LOS ANGELES – As today's banks and credit unions face competition from online-only financial services providers, many fear branches may one day be a thing of the past. But traditional financial institutions should toss their worries aside, because while the importance of digital experiences is growing, brick and mortar locations as well as in-person services will not disappear.
That's what Geezeo's principal and chief marketing officer, Bryan Clagett, assured an audience of mainly small community bankers Tuesday at the American Bankers Association's annual convention. Clagett, whose company provides personal financial management tools to more than 400 banks and credit unions, offered digital marketing tips as part of a panel discussion with Karen Partee, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Texas Bank and Trust, and Candace Wiest, president/CEO for West Valley National Bank.
"Disruptors are out there to scare you and say that the bank of the future will be an app," Clagett said. "But that's not true. The bank of the future will still be a bank, but it will be different, and it will be highly digital."
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Clagett emphasized financial institutions should aim to eliminate the "chore" element of banking through digital solutions and focus on "customer journey mapping." They should position themselves close to the customer or member's desire – whether that's to retire, buy a home or buy a car – make emotional connections and remain relevant throughout the customer or member's life cycle, he said. Experiences should be unique, memorable and remove friction, he added.
"The objective is not to push a product, it's to push a solution that's relevant to a particular household at a particular time," he said. "That, not advertising, is the key."
To illustrate the importance of implementing a digital marketing strategy, panelists pointed to some key data on consumer habits: According to the website Business 2 Community, 75% of consumers research businesses online, four out of 10 use social media to conduct the research and 50% complete the task on a mobile device. Citing an Accenture survey, panelists noted online sales of mortgages and auto loans have drastically increased while in-branch sales of these products has declined.
Clagett also recommended hiring digital strategists from outside the banking industry, since most bankers unfortunately lack the right expertise. He named mobile solutions, websites and their correlation to mobile solutions, and search engine optimization strategies as top digital marketing priorities for financial institutions, adding he foresees virtual banking experiences that go beyond basic transactions as the next big thing in the digital marketing realm.
"At the end of the day, people don't want to do business with an app," he said. "[Digital] doesn't mean the end [of the branch], but it is a wake-up call. But it also isn't something to be feared – it's something to be experimented with."
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
