1. Getting Your Manager’s Approval
This is a rather weird way to start a solution’s guide, but this actually happens fequently with First Page bank clients. There are many strong arguments for putting money into digital marketing, yet even the best strategies can change once they come out of a boardroom meeting! To secure your bank director’s approval for investing in digital marketing, you’ll want to present a compelling case that aligns with the bank’s goals and demonstrates a clear return on investment (ROI). Here’s how you can approach this:
- Research and Data: Gather data on current digital marketing trends, including case studies of successful campaigns in the banking industry. Show how competitors are benefiting from digital marketing.
- Customer Insights: Present evidence of changing customer behaviors, such as an increased preference for online banking services, mobile app usage, and digital customer service interactions.
- Strategic Alignment: Explain how digital marketing aligns with the bank’s strategic goals, such as reaching younger demographics, increasing customer acquisition, or improving service offerings.
- ROI Projections: Develop projections that show potential returns from digital marketing investments. This could include increases in new accounts, higher engagement rates, or SEO traffic forecasts.
- Testimonials and Endorsements: If available, include testimonials of the team or the agency to showcase their experience in banking industries.
- Customized Proposal: Craft a proposal that specifically addresses your bank’s needs, including a detailed plan of action, budget breakdown, and timeline.
- Success Metrics: Outline how you will measure the success of digital marketing efforts. Include key performance indicators (KPIs) like website traffic, conversion rates, and social media engagement.
By presenting a well-researched and thoughtful proposal that demonstrates an understanding of both the opportunities and challenges of digital marketing, you’ll be better positioned to get your bank director’s buy-in for the investment.
2. Set Up Goals
Given the wealth of data emanating from your website and the influx of visitors steered there by your marketing efforts, it’s imperative to establish clear success benchmarks. This enables the tracking of your bank’s digital marketing performance and informs necessary strategic adjustments. A robust framework for this purpose combines leading indicators with key performance indicators (KPIs) to deliver comprehensive performance insights.
Consider these potential leading indicators:
The organic visibility of your website’s pages and Google Maps listings within Google search results.
Traffic breakdown by source (organic search, social media, paid advertising, referrals) and visitor type (new versus returning).
User engagement metrics, such as average duration of visits, number of pages viewed per session, and bounce rate.
For KPIs, you might measure:
- The cost incurred for each lead generated through website interactions, emails, or phone calls.
- The expense associated with acquiring a new customer through online applications.
- The investment required to prompt a physical visit to a branch, as measured by map direction clicks or Google’s Store Visits tracking.
- Defining these success criteria and regularly benchmarking performance against them is vital for optimizing your marketing spend. It ensures that investments are channeled toward the most effective campaigns
- and avenues. Furthermore, it empowers the marketing department to be viewed as a generator of profit, shifting the perception from being a cost burden to becoming a value-adding segment of the bank.
3. Define Your Audience
Banking has a wide variety of products and services, ranging from credit cards, insurance products, investment services, structured products and so on… Each of them serve a different group of audience, from demographics, businesses to investment portfolios. You must first understand your audience before kickstarting any sort of digital marketing campaigns, as any mis-calculations on the audience targeting stage would result to money down the drain.
4. Select The Marketing Channels Based On Your Goals
To effectively engage your bank’s target audience with pertinent marketing efforts, you’ll need to exploit the digital marketing landscape, which essentially breaks down into two primary categories:
Continuous Digital Marketing Strategies (for sustained engagement)
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): This encompasses a broad spectrum of activities, both on your website and on external platforms where your brand is present.
- Content Marketing: Focus on crafting valuable content for your customers and potential clients, steering clear of merely pushing bank updates.
- Search Ads: These are the advertisements that pop up on search engines like Google, triggered by user queries.
- Social Content Ads: Exceptional content doesn’t guarantee discovery—paid promotions on social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are essential for visibility.
- Remarketing Ads: These ads are tailored for individuals who have previously interacted with your website, using their engagement history for targeted outreach.
- Email Marketing Automation: Streamline the delivery of blog posts and resources to enhance engagement and drive conversions by using automated systems.
- Organic Social Media & Employee Advocacy: Despite limited reach through organic updates on most platforms, your employees can amplify your brand’s message on their personal accounts when they’re properly guided and equipped (find more detailed strategies in our complete social media guide for financial institutions).
Targeted Digital Marketing Campaigns (for specific initiatives)
- Display and Social Ads: Utilize image and video ads for cost-effective exposure during branch launches, special promotions, community events, and other singular campaigns.
- Email Campaigns: Leverage your robust data to create opportunities for targeted messaging.
- SMS/Text Messaging: Exercise caution with this highly visible channel, understanding that most recipients will read a text from your bank.
- Digital Radio: This platform offers a more trackable alternative to traditional radio, with similar auditory engagement potential.
Both strategy types should be tailored to meet the needs of your specific audience, ensuring that your bank’s marketing stays relevant, effective, and capable of achieving desired results in an increasingly digital world.
Awareness 
Consideration 
Conversion PPC & Advertising - Digital advertisements can allow you to perform retargeting, which means showing your ads to people who have already seen your company through SEO or social media. This means your ads will only target people who have shown interest in your banking products, and have a higher chance of conversions. 
Loyalty 
