Menu

digital advertising

Financial Marketing Tips: Combining Print and Digital Advertising

by 1 Comment

Today, marketing comes in more forms than ever before. Digital advertising is expanding, but that does not mean that traditional advertising methods are dead. When marketing for a bank, you want to reach today’s savvy customers across multiple platforms. Discover how to connect each of your financial marketing efforts and accurately measure its performance across traditional and digital, including mobile.

Financial Marketing Starts With Your Customers

There is more data available about bank customers today than ever before. Luckily, good customer relationship management (CRM) can help you harness this data and find the most valuable information to you. When building your marketing plan, you need to know who is using your mobile banking service, who is using your app and how they are utilizing these programs. Additionally, you need to know who is NOT using these services. Once you understand more about the people who use your various forms of contact, you can find patterns and ideally see what you can do to address the wants and needs of your different customer segments. How can you make the entire process better for everyone?

Invest in Additional Analytics

Measure the success of your email campaigns based on user ID’s to see what’s happening across mobile, desktop and tablet devices. In some cases, the loan application process is located on a different website (apply.atthebank.com/) from the primary website (thebank.com). The tracking function then breaks as the URL changes, throwing a wrench into your analytics. This is why it is imperative to have cross domain tracking setup. Any additional information can come in handy as you build up future campaigns, such as collecting data from a call tracking tool. Tagging the URL, which is done for campaign tracking purposes, can also help you avoid losing data—especially across platforms.

Review, Measure, and Analyze

Once you have invested in analytics program and you have the data, it is vital that you use it. Measure your bank promotions performance in various segments or by branch. Check out your return on ad spend by campaign or promotions. Once you know what type of marketing is working best for you, it will make it easier for you to determine what marketing methods you should choose in the future. One vital consideration is that you should never limit your measurement to only the last touch point. A potential customer might apply for a loan after clicking a paid search ad, but he or she made up their mind after talking to someone in person or having read a direct mail message.

There is so much to think about when it comes to marketing for a financial institution. Working with a digital marketing expert who knows the banking industry can help you grow in ways that you never imagined was possible. If you have questions about how you can harness the power of digital AND traditional marketing, reach out to us today. We would love to work with you.

For more information about Financial Marketing, please leave a comment below, or contact DaBrian Marketing today!

Mad Men’s Don Draper on Digital Advertising

by Leave a Comment

As an addict of the AMC series “Mad Men,” I’ve been thinking about what Don Draper would say about my digital agency and today’s advertising industry. If you don’t know, Don Draper is the Creative Director and a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce ad agency in the show. The series is based on a 1960s New York advertising agency that fights for recognition in the industry as well as key players making their mark. Don Draper is a key character within the show that works to tell the story of the agency’s clientele.

I thought it would be interesting to put myself in Don Draper’s shoes to see what he would most likely say about the growing digital landscape as an ad man. Here’s what I came up with:

  • Agencies still need to present great ideas to clients. It could be a unique creative solution or technology, but it always starts with an idea that helps the client solve a problem.

  • It’s about storytelling in all formats: print, media, mobile, digital, PR, branding, and creative, but with more research and analytics geeks to deliver info for informed storytelling and engagement.

  • Storytelling doesn’t just apply to the marketing mix; it also applies to the reporting. Multiple data sources, tag management solutions, and data visualization are all part the story. The more information that you have on the customer or prospective customer’s story that manifests into actionable recommendations or insights, the better.

  • Creative is still important, but not without testing, measurement, and outcomes. Not just ad creative either, but creative in the sense of identifying solutions to client challenges. Think about digital & creative on the path toward creating a successful outcome.

  • Digital creates more opportunities, but someone still has to sell it! From more graphic designers that create banner ads to analysts that implement a tag management solution for attribution analysis. Our client’s don’t always see the value, so we need to sell the story along with the impact it will have on selling more products or services.

  • It’s a tough journey from creative, to messaging, to measuring outcomes. Without the right people and technology, it will be more like a nightmare.

  • It’s an opportunity to improve the marketing mix and turn data into insight. The March 2013 issue of Advertising Age brought this up in an article “Data, Data Everywhere, and not an Insight in Sight.” The bottom-line is that big data still needs to be customer-centric and segmented. You need to have some idea on what you plan to do with the data.

  • You need the right talent and you need to cultivate it. It took time for Peggy to become a Copy Chief! Many ad executives are looking for the next “Big-Data Draper,” but in today’s environment, that’s like looking for a unicorn. I think it’s more realistic to develop a team of creative analytics geeks that work well together than the “Big-Data Draper” approach.

  • Don’t just give customers/clients what they want, but recommend what they need with a story. Marketers have become obsessed with technology, but isn’t the idea to make more money from selling products and services?

  • Digital Advertisers & Analysts need to tell the public a better story on the usage of big data, tracking, and security! We’re collecting data to recommend products/services, we’re tracking to see what works so we can stop sending you bullshit, we’re securing the data based on existing industry standards, and we’re proactively looking for methods to save customers time and money while better servicing your needs.

While today’s digital advertising is growing, so is the need to provide creative digital solutions to clients. In my opinion, it starts with a team of good people with good ideas. Don’t let the technology control the outcome, but think about how to leverage technology or even expand its capabilities to achieve exactly what you want. Remember that what is standard technology today will be mediocre tomorrow, but storytelling and the need for creative solutions will be around for a life time.

Do you have a Draper-ism of your own when it comes to the digital advertising landscape? Let us know in the comments below!