Roxanne Emmerich shares her approach on how to attract the best customers to your bank:
I get a kick out of watching Mad Men. There’s something captivating about being transported to another time like that.
Slightly less fun is the feeling I get when I see banks in the real world and the present day throwing money away on traditional advertising like it’s 1965.
You know the game. You go to an ad agency. They come up with a slogan. You run it. Nothing happens. They say, “Just wait; it takes time.” And you wait…and wait…and wait…
It’s enough to make you a mad man (or woman) in a whole new way. And it’s gonna take a lot of three-martini lunches before you forget THAT waste of time and money.
Instead of throwing good dollars at what worked in the Johnson administration, understand where your best return on investment comes from and focus your advertising dollars there. Regardless of your firm’s size or specialty, you have three main funnels for marketing leads: advertising, customer and center of influence referrals, and employee ambassadorships.
Unfortunately, most CEOs spend up to 70 percent of their marketing funds on advertising—the area with the lowest return of the three—while spending very little on their existing customers and virtually nothing on teaching their employees to be ambassadors and penetrate accounts.
To correct this disparity, start by slashing your advertising budget drastically. While many ad agencies are capable of creating flashy and beautiful ads, they have little understanding of how to boost your sales. As a result, the campaigns do a great job of stroking egos, yet little to sell financial services. If ego were the only thing that mattered, then by all means continue. However, if the bottom line is the real issue, then now is when you need to redirect those dollars.
To make matters worse, many CEOs claim that the intent of their ad campaign is to build a brand. Good intention! Unfortunately, it’s almost always horribly executed. When asked, “What is the brand for your bank?” almost every CEO will respond, “Customer service!” What they don’t understand is that customer service is NOT a brand. It’s a mandatory element. It has nothing to do with brand, as Al Ries so aptly points out in The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding.
Smart marketers clarify their story and invest marketing efforts toward existing clients and employees. The result is increased sales and referrals where the return is higher and the results are quicker.
Suddenly you’re not so mad anymore.
Click here to Join Roxanne Emmerich as she focuses on solving the most pressing growth and profitability issues facing banks today.
Most banks lose the pricing conversation long before rates are discussed. Discover how elite community banks command premium pricing while protecting profitability and independence.
Most banks never intend to compete on price, yet rate matching quietly erodes profitability every day. Discover the strategy that allows top-performing community banks to command premium pricing and protect net interest margin.
The best community banks don’t win pricing wars—they avoid them. Discover how stronger positioning leads to higher net interest margin and greater profitability.
The highest-performing community banks don’t waste months searching for their ideal customers. Discover the proven process they use to identify profitable relationships quickly and execute with confidence.
Most banks believe their market determines pricing. Discover why that belief destroys profitability—and how elite community banks command premium pricing instead.
Most merger failures aren’t caused by poor due diligence—they’re caused by poor execution. Discover what separates successful bank mergers from costly disappointments.
AI isn’t coming—it’s already here. Discover why most bank roles are now obsolete, and what your team must become to survive.
Cross-sales aren’t about selling products. They’re about becoming a trusted advisor customers rely on for guidance, value, and long-term financial success.
Many banks assign culture to committees and wonder why nothing changes. Discover why executive ownership is the key to sustainable culture transformation and top-tier performance.
Most banks focus on strategy. Elite banks focus on culture systems that produce profitable behavior. Discover why culture may be your biggest growth lever.