Is your bank or credit union marketing up to snuff?
You should ask that question every day, but it’s especially important to ask it when beginning a new year. Addressing your most troublesome pain points is essential to your marketing success in 2024.
Let’s go over five pain points hindering your bank or credit union marketing effectiveness:
- Lack of Content – HubSpot says many marketers will try blogging for the first time in 2024. And there’s a reason they are jumping in – websites with blogs get 55% more visitors and 97% more inbound links to the site. So, it’s worth adding a blog (or other form of regular site content) to your bank or credit union marketing efforts. Any deficit in this area hurts your SEO and misses a brand exposure opportunity. But notice I said, "regular site content." Consistency is key here. Irregular or old posts give the impression of an inactive site to visitors.
- Infrequent Updates – This point somewhat relates to the one above…but updates go far beyond blogs. Promotional imagery. Website copy. Social media profile images. All of these and more in your bank or credit union marketing need frequent updates. Otherwise, you risk appearing outdated to consumers. Consumers want to go where there is vibrancy and life. Consistent marketing updates show there are things happening at your institution.
- Poor Social Media Presence – Consumers go to social media to engage with your institution and learn timely information (such as upcoming branch closures). But far too many bank and credit union marketing departments don’t prioritize social media. Posts are either boring or simply not generated enough to satisfy an audience. Although each platform differs, general advice is to consistently post at least three times a week. And keep these posts high quality.
- Unappealing Imagery – Imagery has power…to attract or repel. Ensure your bank or credit union marketing contains targeted, beautiful imagery to attract consumers. Your imagery must be targeted toward specific groups of people. Remember: people draw conclusions about who your services assist based on who is in the picture. Next is beauty. Now, "beauty" will mean different things based on your brand style guide. It might mean illustrations, stock photos or organic pictures. Just make sure it looks professional and follows a consistent color palette, logo placement and so on. Consumers will never recognize your brand if the imagery lacks a throughline.
- Lack of Risk-Taking – Community institutions tend to be cautious. That certainly isn’t a bad thing in all circumstances, but it leads to stagnation if taken too far. Remember to consistently take risks with your bank or credit union marketing this year. Try a boundary-pushing design. Explore a new platform. Sure, you might have some flops…but you might also find your next golden goose. Not taking a risk is taking a risk you’ll miss the next big thing.
A common theme among these points is consistency. Do you need help maintaining consistency in your bank or credit union marketing? Start by assessing your marketing; then move into a marketing success plan for your institution.
