Independent Banker - December 2021 - 26

the
big idea
Over the past 18 months, the marketplace has
experienced huge disruptions. The world has changed,
and so have consumers. In fact, 75% of consumers have
changed their spending habits since early 2020.
Change, however, is not necessarily a bad
thing. As Mark Cuban once observed:
" Wherever there is a change, and wherever
there is uncertainty, there is opportunity. "
Disruption can be liberating because it allows
us to make changes without fear. Consumers
expect it now. They are no longer tied to the
tried-and-true and are ready to evolve their
interaction with your brand.
The question is, then, are community banks
ready to embrace this market dynamic? Are
they ready to make the necessary shifts in
their strategy in order to stay successful in
today's marketplace?
My answer is a resounding yes. But here are a
few things they need to consider �irst.
1 Loyalty drives all aspects
of consumer engagement.
To truly engage their customers, community
banks need to think beyond the traditional
loyalty model of reciprocity-where
someone gets cash back or points for card
purchases. Engagement can be as simple as
remembering a customer's birthday. It doesn't
have to cost money, and there doesn't need
to be a material expense associated with each
loyalty micro strategy. There is tremendous
engagement in a simple birthday wish. And
the more engaged someone is with a brand,
the higher propensity that, over time, they are
going to become loyal to that brand.
Despite rapidly evolving payments and
banking experiences, there are still four
aspects of the consumer engagement
lifecycle: acquisition, activation, usage and
retention. Acquisition is the act of getting a
new customer. Once you acquire them, you
then need to activate them by getting them
to download an app, make a transaction or
visit a branch for the �irst time-whatever you
de�ine in your strategy as a trigger for ongoing
usage of your services. Once the consumer
begins to use the app, product or service,
the main focus shifts to ensuring they attain
optimal usage velocity. Any decline in usage
activity of your service is a reason for worry
and should activate a consumer retention
campaign. Loyalty needs to be embedded
into everything that you do on a daily basis.
2 Focus on the guiding principles.
The guiding principles for brands looking
to deploy strategies that will help them
to achieve optimal level of consumer
engagement are value, convenience and
purpose. To succeed at creating a loyal and
engaged customer base, brands must master
at least one of the guiding principles. The
ideal state is to achieve two. The ultimate goal
is all three.
A company may choose to focus on value-
better pricing or free shipping, for example-
or convenience, such as next-day delivery or
multiple locations. Purpose is not necessarily
about value or convenience-it's about what
an individual consumer is passionate about. It
may not be the best value or most convenient,
but the consumer will still be engaged
because they share the same purpose with
your brand.
Independent Banker - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Independent Banker - December 2021
