Become successful this 2021 with these 9 retail banking marketing strategies

Marketing is an essential part of the life of every business. However, the world of business and, in this case, the banking sector, has a high level of competition. That’s why many companies always try to come up with new ways to increase their income and customers. Thus, marketing is the best way to advertise products and services. Learn the 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021.

If you’re the founder or owner of a business related to a retail bank, this blog is perfect for you. Everyone knows that the financial sector can be serious and boring. Most banks decide to play safe and just adapt their current rules and go on their way. However, if a retail banking business to grow and succeed, they must use marketing strategies suited to them.

What does a retail bank do?

We all have used a retail bank at least once in our lives, even if we didn’t know it.

So, retail banks, or better known as commercial banks, are very popular. This type of financial institution helps with the creation and execution of basic financing operations.

Not only that, but it also collects savings between accounts. On the other hand, while it may be true that this is still one of the most popular entities, in recent years it has gone through many changes. All of this to offer new and better services to the public.

After the Great Depression, the Congress of the United States ordered banks to only carry out banking activities. In contrast, they told investment banks to focus on their capital market activities. So, once banks realized they didn’t have to belong to the same owner, they changed their name.

Those that only carried out administrative activities had the name of commercial banks. 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021. In contrast, investment banks could only carry out actions in the capital market. Then, both of these banks became independent of each other. The reason behind this decision was because it no longer was necessary for these banks to be owned by the same person.

Commercial banks carry out the following activities:

• Process payments through telegraphic transfers, EFTPOS, On-Line Banking, or other means.
• Issue bank drafts and checks.
• Accept money in term deposits.
• Lend money through overdrafts, loans, or others.
• Provide letters of credit, guarantees, performance bonds, and other forms of off-balance sheet exposures.
• Safeguard documents and other items in safe deposit boxes.
• Change the coins.
• Sale, distribution, or brokerage, with or without advice, of insurance, investment funds, and similar financial products such as a “financial supermarket”.

9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021, Why is it important?

These types of banks help the growth of a settlement that produces goods, services, jobs, and improves the economy. Without these banks, the growth of a population would not be possible.

So, as you can see, commercial banking plays an important role when it comes to human needs. This is because this is what provides the capital to be able to start any economic activity regardless of its scale.

Besides, another important element of these banks is their interest rates. One of them is called “passive rate”. With it, your bank pays your clients just for saving their money on it.

On the contrary, there is another rate called active. Here, your bank lends money to your clients with the promise of them returning it. This has an interest higher than the passive rate and allows your business to obtain profits and profitability.

Types of Banks

Banks are often set apart between private and public. However, there many other kinds of banks.

To identify them, we only have to take a look at the activity they carry out:

• Central banks: They are responsible for ensuring the correct financial activities of an entire country. In short, this is the main bank of a nation.
• Investment banks: They focus on investment issues for both natural and legal people. Thus, they are in charge of buying and selling shares. This means that they participate in the merging and acquisitions of companies.  Most often than not, commercial banks are also investment banks and vice versa. As a result, these categories aren’t exclusive.
• Corporate banking: Their work is aimed at large companies. This means that these banks market very specific services for these companies.  For example, they offer them discounts on the bill of exchange and credit lines or receipt management. In short, these banks work for private companies.
• Mortgage banks: Simply put, mortgage banks are those that work in the mortgage market. Thus, they focus on the granting of mortgages for the purchase and/or reform of homes.  However, this isn’t all as they also offer their services for commercial premises and real state.
• Savings banks: Saving banks are non-profit financial entities that lean on social work. Most of these banks became what they are after mergers and purchases with other saving banks.

Marketing in the banking area

A lot of people believe that marketing in the financial area is useless. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There are millions of banks all around the world, so it’s very hard to stand out.

Because of this, the level of competition is very high. 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021.  Thus, having a good strategy can mean the difference between success and failure. Next, we will show you some of the best strategies to improve your business marketing.

• Modify the incentives carefully

For customers, an incentive might be all they need to remain loyal to a bank.

Besides, using incentives is a very common strategy to start streamlining your sales processes.

However, you must do this carefully otherwise your clients could leave you.

So, if you make abrupt changes, these could damage the quality of your service. Not only that but if you decide to not offer incentives at all, your sales can decrease.

• Take advantage of implicit motivations.

Marketing must start from the inside.

9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021. Thus, you must motivate your employees so they can then motivate your customers.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you must offer them large sums of money, or any amount of money for that matter.

Recognition, autonomy, and a feeling of belonging are motivations that can help you to build their loyalty to your brand.

• Keep a clear and logical stance on incentives.

Banks must take into account what they mean by the incentive and how to get there.

For this, a client has managed their account is the perfect candidate.

Reward their behavior with incentives from the company.

As a result, you will be able to position yourself as the favorite bank for clients.

• Design customer-focused sales strategies, 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021

Meeting customer needs should always be the main goal of any brand.

That’s why you must create and adjust your marketing strategies, sales, and promotions according to them.

• Upgrade front-line sales and service tools

Make sure to offer your customers new tools to make the communication between them and you easier. Thanks to the new technologies, people can now easily talk with banks no matter the place or time.

Besides, you also offer them some direct forms of contact or special channels. All of this depends on what you want to carry out.

