BKM Marketing | In The News

	Covid Left Banks Scrambling for Digital Solutions. Now, They Need to Evaluate Those Investments, International BankerRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing In the banking industry, there is little question that COVID-19 forced digital adoption at an unparalleled rate. Years-long timelines for preplanned digital transformations were suddenly condensed into a matter of months. As the promise of recovery peeks over the horizon, we can now step back and appreciate the staggering rate of digital adoption — and the permanent change it has cemented in the banking culture. Has your bank made the right bets on technology? To ensure your place in the future of finance, this article highlights three questions to ask yourself when deciding whether your tech investments are designed to meet the challenges ahead.
	4 critical areas to understand before your bank's merger, BAI Banking StrategiesRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing With bank merger activity on the rise for 2021, four key areas to understand before your bank's next merger include cultural alignment, consumer behavior, pricing decisions, and differentiation. This article highlights and goes into detail on all four areas.
	If you're not using video, you're not marketing effectively, CEO WorldMegan Allinson, Integrated Marketing Director at BKM Marketing The case for video marketing is clear. Just as evident, is that brands miss an exciting chance to connect with customers when they don’t produce videos. This article outlines why brands should integrate this powerful asset into their marketing mix and offers strategies for creating valuable video content.
	Why it’s time to tailor your omnichannel marketing strategy to fit the now, MarketingTechBruce McMeekin, Founder and CEO at BKM 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. This article highlights four ways in which marketers can update their omnichannel strategy to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers.
	People Use Bank Accounts Differently Now: How Marketers Must Adapt, The Financial BrandRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing The shift to debit transactions has generated greater amounts of data for banks and credit unions to factor into their marketing strategies. Included in this trend is the growing use of online subscription services like Amazon Prime and Netflix, which can drive new approaches to segmentation and messaging. This article features three strategies bank marketers should be using to stay relevant and meet the changing needs of customers.
	Define Your Target Market to Stretch Your Marketing Budget, BankBeatMegan Allinson, Integrated Marketing Director Year-over-year marketers are asked to do more with less - produce greater results - with a flat budget. Zeroing in on your target audience is one way to make your budget go further. This article explores 3 ways targeting can help you make the most of your budget.
	Using Direct Mail to Break Through the Digital Marketing Clutter, BAI Banking StrategiesMegan Allinson, Integrated Marketing Director Institutions are pushing retail and small business customers toward online marketing, making digital channels more cluttered than ever. With many people somewhat homebound for the foreseeable future, direct mail offers financial institutions an alternative that may be effective, especially within a multichannel approach to engage current customers and attract new ones. Continue reading for three ways you can ensure your direct mail is working as hard as it can.
	Realities Beyond the Balance Sheet Facing Bank Buyers, Bank Director Rick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing Most institutions looking to acquire or be acquired need to address several non-financial topics when considering how to proceed. Five, in particular, are consistently under-communicated by acquirers and will be even more impactful moving forward. These items speak to the fit of the merger partners — the intangible elements that cause the difference between a high customer retention rate with a platform for organic growth or a tepid retention rate with little sign of future organic growth. Continue to the full article.
	Calling All Data-Driven Marketers - Banking Needs You, Banking New YorkRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing When it comes to new customer acquisition, data-driven marketing is arguably one of the most critical functions banks need to be leveraging. Yet bank marketers are often working with outdated perceptions of value and irrelevant or "dirty" data. It's not a "close up shop" moment, but it is a serious threat to the future of financial institutions. Read more here.
	Operating in a Constant of Change, The Financial Brand InsightsRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing Digital media has created a platform for large volumes of information to be disseminated quickly and to millions of people every hour of every day. This reality has generated as much noise as it has value to bank marketers and its customers. This is where having a clearly articulated strategy becomes critical – both for the bank or credit union and for its marketing teams. Here is a look at a few institution marketing challenges and three areas to consider when building out your strategy.
	4 Strategies for Running an Impactful Data-Based Marketing Program, The Financial BrandRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing Without proper data analysis in place, bank marketers will not be able to target key retention segments, identify at-risk relationships, or understand key customer preferences and move to a behaviors-based model. Read the full article here to learn about four strategies for organizing and using bank data that will help your marketing investment deliver a positive return that is strategic and sustainable.
	How to Improve Marketing Personalization — Even With Crappy Data, Forbes Agency CouncilBruce McMeekin, Founder and CEO at BKM Marketing Lacking insightful data is tough for any business trying to keep up in the digital age. According to Salesforce’s “State of the Connected Customer,” 73% of customers “expect companies to understand their needs and expectations,” and 62% “expect companies to adapt based on their actions and behavior.” However, you don’t need stellar data resources to practice personalization. Here are 5 ways to improve personalization with less than perfect data.
	4 Considerations When Vetting Martech Solutions for Your Bank, Banking New YorkRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing The need for technology solutions is real, but the task of selecting among them requires a strategy for identifying the right solutions. When there are over 7,000 Martech options for financial institutions to choose from, where do you begin? Here are four considerations to think about when vetting Martech solutions for your bank.
	4 Questions to Ask When Considering Your Next Fintech Purchase, BAI Banking StrategiesRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing The promise of fintech can be exciting. It can improve both front and back offices. But bankers should use prudence when considering new technology. It pays to look before you leap. Here are four questions to ask when considering your next fintech purchase.
	USPS Is Changing the Way Brands Use Direct Mail — and It's Free, Target MarketingBruce McMeekin, Founder and CEO at BKM Marketing Direct mail already powers marketing results that provide a high ROI for savvy brands that use the medium wisely. And with the U.S. Postal Service’s recent launch of Informed Delivery, these results can become dramatically stronger, without adding a penny to direct mail campaign costs. Here are three ways to put Informed Delivery to work.
	6 Steps to Understand and Connect With Your Audience, MTA MarTech AdvisorBruce McMeekin, Founder and CEO at BKM Marketing Marketers often get caught up in all the objectives they are trying to accomplish but struggle to understand which types of advertising catch their audience’s attention. Understanding how brands can engage consumers is critical to success. Here are six steps marketers can take to help them understand and connect better with their audience
	Find the Perfect Tech Fit for Your Bank by Asking Vendors These 9 Questions, International BankerRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing Vetting and validating new technology vendors often falls to bankers and marketers who may lack the technical expertise needed to thoroughly understand the presented technology, including whether it will provide the best solution for the bank’s specific needs. It’s easy to overlook red flags and grasp at what might seem like a simple solution. Following are 9 questions you should be asking.
	Adopt an Employee-First Methodology for Optimal Management During a Bank Merger, International BankerRick Hall, Managing Director, Banking and Financial Services at BKM Marketing With federal regulators becoming more receptive to large deals, bank merger approvals have sped up under the Trump administration. Although the anticipated merger activity volume has slowed relative to early 2019 projections, the fact remains that attention to detail in the execution of these combinations has never been more important. The following five steps covered in this article outline how to prepare for an employee-first merger.
	The Secret Sauce Behind Direct Mail's Resurgence, Forbes Agency CouncilBruce McMeekin, Founder and CEO at BKM Marketing 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. Here are three tips to make your direct mail work harder.

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