The ’90s was a special decade for bank marketers. Like Ross and Rachel, I’d like to propose we take a break. A few minutes is just long enough to read this blog. A moment where we can re-explore our customer/member relationships. A daydream of a place when bank marketing was a heck of a lot easier and way more personally connected to customers.
The ’90s brought us a marketing philosophy of “the right amount of tech combined with the right amount of touch.” Remember?
The 2000s slowly stole the human touch away from marketing. We’re now selling based on algorithms that tell us who is most likely to buy what, and then automatically track and retarget customers until they buy. Bank marketing has become highly impersonal.
Never underestimate the value of personal brand interaction, especially in the fintech era.
Having advanced banking tools that no one fully grasps - Alanis Morrissette would call it "Ironic.
I just read a headline from a well-known online financial publication that says, “Banking Must Use Real-Time Insight to Improve Customer Experience.” In the ’90s, banks used to sit down with their customers, get to know them, understand their individual needs, and end up with a solution and a handshake. Why are we so anxious to make the sale? Why are we taking the humanity out of banking?
Banking needs innovation: better processes and value-added products benefit customers and members – the core of your institution.
These products using BaZing for instance, provide “real people” solutions and benefits like roadside assistance, cell phone protection, extended warranties on purchases, etc. They just offer great value-adds to sweeten a customer’s decision to open that account and do business with you. They are human needs that your institution can provide while at the same time selling your checking product.
Prioritize humanity! Financial institutions should enhance lives, not just speed up banking.
Let’s end this little daydream back to the ’90s with a drive to Blockbuster to find the newest release, but always remember to “Be kind and rewind.”