Frontline service operations are dynamic. This is because they deal with different customer-related activities.

Not only that but they also help you to solve your customers’ problems and make a decision. However, remember that to offer the best service possible, this takes a long time.

• Listen to customers, 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021

Knowing what your customers expect from the sales processes is the first step towards success. You can get this information through surveys or different sources. What’s more, you can also get it by analyzing their comments or “feedback”.

On the other hand, some banks and entities use different technological tools to find out what their customers think.

Remember to often get this kind of information so that you can offer your client the best answer or solution possible. Besides, this can help you to create new tools to assess their needs, which, in turn, allows you to improve your brand.

Analytics can also look for unwanted behaviors among customers. This way you can block these behaviors from reaching and affecting other users. Not only that, but they are also helpful to find unused accounts or services. All of this to improve the communication between your branch manager and salespeople. Some banks use databases to identify any kind of issue within their company.

• Make customer service more fun

Most customer service inquiries involve simple questions. Some of the most frequently asked questions are how to use certain functions or how to open a new account. Thanks to new technologies, you can find many ways to answer these questions in a fun way.

One of the formats that users like the most are videos. With them, you can carry out campaigns on social media through short videos that solve the concerns of your followers. You can also create and optimize a web portal to show all the answers to these questions.

The most important thing is to be creative and make yourself understood easily. This way, clients will follow you and will have as a reference among the best experts in the financial field.

• Content on social media, 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021

It’s a fact that spend a lot of time on social media. Thus, as a brand or business, you must take this information to your advantage. For this, you must position yourself in the main social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or all of them.

However, you must ensure that whatever platform you choose, is the one that most suits your business. Once you do, you have to create good quality and relevant content for your followers.

If you don’t know, you might need to get to know your audience through an analysis. Only in this way will you be able to offer them the best content. On the other hand, you can also work with influencers so that you increase your consumer engagement and build loyalty.

Remember that social media must be used to provide your followers with useful and relevant information. Don’t just sell them stuff or promote yourself. You must also be steady and post frequently. Don’t forget that the key to social media success is perseverance. Thus, your business won’t grow fast if you don’t work smart.

• Local ad campaigns

No matter the size of your brand, its location is very important for marketing and your advertising campaigns. This doesn’t mean that if you have an online bank you can’t do this.

What’s important is that you know who you’re targeting. Thus, you must have a specific type of person in mind when promoting yourself.

Offer inquiries in your area, inform locals of your business, offer discounts, or just talk to them. It’s as easy as that. We also recommend knowing their needs. This way you will be able to grab their attention and create SEO strategies for them.

• Gamification in FinTech, 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021

This is one of the topics we mentioned earlier.

Customer needs continue to change and are now more demanding.

They demand the use of new technologies to keep in communication. Thus, you must offer them innovative ways to keep in touch if they need it.

Gamification is a creative way to engage consumers. With it, the rules and works of the game are applied to attract and inspire consumers. Today, banks have integrated this way of carrying out their tasks to promote desired behaviors. Some of the most promoted behaviors are saving and investing.

• Make alliances

Banks can also make alliances with other organizations to attract new clients. Some of these are, for example, Universities, real state agencies, and colleges among others.

The reason why they often work together is to receive benefits from both parties.

What’s important here, as we told you before, is to know your clients, their needs, and their desires.

An example of this could be a partnership with car dealers. This way customers can quickly and easily get loan approval.

• Reward your customers for their interaction, 9 digital marketing strategies for retail banks in 2021

This could be part of one of the points mentioned above on the blog.

Look for ways to create campaigns that reward customers for their continued involvement with your business.

This will encourage them to continue working with your company.

For example, you can reward users for having followed your bank’s fan page on Facebook. On the other hand, you could also reward those who use the apps consistently for queries.

• Survey your best customers

Knowing what your users think of you is crucial.

Therefore, do not hesitate to constantly conduct surveys to see if they are happy with your service or if there are areas for improvement. Ask why they chose you and what they would like to see in the future from you.

You can also ask why they left their other bank so that you know what they need and didn’t get.

Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions and after them, review the data thoroughly. After this, you can use this information for your data analysis. This way, you will be able to get to know your customers better.

Bonus idea: referral campaigns

For many, recommendations are crucial. If your bank gets a good reputation, your customers will go everywhere speaking well of you. This will then allow others to become interested in your services and products.

The best way to make use of this is with referral campaigns.

For example, you can implement campaigns where if a customer takes a friend or family member to open an account at the bank, they both get an initial loan.

The important thing here is to be creative and look for attractive ways to attract attention.

BluCactus, your ally in Digital marketing

BluCactus international marketing agency serves clients all over the world.

Our specialty? The creation of web designs and SEO positioning in online searches.

Besides, our group of experts is dedicated to helping businesses and brands succeed in one of the most competitive sectors in the market, the digital world.

BluCactus will accompany you every step that your brand takes.

This goes from the creation of the branding of your business to the creation of content.

Our focus is on supporting you with the development of your website or the administration of your accounts on social media.

This online marketing agency, based in Dallas, TX, seeks to strengthen your image as a brand and take it to the next level.

Don’t wait any longer to have the help of the best specialists in digital marketing and contact us through our social media or website.

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