Jodi Sevigny Talks Financial Institution Marketing

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A Little Background

Jodi, you’ve had an amazingly successful career from both the consulting side at Crowe Chizek and “in industry” as VP of Marketing at Byron Bank, later acquired by Chemical Financial, and Chief Marketing Officer at Michigan’s Macatawa Bank and then even helping a SaaS platform partner with banks and credit unions.

There’s a lot of regulation and nuance to financial institution marketing, especially with shareholders.

With covid driving clients away from branches for a time and fintechs like Square and QuickBooks becoming banks, core banking providers merging with merchant services providers, and AI-based lending emerging, banks have a lot to think about on top of deposit accounts and loans.

You’re now bringing that expertise to financial institutions that really need strategic leadership as head of our financial institutions practice. 

We’re excited to hear about all of the above…

How You Got Started in Financial Institution Marketing

Q: To kick us off, your entire career has been oriented around financial institutions…what pulled you in that direction in the first place? What has kept you interested decades later?

A: It’s hard to believe that my career has been very focused in the FI-space, because no two days have ever been alike! Banking is very commoditized. Most have a very similar set of products and services. So you have to think creatively in order to differentiate. I think that’s what I love about the industry. 

Many banks face a similar set of challenges, but no two are structured the same, have the same market dynamics, same culture or risk-aversion. On top of that, the way marketing is consumed, and the process people go through to make a purchase is always evolving. I’ve developed a set of trusted plays, but how those are put into action requires constant innovation, so that has and continues to keep my attention. 

Beyond that, it’s been both fun and challenging to help banks find their voice, and find a way to differentiate from so much sameness, and find new and inventive ways to engage customers to help FIs continue to flourish.

Q: In your early career, you were working within a consulting firm to help banks with marketing and growth. What were they looking for from external assistance?

A: The marketing consulting practice was born out of a vision from long-time Crowe partner, Carl Bossung. Bossung headed up the firm’s national financial industry practice, and saw many FIs struggling to grow. Many banks had not yet tapped their potential from a marketing perspective; in fact, many did not even have a marketing department at that time. 

The space was ripe for some turnkey solutions that could prove their worth very quickly. Our practice offered Outsourced Marketing that could manifest as anything from a full go-to-market plan with execution, to individual projects. 

The banks were looking for the marketing expertise they did not have on staff. They wanted an objective perspective on where they should be focused, from a marketing perspective. 

We always started with an analysis of the bank’s data, to show the FI their growth potential, and recommended the appropriate programs to help them accomplish their goals. We would pull in the subject matter experts required to execute the programs – just as we do today at Sales Funnel Professor. 

Marketing Leadership within Banks

Q: You then went to work in marketing leadership with increasing levels of responsibility within two banks…what drew you in that direction?

A: With the passing of Sarbanes-Oxley, Crowe was forced to dissolve the Marketing Consulting practice, which is what led me to pursue opportunities in the community banking space. 

It was an eye-opening experience to be on the other side of the boardroom table for the first time. I quickly learned the risk management, technology and operations hurdles we faced as outside consultants were very real things. 

My experience at Crowe armed me with a set of data-driven plays to help FIs grow and better serve their customers, so it was a very natural progression in my career.

Q: Every bank is different but what are some common marketing challenges for financial institutions?

A: It is not uncommon for banks to see Marketing as a cost center instead of a growth engine. 

With the move to digital marketing, it’s easier than ever to tie revenue back to marketing spend, so I see that improving for Marketing teams. 

Another challenge, which is not unique to banks, is operating in silos, where the Marketing team is either not invited to the table, or not in lockstep with product or sales. When those silos are diminished, marketing, product, and sales can accomplish so much more, and gain a better understanding of the entire customer experience across the bank. 

Q: What stakeholders typically have influence on how a bank brands itself and chooses its target market?

A: The decision-makers who shape a bank’s brand can vary widely bank-to-bank. Often the marketing team takes ownership to define the targeted personas, does the research to determine what problems the bank can solve for those, and then crafts the value proposition and messaging. 

I’ve certainly seen entire management teams engage in the brand development process, sometimes board members as well, which brings a broad spectrum of perspectives to the table and that can be a good thing.

But that many cooks in the kitchen can also be challenging to manage, and come to an agreement on the brand. Having really solid data to back up recommendations can help resolve a lot of those potential disagreements.

Tactics that Work in Financial Institution Marketing

Q: With those pieces defined, what are some of the tactics that work to get the right clients to move to the bank?

A: There is not a silver bullet when it comes to growing a bank. A multifaceted approach to customer acquisition initiatives is important, with a deep understanding of the problems being solved for the targeted personas, and where those personas consume marketing messages. 

The baseline from a marketing perspective is to have a well-built website, landing pages that are thoughtfully written and a process to nurture leads through the sales funnel. 

Q: Thinking about retail banking. What would you say are the 5 most important factors in how a client chooses their bank today?

A: 1) Convenience and Accessibility: branch locations and ATMs need to be easily accessible. Online and Mobile Banking is crucial, and the apps need to be user-friendly and friction-free.

