While bank merger activity declined by 60%¹ in 2020, as compared to 2019, due to several factors including a global pandemic, the banking industry is experiencing a reversing trend in 2021 as bank merger and acquisition activity picks back up.

Topics: Bank Marketing, Direct Marketing, Marketing For Banks, Financial Marketing, Bank Merger, Bank Communications, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Marketing For Financial Services

Topics: Direct Marketing, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Small Business Marketing

Global warming is real. And you don't need to be a scientist to know it's already here.

Earth’s average global surface temperature has risen annually since the 1940s. Nineteen of the 20 warmest years on record all have occurred since 2001.

Topics: Direct Marketing, Financial Marketing, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Small Business Marketing

The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly altered consumers’ needs. Specifically, customers who once settled for basic customer service now crave brands that make them feel valued, safe, and happier. Adjusting omnichannel marketing strategies to adapt to changing needs is always important, and now it is essential for building brand preference and loyalty. Companies that instinctively pivot to “now” are thriving. 

As recently featured in MarketingTech, Why it's time to tailor your omnichannel marketing strategy to fit the now, written by Bruce McMeekin, Founder and CEO of BKM Marketing, highlights four ways in which marketers can update their omnichannel strategy to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers.

Topics: Direct Marketing, Financial Marketing, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Small Business Marketing

“Since March 2020, checking account sales in the U.S. are down 200%, according to Raddon. Credit usage has also been displaced by debit card usage, which increased by 8.6%, according to the Federal Reserve. Bank marketers need to react to that sea change. What behavioral insights can we draw from this data?”

Topics: Bank Marketing, Direct Marketing, Marketing For Banks, Financial Marketing, Bank Merger, Bank Communications, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Small Business Marketing, Marketing For Financial Services

Multichannel, multi-touch marketing continues to be a critical communication strategy. In 2020, this is not a new concept, but we still see brands struggling to implement this approach in a connected way, especially when marketing teams and/or databases are siloed by channel. It’s still common to see a team dedicated to email, a team to direct mail, at team to digital, and so on. However, even if this is the case there are ways to still implement a multichannel, multi-touch approach.

Why is multichannel, multi-touch marketing critical?

Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes or think about your own shopping/browsing behavior. In today’s digital world we’re on multiple devices and consume information via multiple channels at various times. Think about how often you’re on email, or opening a web browser, or checking Facebook or Instagram. Simultaneously we’re living in an offline world too – checking our mail, having conversations, shopping in a store and so on. At each of these points where we’re consuming information, we’re also ripe for seeing ads and offers.

As marketers we also need to acknowledge that most people don’t make a purchase decision based on seeing an ad once – generally speaking it takes 7-9 touches to create a sale, especially with larger B2C purchases and B2B decision making.

In our experience, we begin to see significant lifts in response when multichannel, multi-touch is implemented in 2+ channels in a highly targeted way. For example, when we added a targeted digital display buy to a direct mail campaign, along with a highly focused landing page we started to see lifts in sales from 21% - 44%. Read the full case study here to learn more about how our lawn care client increased sales with a multichannel, multi-touch approach.

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Topics: Direct Mail Marketing, Direct Marketing, multichannel marketing

The rate of technology change facing Banks and Credit Unions today is unprecedented.  At the same time, the challenges facing prioritization for selecting from these solutions is more critical than ever before for the industry.  In a recently published article in International Banker: Find the Perfect Tech Fit for Your Bank by Asking Vendors These 9 Questions, BKM Marketing’s Managing Director of Banking and Financial Services, Rick Hall, looks at approaches to leverage an institution’s strategy to navigate this reality.

Topics: Bank Marketing, Direct Marketing, Fintech, Marketing For Banks, Financial Marketing, Bank Merger, Bank Communications, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Small Business Marketing, Marketing For Financial Services, International Banker

Federal regulators are becoming more and more receptive to large bank deals — bank merger approvals have sped up under the Trump administration. As the landscape resets to include larger combinations, the financial rationale is dependent upon combining institutions exploring and addressing the needs of all constituents impacted by these mergers.

Topics: Direct Mail Marketing, Bank Marketing, Direct Marketing, Marketing For Banks, Financial Marketing, Bank Merger, Bank Communications, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Marketing For Financial Services, Bank Merger Marketing, International Banker

Savvy marketers are discovering that direct mail is more powerful than ever, especially when they're microtargeting new customers and building deeper relationships with existing customers. Email, robocalls, social media, and many other techniques have their strengths, but cluttered messaging channels render many such approaches unemotional and ineffective.

Topics: Direct Mail Marketing, Bank Marketing, Direct Marketing, Marketing For Banks, Financial Marketing, Bank Communications, Marketing Strategies, Strategic Marketing, Digital Marketing Agency, Marketing For Financial Services, Forbes

The New England Direct Marketing Association recently held its 37^th Annual Awards for Creative Excellence at District Hall in Boston, MA. Thirteen out-of-region judges critiqued work from leading New England marketing and creative agencies. Winning work was based on return-on-marketing-investment (ROI) as well as the effectiveness of the design, copy and campaign execution. BKM Marketing entered four client campaigns, and each entry earned first or second place recognition in its category. 

Topics: Direct Marketing