Taking the next step...

Greetings!

As we quickly approach the last week of January...its time for us all to take inventory and get ready to take-- the NEXT STEP!

What is the next stet?

It is...

• Evaluating the 1st three weeks of your year
• Ensuring you are on pace for your 12/31 goals
• Taking inventory of your social media strategies
• Measuring the "true alignment" of sales and marketing at your institution
• Taking stock of your internal communications

It is all about making sure you incrementally are checking in on your progress and doing small tweaks instead of mid-year -- or later -- finding yourself well behind the 8-ball!

Here's to a great week!

Cheers!

Bruce

Facing adversity, win or lose.

A Welsh proverb states "Adversity brings knowledge, and knowledge wisdom."

Obstacles, challenges and even tragedies are all part of life. Sometimes unavoidable. But lessons learned and shared from real-life experiences can help us, and others, in our personal and business lives. In order to win in your personal or business life, adversity has to be faced, fought and defeated.

Overcoming adversity is never easy. Sometimes no matter how hard you fight, you still don't win. Even in losing, lessons are learned. It's up to you to turn those low times into lessons to learn from and share with others.

Share your adversity with others and they will learn. Listen about how others overcame adversity and you will learn.

Make it a great Friday. Enjoy your weekend and until we talk again.

Debbi

It's a Numbers Game...

Throughout this year you will send multiple messages to customers or members utilizing various mediums. So how can you increase your response to each of these marketing messages? … get a better list!

Remember better doesn’t always mean bigger! Simply updating your list with correct customer or member information can go a long way to expanding your reach.

This year, try starting off the year with a campaign or sales initiative to grow your database. Starting with a clean database help to make the rest of your 2011 campaigns/marketing initiatives a success. Whether it’s emails, addresses, phone numbers, followers, or facebook friends, the larger your list, the more people you will reach. And, of course, the more people you reach, the greater response you will receive!

Best,

Jamie

I have a dream...

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day...

I was born in the same year that Dr. King was assassinated.  I never saw or heard him outside of film clips and audio sound bites.  One thing that I do know is that he personified hope and determination delivered with a reverence and motivation that inspired people to act.

To borrow a quote from Dr. King...I have a dream...

I have a dream that...

• banking resolves its identity problem
• senior executives finally realize the power of marketing
• the customer experience becomes king
• banks and CUs focus their attention to the outside threats to the ENTIRE industry
• margins increase and LLRs decrease

Here's a tip of my hat to Dr. King and a wish for everyone to have a tremendous 2011!

Cheers!

Bruce

Award winning creative, in the making!

Well, we just compiled and entered 3 awesome creative pieces in the 2011 AAF-Dayton Hermes Awards. Now we wait for judging and awarding. We have entered a number of pieces in the past and won a number of awards but for some reason I have a really good feeling about these 3 entries.

When working with MarketMatch you have access to our Creative Director plus a full team that brainstorms, works on developing and puts together the next award winning creative. There were hundreds of pieces that were developed in 2010 and it took us awhile to really pick out the pieces we thought were the most creative.

So here's to the clients that allow us to work outside of the box and sometimes out of their comfort zone but with full explanation and reasoning from MarketMatch they allow us to move forward.

Your success is our success and our success is your success.

Make it a great Friday. Enjoy your weekend and until we talk again.

Debbi

Tips from a frustrated bank shopper

Last week we conducted secret shops for a client and their competition as part of our strategic planning process. We walked into nearly 40 financial institution branches in 2 1/2 days.

After doing these shops for clients all over the country, it never ceases to amaze me how horribly wrong things can go with customers who walk into our branches.

Folks who walk in your front door are the hottest of all possible leads. They have made the effort to leave their home and travel to your branch - at that point, they have done all that we should expect of them. Yet, banks and credit unions across the country EXPECT the customer to read brochures to determine what's best for them AND to call back when they are ready to open an account.

