Independent Banker - March 2023 - 32

PORTFOLIO INNOVATION STATION
How to use data to drive bank growth
By Charles Potts, ICBA
f you've heard it once, you've heard
it a thousand times: In today's
landscape, data reigns supreme.
Working hand in hand with digital
transformation, data provides a
powerful tool for community banks.
Its accessibility, readability and
applicability in today's digital-first
environment has enhanced community
banks' ability to serve their customers,
creating a heightened experience.
But beyond its analysis to help
you in your product journey, data
can help transform your marketing
efforts, offering insights into
customer interests and behaviors
to better align your offerings with
their expectations. In fact, 73% of
consumers believe companies should
understand their unique needs and
expectations, and 56% think offers
should always be personalized.
Fortunately, your community bank
does have the information necessary
to do just that. Data analysis and
performance marketing do not have
to be in-house skillsets. Working
with trusted third-party providers
to mine your data for opportunities
will help you not only grow your
business but better serve your
customers in the process.
For example, ThinkTECH
Accelerator alum FI Works, a datadriven
sales and marketing software
platform, partnered with a community
bank to deepen customer engagement.
Through statistical and machine
learning techniques, the FI Works
platform estimated the probability
that a customer would want a specific
product. The bank then used that data
to create a personalized marketing
piece, providing individualized
I
offers based on customers' predicted
preferences. The results? Following
the eight-week campaign, the bank
captured $25 million in new deposits.
Or consider how another
Accelerator participant, KlariVis,
saved one bank up to 400 hours
per month of ad hoc reporting by
consolidating and aggregating data
from the core and ancillary systems.
With data dispersed in multiple places
due to acquisitions, this consolidation
yielded not only increased bank
efficiency but also a way to deliver
more targeted product offerings to
existing clients.
Another ThinkTECH alumni
company, Fintel Connect, worked
with a bank to extend its brand
marketing via third-party publishers.
By brokering an affiliate partner
program with 25 publishers whose
digital footprints matched bank
targets, Fintel Connect was able to
help the bank achieve tangible results,
including opened deposit accounts.
This approach resulted in the bank's
highest-performing marketing
initiative to date-with costs
significantly less than its previous
pay-per-click campaigns.
All three of these initiatives achieved
impressive outcomes, yet the examples
only scratch the surface of performance
marketing's potential. So, as you look
to what's next for your marketing plan,
contemplate how partnering with a
fintech can help you achieve business
objectives. With the strong results we've
seen, it bears repeating: In marketing,
data reigns supreme.
Charles Potts (charles.potts@icba.org)
is ICBA executive vice president and
chief innovation officer
32 // ICBA Independent Banker // March 2023
Photo by Courtney K/iStock
Independent Banker - March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - March 2023
