You’ve probably heard that saying, “The devil is in the details.” And just as the devil can seriously mess up your life, marketing details can seriously mess up your credit union or community bank.
The reality is that marketing touches everything. So when there is a marketing problem (large or small), it will impact everything. Your loans. Your deposits. Your growth. Your employees. Your consumers. Your website. Your branches.
There are many large marketing details that are extremely important: the budget, the organizational chart, the marketing plan, data analytics and social media to name just a few. While all of those are critical, small details have an equally important effect.
As Steve Jobs once said, “Details matter. It’s worth waiting to get it right.”
So, here are four marketing details that are having major impacts on your financial institution.
Your Bathrooms
How do your restrooms smell? Your bathrooms’ smell communicates something (good or bad) about your brand. It may sound small, but consumers are judging your brand based on everything they experience.
If you don’t think restrooms make a difference, look at Buc-ee’s. Even though they are a gas station, they built their entire brand around their restrooms. As their website says, “Cleanest restrooms in America!” Or as their billboards say, “Potty like a rockstar!”
We actually conduct bathroom smell tests as part of our marketing audits. Your staff can be friendly and your rates can be great, but those things don’t matter if your restrooms are a mess.
Want to improve your marketing? Clean your bathrooms.
Your Greetings
How do you greet consumers? People form an impression in under three seconds. And that impression starts with your greeting: acknowledging, smiling, waving and making eye contact. Small things that yield big results.
Ray Davis, former CEO Of Umpqua Bank and author of “Leading for Growth,” says:
“Attention to detail isn’t just about customer service; it’s critical to your brand. Your brand depends on everything you do, how you present yourself, how you treat people, how you stand behind your products and services. You can’t have a strong brand and be lax about the details.”
Every credit union and community bank has brand gaps. A difference between what they say in their marketing and what is actually taking place. One of the biggest gaps we see is the gap between marketing and the actual branch and phone experiences.
Want to improve your marketing? Make your greetings memorable and consistent.
Your Headlines
People are no longer reading. They are skimming. That means they are browsing your emails, your website copy, your social media posts and digital ads.
The absolute most important part of any marketing piece is the headline. When coaching our marketing clients, we often advise them to spend more time writing the headline than the copy itself.
While the body of the marketing piece has more words, the first words consumers see are what engages them. Headlines using humor, brevity or cleverness are critical. An intriguing headline establishes the need consumers have for your products or services.
Want to improve your marketing? Write attention-grabbing headlines.
Your Calls To Action
Ultimately, your marketing needs to get people to do something. To act. This may seem like a minor detail, but you would be surprised how many marketing pieces miss this critical component. It’s not enough to get people to be more aware of what you offer.
When making your calls to action, use action words. For example: call, apply, visit or click. With calls to action, brevity wins.
One tip we often give is to use more than one call to action. But keep them simple and obvious. Remember, all marketing is a lead generator. The sale will often come later.
Want to improve your marketing? Make clear calls to action.
Dave Olsen, senior advisor at Starbucks and their former Chief Coffee Guru, was once asked about the most important thing to Starbucks (the coffee, the baristas, the stores, etc.). His answer: “Everything matters.”
That means the details matter, especially when it comes to your marketing. Want to improve your marketing? Improve your marketing details.
Start identifying ways to improve with a marketing assessment. Book a free consultation today to put your assessment on the calendar.
