The quest for the perfect mix of traditional and digital marketing continues—and becoming an agile marketing department is paramount.
Traditional marketing is far from dead, and digital marketing is an ever-changing, complex analytical challenge. But marketers still struggle with allocation and investment. How much of that budget do you shift one way or another?
We’ve seen so many banks abandon their traditional media budgets in the push toward digital advertising, but it’s important to remember that traditional media still belongs in your marketing mix. In the frantic switch from traditional to digital, it can be easy to forget that the digital world opens up a new realm of creative and interactive possibilities. Static print ads or traditional 30-second radio and television commercials are wasted in the digital space.
Don’t overreact and push all your budget in one basket—especially if your bank hasn’t fully upgraded its digital experience.
If you don’t have a good online account opening tool on your site, measuring online account conversions by marketing source might lead to waste. Think about lead generation or cost per lead instead—unless, of course, your website doesn’t have a good lead generation tool. Landing pages can help you bridge the gap until you have more robust solutions in place.
Find the metric that applies most to your bank, and measure the performance of your digital and traditional advertisements against it. But don’t get analysis paralysis. Similar to traditional advertising components, some digital efforts are meant only to gain impression share, awareness, or increased traffic. And all of that is measurable.
If half your budget skews traditional and the other half covers digital to begin the year, remain flexible. Marketing departments today have to be more agile in a world where the media narrative can turn on a dime. Developing this agility isn’t easy, but with the right partners, you can move faster and react responsibly to events impacting your customers.
Last month, successful marketing departments set aside their marketing calendars for a week to address the Equifax data breach. They sent important account security information and reassured their customers. Some used it as an opportunity to explain their security procedures and why their clients should feel safe as customers of their bank. Your customers live in a fast-paced world, and your team must be ready to adapt and react in real time—or at least within a day.
Stop making your budgeting decisions based on the weather. Work with an agency that sets data-backed strategy.
