Email Marketing For Financial Institutions: 7 Things They Can Improve (Plus A Case-Study of A Few That Are Doing It Right)
When I say email marketing for Financial Institutions, what do I really mean? After all, getting routine e-mails from banks and other financial institutions is not new.
From transactional emails to routine operational emails, we all receive them and we all open them (especially the transactional ones).
What I’m addressing when I’m talking about email marketing for financial institutions is how well they use email to acquire, retain and monetize their customers.
The question is: Are Financial Institutions Leaving Money On The Table Because They Are Not Leveraging Email Marketing More Effectively?
Simple Answer, Yes!
I was reading an article recently that shared statistics about email marketing but one of the things that caught my attention is the very high returns on every dollar spent that an effective email strategy can give to a business… any business.
I began to do a study on all the emails I received from my Financial Institutions (and believe me, I’m one of those account junkies that have A LOT of accounts) and I discovered many similarities in the way banks and other financial related institutions email customers.
Some are better than others but in this industry, everybody’s doing what everybody’s doing, with just one or two leading the pack.
In this article, I’m going to share with you some email marketing mistakes financial institutions are making, what they can do instead and I’m also going to share a few case studies of some companies that I think are doing it right.
If you’re in the financial industry, this is especially for you.
Let’s go.
Stop Sending Image-Only Emails
Have you gotten an email from your bank and it’s completely blank? ? Or have you ever gotten those emails that seem to load forever?
I have… and I always wondered why until I realised that at those times, those blank emails were actually image-only emails, and due to low internet connection at the time, I couldn’t view the image.
It’s one thing when the logo or header is an image and the rest is a text email. But in this case, I’m talking about a full-blown image-only email with all the content contained on the image.
The worst part is, this is usually how they send announcements for new products or offers that they have.
This type of email has a few problems. I’ll highlight two of them:
- You might have high open rates but how many of those people actually see the message sent? How do you know they viewed the image attachment?
- No clear call to action. If you’re taking the pains to email me on new offers, why not give me a chance to actually learn more about it, without having to contact customer service or click through to one of your social media pages?
What to do about it?
It’s quite simple really.
- Have a mixture of text and image emails. That way, the entire message you are trying to pass on to the customer is not in an image that might or might not be seen by the customer.
- Have clear calls to action that allow the customer to go to a page on your website with more information on the particular offer you are promoting.
Have Segmented Lists and Send Relevant Offers To These Segments
When I say segmentation, I mean having customers grouped according to the products and services they use and sending them relevant offers and news based on that.
How does this look?
- How about sending all savings account holders who don’t have current accounts emails with offers specifically designed for them to do even more business with the bank?
Or
- How about when you notice a customer uses their Debit Card abroad, you send an email explaining all that they can do with the card and how to reach customer service for help if he needs to, and wish him an enjoyable trip?
Include Personalisation.
How about rather than sending me “Dear Customer” or “Dear Full Name” emails, you actually address me by my first name like a friend?
There’s nothing a person appreciates more than their own name.
Be Human
People connect with people.
I understand we’re talking about big corporations with millions and millions of customers but going the extra mile doesn’t hurt.
Ask yourself: How can we be just a little bit human with our emails? How can we go the extra mile and send emails like they are from a friend?
Be More Creative
It gets old and boring when everybody does the exact same thing across board.
There are standard emails that you’ve got to send like the transactional and operational emails.
But how about we make the marketing emails a bit more creative?
How about we think outside the box and do something different from what everyone else is doing?
When you do things differently, you stand out and that’s the kind of thing that creates a viral effect.
Include Email & Site Tracking
When sending out an email with a link in it, how about tracking everyone that actually clicks the link and follow up with them on what they were interested in?
The only reason someone opens your email and clicks on a link is that they read/saw something that resonated with them.
Be proactive. Know who’s clicking links in emails, what pages they are viewing on your website and send targeted/specific emails following up on them based on actions they are taking.
No Win-Back Emails
When customers stop doing business with you, do you have a plan or strategy to get them back?
Or at the very least, do you have a way of finding out why they stopped doing with you?
This kind of feedback could help improve your services and offerings more than probably any other thing.
These are some things that financial institutions can do differently.
Who’s Doing It Right?
On the flip side, the Fintech Industry has been growing steadily and is causing a disruption in the financial industry. If anything can give the big, established financial institutions a run for their money, it’s Fintech Companies.
Some great examples of these are Nigeria’s Carbon (formerly Paylater), Piggybank.ng, Kenya’s MPesa and the Telco’s like MTN and Airtel are not left behind.
Whether you like it or not, Fintech companies are becoming the biggest threat to traditional banks.
And these Fintech Companies are taking a more personalised, more fun, more dynamic approach to banking and their popularity only continues to grow.
For example, here are some emails I got from Carbon, and let’s break it down. I want you to notice a few things:
- The Subject Line: Looks like an email from a Friend
- The Intro: He continues on, making sure the email is conversational and engaging
- Notice how he subtly includes links and uses stories to inform the customer of features, and offers.
- It’s a mixture of text and email
The one email I’m waiting for from carbon is a targeted: “why aren’t you doing business with us? What’s stopping you?” email.
And either getting me to fill in a survey or leading me to FAQs based on what people’s biggest reservations are.
The reason being, I don’t see enough businesses, in general, trying to convert people who may not do business with them immediately and put in that effort to turn them into paying customers. (Food For Thought right there.)
And here’s another example from Piggyvest (which I just signed up for, by the way).
- It’s personalized. They call out my name.
- It’s a text-based email with a few images included.
There are lots more that can be done with their overall digital strategy ? but when it comes to email, they are light years above the rest.
So, traditional financial institutions – you’ve got to do better.
Your ability to hold 80/90% of the market share means absolutely nothing.
Adapt.
Conclusion
I’ll leave you with this.
Quote: “The business that spends more to acquire a customer wins.”
I’ll put my own spin on it and say “The business that spends more time and money to acquire a customer wins.”
The keywords being more time and more money.
Put in the effort to acquire and keep your customers. Let them feel noticed, important and heard. And you will win.
How else do you think financial institutions can do better with email?
