Chances are the number of financial institutions chasing new accounts where you do business is greater than ever. Fortunately, banks can still get exceptional results with a disciplined, data-driven approach that focuses all your efforts on the very best prospects.
Start with the precious data you already own.
When you’re looking to grow your customer base, mining the past is the key to your future. Chances are this isn’t the first time your bank has needed to grow deposits—so ask yourself: What kind of customers did those earlier efforts attract, and how can you get more of them? The more you learn about the customers you’ve already won, the better your results will be.
Find your best new customer by modeling your best current customer.
Every bank—every community—has a unique profile for their best prospects. So at Ramey, we believe that your current customer base is the best place to start mining data. Beyond simple demographics or proximity to the nearest branch, we use analytics to produce new insights that can inform a more effective acquisition strategy.
New deposits can fund loan growth.
Here’s a recent example: For several years in a row, one of our financial clients was named the #1 midsize bank in the nation. Much of their growth came from commercial loans, so it was crucial for the bank to build up their deposit base just as rapidly. We began by using data analytics to increase the sale of CDs to new customers. Inside the bank’s database of current CD customers, we analyzed literally thousands of characteristics to find exactly what they had in common. We developed information on life stages, attitudes toward money, family dynamics, and even jobs, hobbies and favorite vacations.
After that research, Ramey was able to create a very complete and nuanced portrait of our client’s CD customer, which we then modeled to find prospects in four states who exactly matched our criteria.
To prove this approach would work, we sent just one postcard with a CD offer to 60,000 individuals who were characterized as “likely purchasers.” The results: a ROI of over 600%. We also gave the bank valuable insights for future mailings—for instance, postcards with the name and phone number of an actual banker outperformed a more generic call to action.
Mass marketing is an expensive answer. Fortunately, it’s not the only answer.
When it comes to specific goals like deposit growth, one-to-one performance marketing can give you a much better ROI than traditional marketing. Our team can help you sift through the reams of customer data that you already own to find laser-targeted acquisition programs that work.
At Ramey, we believe that financial marketing needs to be held to the highest possible standard. We will be continuing this series about our precision approach to financial marketing, so make sure you are registered for our newsletter and find more details at Ramey.com/financial.
——–
Contact Michelle Hill at [email protected] with any questions or to learn more.
You may also be interested in gleaning additional insights from our CEO’s blog, UpwardHome.com, where he recently unpacked some of the myths surrounding the affluent audience.