Here are a few tips from a guy who's shopped hundreds of banks and credit unions:

• Get 'em talking: By asking some basic questions, you can learn about what the customer wants AND begin to build a rapport. Ask about their families, where they work, where they bank now, why they want the account. With a handful of standard questions, the conversation will flow.
• Listen before you talk: When someone wants information about your checking accounts, they don't mean ALL of your checking accounts. This isn't a test of your front line's product knowledge - they simply want to know which account is best for them. Unless you've hired a group of mind readers, the only way to determine that is to listen to the prospect.
• They came there for a reason: They drove to your branch once - don't make them come back until they're a customer. Ask to open the darn account now!
• Don't give up: If it's not convenient to open the account now, it's our job to follow-up with the customer. Don't expect them to be so dazzled by your brochure that they are compelled to pursue you. Ask politely for their contact information so you can follow-up. If they refuse, provide your business card and tell them the hours your typically there.

A little extra effort can go a long way. Take it from me - most of your competition is simply handing off brochures with no effort at all to begin a relationship or make a sale.

Good luck,

Eric

Put a Critical Eye to Your Website

How many times have you visited a bank/credit union website and leave the site without a clear sense of what about that financial institution is different from all other financial institutions? It’s a common problem that we see way too often. Take a look at your website. Is your brand infused into the design, copy, and functionality of your website?

Here are a few ways to optimize your website:

DESIGN – The website content should be easily navigated by customers in a user-friendly interface. As a general rule of thumb, customers should be able to find what they are looking for within 3 clicks. Also, the design and images/photography on your website should also convey your brand.

COPY – It is now recommended that your content be refreshed every 3 days in order to optimize search capabilities. However, this doesn’t mean to overload your website with content – keep content fresh and relevant, but not cluttered. Remember, not only does your copy need to easily read by human beings, but it also needs to be easily read by search engines too!

FUNCTIONALITY – Adding functionality will help to transition your website to become a value-added resource instead of a static website. The functionality allows for your users to interact with your brand. Each value-added resource should support your brand. Consider adding operational functionalities such as online account opening and online chat, but also consider including value-added functionality, such as customer updates, email newsletters and financial resources.

Users only have a 6-second attention span before they click elsewhere. Make sure you are clearly defining what is uniquely different about your organization in order to win them over!

Best,

Jamie

2011...

Greetings!

It's here...and quickly accelerating! 

2011.

We planned for it...we celebrated its beginning...and now we must maximize the opportunities.  For our bankers and credit unions marketers, the future is here now.  You have to turn on your energy, focus your team and realize the potential into real opportunity!

So where do you start??  Here are the top 4 ideas...

1. Bring the plan from the shelf to the front line- engage your staff in turning the plan into daily actionable goals, duties and accountabilities
2. Move forward- each day that you wait to launch your plans means one less day to make the results occur
3. Measure- everything! Pre-, Post- and during...to ensure your efforts are focused on the best source for success 
4. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate- the more you share, the more broadly it is shared, the more everyone will be on the same page and in unison forward

2011 means opportunity...are ready to seize your share??


Cheers!
Bruce

Public Relations - Do you do it?

How well is Public Relations/Corporate Communications performed at your financial institution? Do you incorporate public relations into your marketing plan or just take advantage of it when something happens, good or bad? Maybe now is a good time to take a look at 15 elements of public relations that PRSA has identified that maybe you are not aware of...

• counseling - advising management
• research - determining attitudes and behaviors of the public
• media relations - seeking publicity with or responding to communications media
• publicity - disseminating unpaid, planned messages
• employee relations - responding to and informing employees and their families
• community relations - seeking to be connected to the community through actions, participation, and communication with community, citizens and leaders
• public affairs - developing effective involvement in public policy
• government affairs - relating directly to legislatures and regulatory agencies
• issues management - identifying and addressing issues of public concern in which an organization is, or should be, concerned
• financial relations - creating and maintaining investor confidence
• industry relations - relating with other firms in the industry
• developing/fundraising - demonstrating the need for and encouraging support for an organization
• minority relations/multicultural affairs - relating with individuals and groups in minorities
• special events and pubic participation - stimulating interest through a focused event or activity
• marketing communications - combining activities designed to sell a product, service, or idea

If you need help putting together a corporate communications plan we can help you, we have done that for other financial institutions around the country. Or, if you are interested in more information please do not hesitate to contact us.

