Shortly after opening a Money Market Account with SunTrust Bank, I received a cross-sell letter, promoting their CD options. The concept is excellent: talk to a customer who has just opened a fluid MMA and try to lock them in to a longer-term CD product. The concept is good; but the execution could have been improved.

To see the article with the letter, please click here.
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The ante is going up for new checking account openings. People’s United Bank (Connecticut) has a great checking account offer — $100 if you open with Direct Deposit – but they could have improved their mailing piece with some copy changes.
(link to the ABA Bank Marketing Magazine, Sept. 2010 – http://magazines.aba.com/bmmag/201009?sub_id=AmkkXzJP94Ql#pg6)
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Welcoming and cross-selling new customers is a critically important function for banks/CUs that is done both in the branch and with a structured mailing program.  This  letter, submitted by a reader, is part of a “three-touch” program of welcoming and then offering “the next most likely product” to each household.   The piece is nicely positioned on attractive letterhead, with plenty of white space.  The body copy appears just to be a shade too long to the reader; but could be easily corrected.

Bank of  the West Onboarding aba onboarding

Here is a nice-looking piece that recently arrived from Fifth Third Private Bank and appeared in my column in the ABA Bank Marketing Magazine.  The look is very upscale, the message is OK, but there are several ways the mailing could be improved. Read the rest of this entry »

The Bank of the West submitted their new customer Onboarding (Welcome) letter for review and comment. It does a good job and with some small changes, could do even better. Read the rest of this entry »

All marketers strive to create the illusion of one-on-one marketing, personalized communications from “their company” to an individual customer. And it all starts with the mailing list.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Bupropion

Omnicef
Hoodia
Purchase Aldactone
Norco
Speman

Most financial institutions are looking to increase commercial core deposits and loans. Sometimes sending “money” can make money with this profitable and challenging target market.

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Here are seven tips for weathering and prospering during stormy financial times.

1. Best Customers: Identify the top 10% your most profitable customers to call and mail to reassure them and retain their business. In general, focus more on marketing and cross-selling existing customers rather than new prospects.

2. Onboarding New Customers: Have a strong and structured program in place to welcome and cross-sell new customers; in order to improve retention and profitability.

3. News Releases: If your numbers are good, contact local business reporters to feature your company as a positive news story.

4. Use Cheaper Media: Explore using less expensive mailing packages and cost-effective email marketing. But be cautious about cheapening critical communications too much.

5. Target Smarter: Focus all marketing efforts to better target on the most potentially profitable prospects. Use modeling, business rules, or better demographic selections to narrow marketing targets to the best possible prospects.

6. Measure Success: Perform sales tracking ROI calculations on all marketing programs. Reduce those that are not performing well; and focus limited marketing dollars on those that are profitable.

7. Stay in the Market: The bottom will eventually come; and those institutions who have maintained brand awareness and customer communications will be the first to rebound.

If you have come here from the web or hardcopy version of the WordCom Marketing Minutes newsletter, Welcome!

Writing great copy is an art; but one that can be learned. There are many basic secrets that can improve the quality of communicating to customers, prospects, or even your own boss! Feel free to review many of the topics here and let me know if you would like any advice on improving one of your pieces.

A frequent question: what kind of response rate should I expect from my mailing? The answer can vary as widely as the product/service being offered and the target audience receiving the mailing. Here are some general guidelines: Read the rest of this entry »

Years ago, direct mail writer Frank Johnson popularized the concept of putting critical selling information in the upper right of the letter. This is usually “white space” under the bank logo and to the right of the address block. How it is used can be critical to the success of a mailing. Read the rest of this entry »

Financial services are finding a basic marketing truth: business people are one of the toughest target markets to penetrate. Read the rest of this entry »

“To app or not to app, that is the question!”
Paraphrasing Hamlet from his soliloquy, the question frequently faced in doing an equity line, or any kind of loan mailing, is whether or not to include an application in the mailing package. There are several reasons to take this route, and some solid cautions on the other side.

An application can take many forms: from the two-page, complex variety to the four-question ‘mini application,’ depending on the requirements of underwriting. But in each case, the prospect is being asked to do more work in responding to a loan offer. Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve made the sale! Your letter did the job of getting the prospect’s attention and motivating them to take the next step. Now, you need a clear and strong Call To Action, with as many options as possible.

Read the rest of this entry »

Two common mistakes most companies make in writing their own direct mail letters center on what they choose to emphasize. Usually it involves the company name and the featuresof the product — rather than the consumer benefits.
Read the rest of this entry »

They are colorful, easier to design, and less expensive. But when are the right times for financial institutions to use postcards in marketing?

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Many writers have successfully used long letters to make the sale. These are effective when the reader is really interested in the subject and will take the time to wade through long copy.

But business direct mail usually doesn’t have that luxury. Our readers are usually busy people and the products we are selling are seemingly of modest interest. So the letter length should fit their desires — or it won’t get read. Read the rest of this entry »

A frequent conversation I have with clients regarding letter writing is the value of “sticking an important copy point down at the bottom of the letter in the P.S.”  But this is valuable real estate. Read the rest of this entry »