Few other industries can know their customers better than the financial services sector. Banks and credit unions take care of the things that really matter most to American consumers, including their income, savings, loans and mortgages, investments, insurance premiums, and even their kids’ education. With so much information readily available and the right marketing automation software in place, a bank or credit union marketer can go to town and ensure their campaigns are 100% laser-focused.
But before we get ahead of ourselves and start looking at the kind of campaigns a bank or credit union can master with modern marketing automation technology, we need to ask a straightforward question:
What is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation is software that combines several different marketing technologies, including email, SMS, social media, content, paid search, CRM, and digital analytics. It enables marketers to send more relevant, timely and engaging campaigns based on customer engagement and specific rules (workflows) set by the marketing team. Marketing automation is primarily used to automate repetitive marketing tasks, helping marketers maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their campaigns while personalizing communications, nurturing leads, and analyzing data to improve ongoing and future marketing strategies.
Key Features of Marketing Automation
- Email/SMS Marketing Automation: Automating email and SMS marketing campaigns based on user behavior, preferences, and predefined triggers.
- Customer Segmentation: Dividing your customer base into groups based on demographics, behavior, and other factors.
- Lead Scoring: Assigning scores to your leads based on interactions with your marketing materials to guide prospects through your marketing funnel and prioritize follow-up actions.
- Personalization: Tailoring content and messages to individual customers based on their data and behavior.
- Analytics and Reporting: Tracking and analyzing campaign performance to measure ROI and optimize ongoing and future strategies.
- Social Media Automation: Scheduling and managing social media posts and interactions.
- CRM Integration: Syncing with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to ensure data consistency and improve your customers’ experience.
Marketing Automation is Getting Smarter Thanks to AI
While marketing automation requires a considerable amount of human input to create the content and build out marketing strategies needed to create compelling campaigns, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) can reduce some of the heavy lifting.
So, how can a bank or credit union use marketing automation to elevate their marketing strategy?
By investing in marketing automation, banks and credit unions can enhance the customer experience of their service, improve operational efficiency, and create more effective marketing campaigns. Here are ten simple automation strategies to get your bank or credit union’s marketing department started:
- Personalized Email Campaigns: Sending tailored email campaigns based on individual customer behavior, such as transaction history or account type, can help customers make more informed financial decisions, helping them manage their savings, access loans, or improve their credit.
- Automated Onboarding: By sending a series of automated welcome emails, banks and credit unions can guide individuals through account features and available services and offer advice about how to get started with online banking – helping them to make the most out of the service while reducing
- Lead Nurturing: Automated drip campaigns can be used to nurture prospects who have shown interest in banking products, providing them with helpful information and incentives to open an account or apply for a loan.
- Customer Segmentation: Automatically segmenting customers into different groups based on criteria like account type, spending habits, or engagement levels enables marketers from banks and credit unions to send more timely, relevant, and engaging campaigns that are much more likely to appeal to each segment.
- Cross-Selling and Upselling: Targeted campaigns from banks and credit unions can automatically suggest relevant banking products or services to customers based on their existing products and financial behavior. For example, recommending a premium account to a customer who frequently travels abroad.
- Re-engagement Campaigns: Using marketing automation technology, banks and credit unions can more easily identify customers who have become inactive before sending automated re-engagement emails with special offers or reminders of the benefits they might be missing out on.
- Event and Webinar Invitations: Marketing departments can create and send automated invitations to customers for financial education webinars, local events, or exclusive bank promotions and follow up with reminders and post-event materials.
- Survey Distribution: Marketers can automate the distribution of satisfaction surveys after customer interactions, such as after a branch visit or a customer service call, to gather feedback and improve services.
- Regulatory Updates and Alerts: Banks and credit unions can automatically send critical regulatory updates, compliance information, or changes in terms and conditions to all affected customers promptly.
- Security Alerts: Banks and credit unions can automatically notify customers about security alerts that may impact their accounts before providing simple steps to secure them. For urgent messages, SMS campaigns can be more effective than email.
The ten marketing automation strategies outlined in this blog post are just a starting point. With the right content and a clearly defined strategy, marketers can create incredibly sophisticated campaigns to help their banks and credit unions achieve their marketing goals.
Invest in Marketing Automation with emfluence
Banks and credit unions have unique challenges when it comes to digital marketing. We talked to some people in the field to learn what successful organizations are doing. Download our report and learn more about the traits that they share, a case study from one of our clients, and more.
Now is the time to invest in marketing automation. That investment starts with a simple conversation. To learn more about how the marketing automation experts at emfluence can help you invest in your bank or credit union’s marketing automation strategy, contact us today at expert@emfluence.com.
