share, but experience remarkable positive results like these. With that in mind, here are three tips to turn up the heat on your financial institution’s millennial marketing strategies:

3 tips for millennial marketing:

Keep Pace:

Millennials are a tech-savvy group that challenges the status quo. “Well, we’ve always done it this way” will not cut it with this consumer sector.

Millennials prefer digital access with a consistent experience across multiple platforms. And this makes sense, considering 98 percent of millennials own smartphones and check their phones 150 times per day, spending an average of five hours per day on their device. So naturally a great mobile banking experience is important to them, as they are the generation most likely to use both online (92 percent) and mobile channels (79 percent) for banking needs.

To attract and retain millennials, banks and credit unions will need to adopt a flexible, progressive and well-rounded digital approach. A strategy like this will appeal to this generation, as well as the generations that follow them.

Be Relevant:

Once financial institutions (FI) have the right technology in place for a digital strategy, it is time to create a marketing plan that resonates with the millennial generation. These would be the typical characteristics for the right technology:  personalization, relevance, automation, flexibility, affordability and metrics about performance.  

As D. Scott Andrick of The Financial Brand says, “The days are over when banks and credit unions could compete on product or price. Today, the best way to differentiate a brand is through hyper-personalized financial recommendations and marketing driven by data and advanced decision tools.”

In fact, the Segmint survey referenced earlier also found that 67 percent of millennials would be willing to see a personalized ad from their bank to help them reach their personal finance goals for life events.

This means that communication from banks or credit unions that help position millennials financially for major goals - paying for college, buying an engagement ring, saving for a downpayment on a car or house - are welcomed by this generation. On the flip side, when a FI markets irrelevant products, it tells customers that they are irrelevant. Relevant messages with customized offerings can win millennials without loyalties to a particular bank or credit union and strengthen that FI for beneficial, long-term relationship.

Be a Guide:

Relevant communication builds a relationship based on trust and over time your FI can become a trusted guide to financial choices throughout the course of a consumer’s lifetime.

The vast majority of millennials are navigating a complex financial situation, with 34 percent unsatisfied with their current financial situation, and 60 percent encumbered with debt. Compounding this financial situation, 90 percent of millennials expect a major financial event within the next 36 months.

The good news is, millennials know they need guidance. Only 8 percent of this generation believes they have the financial skills needed to properly deal with these life events. As Rob Heiser CEO of Segmint said, “Millennials in particular are in a stage of financial growth and planning, so they are more receptive to receiving guidance.”

The complexity of a millennial’s financial situation and unique needs creates the perfect scenario and foundation for engaged FIs to step in and shine. This is where personalization and individualized engagement can create a valuable, life-long relationship. By using the data they have, banks and credit unions can not only determine relevant messaging but  can also predict which next steps are needed to support millennial customers. This is the basis of  creating a trusting relationship.

As Michele Yurcich ofThe Financial Brand states, “In the Digital Age, personalization and context are more important than ever. That's where data analytics and business intelligence come in.”

With useful data comes infinite possibilities. FIs can look to analytics and“next best action” approaches to coach a millennial through important life steps in a way that is relevant and helpful to them. This customer-centered approach allows banks and credit unions to deliver“above and beyond” service to this key group of consumers.

…

In this highly competitive era, a financial institution can stand apart from the crowd by knowing, understanding and communicating to their customers on one individual at a time. The right technology can allow you to offer a seamless financial experience to your consumers, not t just a single product offer.Millennial consumers are seeking this kind of in-touch, meaningful relationship to coach them through the pressures of their financial complexities. By seeing and serving them as individuals, banks and credit unions will find the key not only to survive, but to thrive.  Are you one of them?

DeepTarget’s intelligent digital marketing and sales automation is in use by hundreds of credit unions and banks of varying sizes across the country. In addition to being intelligent, it is affordable and easy to implement and use with ~95% automation. What’s the use of investing in a costly or cumbersome communication solution when you have to worry about limited resources? DeepTarget clients have automated the use of customer intelligence to deliver relevant product offers and pinpointed one-to-one messaging to their banking customers through mobile banking, online banking, web, and email - all the while engaging them in a seamless communications experience, wherever, whenever and however they bank.  And they know it works because of the deep performance analytics and insights they receive from the solution.  Marketing without metrics doesn’t cut it anymore.

For more insight on generational digital marketing, download DeepTarget’s Digital Marketing Handbook.

If you are ready to experience all that DeepTarget has to offer, contact us at success@deeptarget.com.

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