2) Trust and Reputation: Financial stability has always been important, but with the recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank and others, senses became heightened again for consumers. Customer reviews and online reputation play a role in bank selection, along with positive word-of-mouth.

3) Products and Services: rates and fees must be competitive since consumers do more homework than ever before making a purchase or moving banks. Diverse banking services attract those looking for a comprehensive banking experience.

4) Customer Experience: Excellent customer service and conflict resolution is a baseline expectation, both in-person and online. Transparency in conflict resolution is also expected.

5) Modern Offering / Innovation: More tech-savvy consumers expect the latest technology to be available in online and mobile banking. This includes an increased expectation in the offerings fintechs can provide for evolving customer needs

Q: What about for business banking?

A: Depending on the type of business, the size of the bank can be part of the decision. 

Whether the business needs more sophisticated lending or payments solutions, or how important it is to have a personal relationship with the banker, are key things in deciding the size of bank that is a fit for a business. 

Credit requirements are another key factor in deciding where to bank as a business. Does the traditional credit box work, or do you need a bank who takes other factors into consideration? 

If visiting a branch is important to you, selecting a bank in your footprint will matter. 

Other nuanced factors that come into the decision making include the need for specialized services like cash management, remote deposit, or other specialty services. 

Launching New Products & Services within Financial Institutions

Q: As with many industries, banking has become more and more digitized over the years especially since Covid and PPP and most financial institutions license/white label their tools versus doing internal software development. What is the typical process for a bank to evaluate new tools or licensing additional modules?

A: Regulators continue to amp-up the scrutiny on how banks identify, execute due diligence on, onboard and monitor their fintech partnerships. So depending on the risk profile of an FI, the process can be quite daunting to onboard a new partner or software module. 

In some cases the core providers are driving the demand for more digitized offerings. They do the research to state the demand. They get banks to agree to beta test an offering and use their testimony to gain interest. Adding modules provided by a core provider can be more cost effective than building ones from scratch, less taxing for an internal technology team to implement, and since they’re backed by financially healthy core providers, can be easier for a risk-averse organization to get authorized. 

Q: When a bank chooses a new product or service, what has to happen for its launch to be successful within the existing client base?

A: For a product launch to be successful, there needs to be a clear understanding of the problem it is solving for the customer. 

The messaging needs to clearly align with how the customer sees that problem, and it needs to be very apparent how the product (the bank) will solve it, so the customer will be successful. 

It’s also important to avoid cannibalizing your own customers by causing confusion because there is not enough differentiation between the existing and new products. 

Q: You also have experience heading marketing for a fintech startup that banks and credit unions licensed to then offer to their clients. What are some of the challenges of partnering or going to market through banks?

A: Fintech-bank partnerships can be very beneficial when aligned properly. 

The fintech benefits from the one-to-many distribution to the bank’s customer base. 

The bank benefits by more affordably offering the solution without the heavy technology investment and risk-mitigation hurdles they would face developing their own. 

Challenges in these partnerships happen when the two parties are not aligned strategically, or when the sales cultures do not mix well for each to be successful. The most successful partnerships happen when the C-suites on both sides of the partnership align, but it’s also critical for the bank’s front line staff to be engaged in presenting/selling the solution, and they must believe in the value to the customer.

Marketing Services for Financial Institutions Available via Sales Funnel Professor

Q: At Sales Funnel Professor, we’re now very excited that you’re heading our financial institutions practice area. What kinds of bank marketing services are available?

A: We can offer a comprehensive set of services, a-la-carte or in a customized package, including: go-to-market planning, annual marketing plan, branding, sales funnel audit, social media management, marketing automation, SEO optimization, PPC & paid media, collateral development, sales team training, marketing team development, and fractional CMO services. 

We can offer individual engagements for a month, a quarter or whatever timing works for your organization. 

Q: What types of financial institutions are a good fit? What current pain points make an introductory conversation worth having?

A: Any size or type of FI could be in a position where outsourcing all or a portion of their marketing makes sense for them. Some common pain points we’ve seen bring FIs to the Sales Funnel Professor include:

• Key Marketing leader has left the bank leaving them without the strategy and direction needed to keep moving forward.
• A young or inexperienced team who is great at execution or taking orders, but needs a broader plan to work from that is designed to hit key metrics for the bank.
• Launching a product or service.
• A complex communication issue, like an online banking conversion, especially those that require the customer to take an important action.
• Opening a branch in a new market.
• Targeting a new customer segment or market area.
• Operating in a market that is growing, yet the FI is not.
• Website is not conversion rate optimized, SEO-optimized, or built to support digital marketing.
• In-house marketing team needs to be coached or managed to be more effective.
• Sluggish sales.
• Increase in customer churn.

For larger institutions, we’re typically providing more strategic services. For smaller institutions, we provide the actual design, writing, website updates, collateral creation, etc.

Q: How can a financial institution learn more about how Sales Funnel Professor can help them solve both complex and day-to-day marketing challenges?

A: The best place to start is to check out our offering, or set up a 30-minute introductory call that is free of charge. If we cannot help you, we can point you in the right direction to get the help you need.