Make it a great Friday. Enjoy your weekend and until we talk again.

Debbi

Are you addicted to work?

As marketers and creative people we all tend to work long hours from time to time. Some of us may even be labeled as "workaholics". If you go to bed at night thinking about your job and wake up in the morning thinking about your job or maybe just don't sleep at all thinking about your job...you might just suffer from workaholism.

Its easy to define, and I am sure all of us are guilty of over-working at some point in our lives. Face it - it's easy to do. There are a few ways to keep yourself in check and not fall into being a workaholic:

• Learn how to earn to live and not live to earn. Easier said than done right?...we all want that pie in the sky and will work our fingers to the bone to achieve it. Not so much...living to earn can be stressful and it deprives you of enjoying your life to the fullest. When you become a workaholic, you are obsessed with work and miss out on life’s great moments. Earning money isn’t the only thing that matters…finding time to spend it is also important.
• Don't work on your vacation or on your days off. You need to realize that your body needs relaxation and leisure to perform efficiently. No matter how important the work is, spend your vacations and days off as a day to revive and reset, not as working days.
• Waste time, from time to time. If you think that spending some leisure time is a waste, then you’re mistaken. The times you chill and enjoy help you get ready for upcoming stressful hours. Considering the heavy and complex work nature of marketers, idle time is sometimes a must. Spending time enjoying and relaxing, not only diverts your worries, but also increases you productivity.
• Don't neglect loved ones. Remember you're not alone in this world. No matter how important your work is, never compromise your family or friend time. You are making money to fulfil your family requirements but in the end, if you don’t have enough time to spend with your loved ones, it's not really worth it. When you are with your family or friends…make an effort to be really there...not off in the clouds thinking about deadlines.
  
• Don't be a perfectionist. Let’s face it, nobody’s perfect and never will be. Before committing to any project, you must contemplate on whether it is possible or not. Taking on projects with unrealistic deadlines makes you a workaholic. Always think before you leap and never jump the gun on a project that is outside your realm of abilities without having the time and resources to achieve the end goal. Remember you aren't going to please 100% or people 100% of the time, that is just the way it is.
• Set your own restrictions. Always remember, no one can control you more than yourself. The most important thing you need to do is to set restrictions on yourself. Restrict your working hours in a way that you get time for others and most importantly yourself.
• Step away from the computer. Not only will it help you ease your mind but also save you from going blind or forever being cramped into a desk seated position. Sometimes, it is important to step into the real world and update yourself with the activities going on around you. Go out to lunch, run to the gym or the store - step away.

Until next time,
Jeremy

GET FIT in 2011

It’s hard to turn on the TV, check your email, or listen to the radio without being bombarded by the over-saturated message of ways to lose weight in the New Year. If you are setting forth a resolution to live a healthier lifestyle in 2011, consider carrying over that resolution to your work life. For instance, you can remove excess from your marketing budget by adjusting tactics that aren’t providing your enough exposure or return.

Let’s take a look at three easy ways to ‘trim the fat’ in your marketing efforts that will free up money that you can put to better use!

1 – Revisit Sponsorships. Instead of pursing a sponsorship with minimal exposure, consider asking for more unique and exclusive ways to draw attention to your brand. Only follow through with the sponsorships that will provide enough return to cover your investment.

2 – Minimize Phone Book Advertising. As long as your locations and phone numbers are accurately portrayed in the yellow pages, people will find you. When was the last time you heard of someone choosing a bank or credit union based on a yellow pages ad? Just about any other advertising medium is a more effective use of your money.

3 – Renegotiate Contracts. We have seen many clients with overpriced advertising, creative design, or research contracts. Contracts are almost always negotiable, especially in this economic environment. If you can’t get a discount, ask for a quote from another vendor to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

This year, “trim the fat” in your marketing budget so you can put it to better use.

Best,

Jamie