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Sunday, February 7, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Do you have one of these banks in your market?
Forrester Research just issued a new report where they asked 4,500 customers at 50 banks if they agreed with the statement "My financial provider does what's best for me, not just its own bottom line."
Here are the 7 Least Trusted Banks:
7. Bank of America - 1 in 3 people agreed that B of A looked out for their best interest
6. Chase - 31% felt that Chase did what's best for the customer
5. Capital One - 29%
4. TD/Commerce - 28% trusted this Toronto-based bank
3. 5/3 (or 1 and 2/3 if you understand basic math) - 27%
2. Citi Bank - 26%
1. HSBC - 16% (10% lower than last year's score)
It should be no surprise that credit unions and community banks ranked significantly higher in this study.
If you have one of these mega banks in your market, you may be able to use this information to your advantage. If you don't know how, call me!
Take care,
Eric
Social media and banking
Are you wondering what the role of social media should be in your bank marketing plan? It can be confusing.... and time consuming. You may even be resisting starting down this path... just one more thing marketing has to manage.
Yesterday, I saw a headline that Pepsi has dropped the SuperBowl to focus their money on a major Facebook campaign. Here's the link: : http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/02/01/Pepsi-Drops-Super-Bowl-To-Focus-On-Facebook.aspx.
Wow. This is a huge commentary that "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore". The old marketing plan just isn't going to cover all the bases anymore. As you read about their in-depth, green marketing plans for Facebook, you will see that today's more interactive, advertising-by-invitation opportunities are just that... major opportunities. As bankers, we need to study what's being done by others, analyze how this new medium might help us reach new people in new ways and provide us a true channel of loyalty that we have not been able to create in the past. We think we have loyal customers and, while we do have some, the opportunity is there for us to really create points of differentiation in how we relate to some newly identified target groups. We may have wanted to reach single mothers in the past... how can a social media strategy help you do that and create a new kind of loyalty at the same time?
Just some food for thought. If you were thinking you would wait another year before delving into this new channel, you might want to look at it more as the opportunity it really is and start a small group to explore the top 3-5 ways you could do something exciting and meaningful through one of these channels. Then decide which one has the most potential and give it a try.
You will be a pioneer but you will be learning and growing at the same time.
Enjoy the process and lead your bank into the future.
Cheers!
Sharon
Yesterday, I saw a headline that Pepsi has dropped the SuperBowl to focus their money on a major Facebook campaign. Here's the link: : http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/02/01/Pepsi-Drops-Super-Bowl-To-Focus-On-Facebook.aspx.
Wow. This is a huge commentary that "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore". The old marketing plan just isn't going to cover all the bases anymore. As you read about their in-depth, green marketing plans for Facebook, you will see that today's more interactive, advertising-by-invitation opportunities are just that... major opportunities. As bankers, we need to study what's being done by others, analyze how this new medium might help us reach new people in new ways and provide us a true channel of loyalty that we have not been able to create in the past. We think we have loyal customers and, while we do have some, the opportunity is there for us to really create points of differentiation in how we relate to some newly identified target groups. We may have wanted to reach single mothers in the past... how can a social media strategy help you do that and create a new kind of loyalty at the same time?
Just some food for thought. If you were thinking you would wait another year before delving into this new channel, you might want to look at it more as the opportunity it really is and start a small group to explore the top 3-5 ways you could do something exciting and meaningful through one of these channels. Then decide which one has the most potential and give it a try.
You will be a pioneer but you will be learning and growing at the same time.
Enjoy the process and lead your bank into the future.
Cheers!
Sharon
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Whack-A-Fee
1 Down 11 To Go
I remember one January working out at the gym and hearing a guy complain to his buddy about how busy it was. His buddy's reply? "Just wait until February, it'll slow back down."
And you know, he's right! We start off the new year with the best of intentions and great "resolutions," but by February many of those intentions are forgotten when day-to-day life takes over.
Well, my friends, it's February. And how are YOUR best intentions doing?
- Have you measured your January promotions in terms of ROI?
- Have you married all of your 2010 Marketing Strategies with your institution's Business Objectives?
- Have you identified a handful of key segments? Have you reached out to them yet?
- Are you starting to see the loan growth/checking growth/new customers?
I know, because I've been there. When you're dealing with branch issues, changing regulations, internal communications, what color ink to order the pens in this year and meetings about when to have the next meeting - it's darn hard to focus on the key strategic initiatives. Sometimes that's where looking to an outside firm is justified - to get help from someone without all of the internal, day-to-day distractions. Someone to help you stay focused on your key strategies.
Take care,
Eric
The Age of the Self-Directed Buyer
The starting point for understanding the new face of B2B marketing is the fundamental shift in power from B2B sellers to business buyers. Now more than ever before, prospective buyers control the buying process. They decide when and how they will access information and research purchasing decisions and when and how they will interact with potential suppliers.
A good analogy is the self-directed learning courses offered at many universities. The course requirements are spelled out, textbooks and other course materials are identified, and mileposts (required exams, papers, etc.) are established. Then students study at their own pace to complete the course. In the world of B2B marketing, we're now living in the age of the self-directed buyer.
The driving force behind the empowerment of business buyers is the Internet. The Web has put a huge volume of information about almost every conceivable product and service at the fingertips of business buyers, and they've become convinced that they can find whatever information they need, whenever they need it, on their terms. In fact, the Internet has become the primary source of information for many business buyers. According to a survey by Forbes Insights, 81 percent of business executives who are under 50 years of age use the Internet daily to gather business information.
