Marketing to White Rabbits

Earlier this month at Princeton University, I had the honor of being invited to Filene Research Institute’s annual big.bright.minds meeting.  It was an incredibly cerebral event and I found myself wondering what the week would entail as we took a deep dive into behavioral economics and the concept of scarcity - financial and bandwidth (time).  What this means for us marketers is that EVERYONE is stretched beyond his or her capacity in one form or another.

The economy has affected everyone to varying degrees.  People have gotten more creative about their financial lives from how they take vacations to doing without certain things because of budgetary constraints.  Financial woes take a drastic toll on the amount of attention that can be focused on other things because it is instead focused on making ends meet. 

Lack of time – or bandwidth, as it was referred to – is also something everyone (your customers and members included) struggles with.  And statistics show that there is only so much to go around – you can’t just increase your personal bandwidth by multitasking or getting less sleep or concentrating more.  We only have a limited supply of bandwidth.  Enter...the White Rabbit.

It isn’t so much the choices we present to our audiences in the form of messaging, products, or services, it is the WAY in which we deliver those choices that truly matters. 

While we are trying to figure out how to get out of the office on time so we can go take our kids to practice and then somehow get food on the table for our families, we just have no room to listen to or see important things we would ordinarily consider. 

Take your financial institution’s messages for example.  You may have the best new loan product, but getting that message across to your customer or member will be next to impossible unless you specifically design the message around the direct value to your target market.  What problem are you going to solve for them?  How will having this product or service make their life easier?  How will it save them time?  How will it help them be a better mom or help them better reach their goals for their lives and families?

And forget spelling everything out to them in a way that you think will appeal to anyone.  You have a specific person in mind for your message.  Tell THEM what you have to say in words that will appeal to THEM specifically.  Don’t use 25 words when 10 will do. 

When you try to come up with the perfect message that appeals to everyone, you are saying way too much and you aren’t specifically appealing to anyone.

For your next campaign, put on your own behavioral economics hat and think about how strapped for time you are in your own life.  Think about how your financial institution’s new product would make your own life easier, shape the messaging around that value in a succinct way, and you’ll have a much greater ROI for your marketing efforts.  

Amanda

We bring these philosophies to credit unions and community banks all over the country to help them with their strategic planning, marketing, and branding initiatives.  Contact me to learn more about how MarketMatch can help your financial institution define its "why" and achieve sustainable growth in the future.  Don't forget to ask about our ROI Guarantee - the only guarantee of its kind in the entire financial industry!

Follow me on Twitter!

Like us on Facebook!

The Art of War...and Marketing (Part 2)

The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military document attributed to Sun Tzu a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician.  It is composed of 13 chapters, each devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. 

These writings have helped countless military leaders win land, riches and infamy … and in a wonderful twist of irony, we will focus on how it can help you win your customer’s hearts.

This is Part II in a series of blogs that breaks down each chapter.  The brief chapter summaries are from Wikipedia, but the marketing commentary is all MarketMatch!

To read Part 1, click here.

5. Energy explains the use of creativity and timing in building an army’s momentum.

The first 4 chaptershave helped you to FOCUS.  In chapter 5, we build MOMENTUM!  We finally get to creative! 

The key to any quality creative is to speak in your target’s language and to your target’s needs.  Do NOT speak financial mumbo-jumbo and do NOT focus on your products.  Think of it this way … do you know that friend who always talks about themself and never asks you about your interests?  The one who talks AT you and not TO you?  Pretty annoying, huh?  Don’t be that guy!

(See “Get Emotional” and “Communicating with Your Creatives” for more info.  Click here to see samples and get inspired.)

6. Weak Points & Strong explains how opportunities come from openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of the enemy in a given area.

Remember the Competitive Analysis in Chapter 1?  Well, you have to keep an eye out all year.  You may need to make tweaks to your plan based on what’s going on around you (this is also another reason to keep the branches involved like we discussed in Chapter 4).

Your competition is going to make moves: open branches, close branches, increase rates, add fees (thank you Bank of America!), etc.  You don’t need to act on every change, but you should be aware of them and be able to quickly assess if it’s worth your response. 

7. Engaging The Force explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations.

Direct conflict, in this instance, is point of sale.  This is all about staff training and providing quality point of sale tools.  How does your staff present your products?  Do they fulfill the promises made by your marketing?  Does product presentation align with your brand position?  Do you track cross-sells by employee?  Does your staff ask qualifying questions so they can recommend appropriate products?  Do they know what questions to ask? (Click “5 Steps to Sales Success” for more specifics)  Does your staff simply read brochures verbatim or do they provide value to customers?  Do they treat customers as if the customer were a guest in their home? Is it standard to write a hand-written "Thank You" note for every new customer and product?

It is your job, as the voice of the customer, to ensure that the customer experience is exceptional. 

8. Variation in Tactics focuses on the need for flexibility in an army’s responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully.

The key is not to blindly follow your marketing plan, but to be ready to deviate if market conditions and opportunities dictate.  You may get a call from a vendor selling a better mousetrap.  You may have an opportunity to partner with an organization or move into a new market.  There may be a natural disaster in your market. It could be anything.

Knowing exactly how to react comes back to having clearly defined objectives.  If you’ve spelled out the handful of measurable objectives that will define success this year, then all you need to do is ask yourself how each new opportunity or shift in the market will effect those objectives – and can an adjustment to strategy help leverage these changes to better fulfill the objectives?

9. Moving The Force describes the different situations in which an army finds itself as it moves through new enemy territories.

When entering new markets you need to:

• Understand the situation: Who leads in market share and share-of-mind?  Why?  Can you combat it?  What is the awareness level for your institution? Map your current customers in the new market.  Are there pockets of high-concentration?  How many competitive branches sit between those pockets of concentration and your branch?  What are the economic trends in the new market?  Where do people from this new market hang out?
• Generate excitement: The bottom line is that you need butts off couches and into your branch.  What is the most effective way to create a buzz?  In the past, MarketMatch has used “street teams” to get the word out; teaser campaigns prior to branch opening; creative cash offers; one-day holiday events; and guerrilla marketing to fill branches.
• Measure: You’ll want to keep a close eye on growth.  Where are new customers coming from?  How did they hear about you?  What products are they opening?  Are your current customers referring? 

There you have it ... how the first 9 chapters of The Art of War can help you take over the marketing world.  Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.  I trust that you won’t go all Napoleon on us with this information!

Keep an eye out for Part 3 of The Art of War…and Marketing.

With more than 130,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MarketMatch is a marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community.  We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the right story that will generate the greatest  MOMENTUM and prove the best RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848