Last fall, Adam Needles provided a detailed discussion of the changing nature of B2B buyers in an excellent post at his Propelling Brands blog. He identified four major characteristics of today's B2B buyer.
A good analogy is the self-directed learning courses offered at many universities. The course requirements are spelled out, textbooks and other course materials are identified, and mileposts (required exams, papers, etc.) are established. Then students study at their own pace to complete the course. In the world of B2B marketing, we're now living in the age of the self-directed buyer.
The driving force behind the empowerment of business buyers is the Internet. The Web has put a huge volume of information about almost every conceivable product and service at the fingertips of business buyers, and they've become convinced that they can find whatever information they need, whenever they need it, on their terms. In fact, the Internet has become the primary source of information for many business buyers. According to a survey by Forbes Insights, 81 percent of business executives who are under 50 years of age use the Internet daily to gather business information.
Last fall, Adam Needles provided a detailed discussion of the changing nature of B2B buyers in an excellent post at his Propelling Brands blog. He identified four major characteristics of today's B2B buyer.
- B2B buyers are using online sources of information (especially early in the buying cycle) to research purchasing decisions, and they are delaying conversations with vendor's sales reps until late in the cycle.
- B2B buyers are leveraging social media to collect information and opinions about prospective vendors, products, and services.
- B2B buyers are using several communications channels to research purchasing decisions.
- B2B buyers are increasingly part of a "buying unit" rather than acting as a single decision-maker.
The bottom line is that easy access to information makes business buyers much less dependent on sellers than in the past, and this means that many traditional marketing and sales techniques and practices don't work as well as they once did.
What is working today? That's what we'll discuss in future posts.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Welcome to the B2B Marketing Directions blog.
Before a writer puts pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard - he or she should think through a couple of questions. What is the purpose and what are the objectives of what I am about to write? And, who am I writing for?
The purpose of this blog is to discuss the profound changes that are occurring in the world of marketing, specifically business-to-business marketing. "The Internet changes everything." That's a cliche, of course, but it's also an indisputable reality for B2B marketers. One of our primary objectives here is to describe how the Web is transforming the practice of B2B marketing and what strategies B2B marketers can use to succeed in this new marketing environment.
As far as the "who" question is concerned, this blog is designed primarily for marketers in small and mid-sized B2B companies and for marketing practitioners in small and mid-sized marketing services firms - advertising agencies, direct marketing agencies, graphic design firms, and print service providers who are repositioning their companies to offer marketing services.
Why the focus on marketing services firms? Two reasons. First, changes in the way B2B marketing is done are also changing the competitive structure of the marketing services industry. As the popularity and use of some marketing channels have declined, firms that operate in those channels must broaden their services in order to find new revenues. Even firms that are not focused on "declining" channels need to diversify because their clients want to use new marketing techniques and to integrate their marketing activities across an ever-increasing number of marketing channels.
This diversification takes firms into new territory and usually means they must acquire or develop new business capabilities. Diversification also means that the marketing business is getting more competitive as the internal boundaries that once separated different kinds of firms are blurring. The firms that master the right new marketing techniques will win.
Second, marketing services firms are B2B organizations. So, the forces that are changing the B2B marketing landscape are also changing the approach that marketing services firms must use to effectively market their services.
The bottom line? It's a new world for B2B marketers whether they're in B2B companies or B2B marketing services firms. Our goal here is to provide ideas and information that will help B2B marketers successfully navigate the new terrain.
Before a writer puts pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard - he or she should think through a couple of questions. What is the purpose and what are the objectives of what I am about to write? And, who am I writing for?
The purpose of this blog is to discuss the profound changes that are occurring in the world of marketing, specifically business-to-business marketing. "The Internet changes everything." That's a cliche, of course, but it's also an indisputable reality for B2B marketers. One of our primary objectives here is to describe how the Web is transforming the practice of B2B marketing and what strategies B2B marketers can use to succeed in this new marketing environment.
As far as the "who" question is concerned, this blog is designed primarily for marketers in small and mid-sized B2B companies and for marketing practitioners in small and mid-sized marketing services firms - advertising agencies, direct marketing agencies, graphic design firms, and print service providers who are repositioning their companies to offer marketing services.
Why the focus on marketing services firms? Two reasons. First, changes in the way B2B marketing is done are also changing the competitive structure of the marketing services industry. As the popularity and use of some marketing channels have declined, firms that operate in those channels must broaden their services in order to find new revenues. Even firms that are not focused on "declining" channels need to diversify because their clients want to use new marketing techniques and to integrate their marketing activities across an ever-increasing number of marketing channels.
This diversification takes firms into new territory and usually means they must acquire or develop new business capabilities. Diversification also means that the marketing business is getting more competitive as the internal boundaries that once separated different kinds of firms are blurring. The firms that master the right new marketing techniques will win.
Second, marketing services firms are B2B organizations. So, the forces that are changing the B2B marketing landscape are also changing the approach that marketing services firms must use to effectively market their services.
The bottom line? It's a new world for B2B marketers whether they're in B2B companies or B2B marketing services firms. Our goal here is to provide ideas and information that will help B2B marketers successfully navigate the new terrain.
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