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As we noted in the first installment of our Digital Marketing for Financial Services series, the most successful FSIs are often those who break free from status quo-and in many cases, strong resistance to change-to manage customer journeys on channels like apps, email, mobile, social, digital advertising and the web. Yet despite clear rewards, only a small percentage of banks, wealth managers, and insurers are taking full advantage of digital's potential. Why?
Every industry has seen dizzying advancements in technology. And let's face it-most FSIs aren't known as early-adopters. When solutions like email or SMS are implemented, they are seldom enterprise wide. Not surprisingly, this creates silos and specialized workflows that once in place, are difficult to untangle. The original vision quickly becomes lost in execution.
Meanwhile, work must go on. Channel producers tend to fall back on old methods in an effort to 'check the box' and get the work out the door. Little time is dedicated to innovation and optimization.
Enter the tipping point and well used term-digital transformation. I suggest that the time has come for financial services to take a sabbatical. Take time to reflect and create a roadmap that takes into consideration the entire enterprise. And most importantly, think like customers. What does the customer experience look like today? What should it look like tomorrow? It's time to put ourselves and the customer at the center of all our decision making.
Without this change, every financial services firm is at risk. Any strategies and tactics employed will deliver minimal value. Disrupters will disrupt. Customers will churn. FSIs must continually evolve, rise to expectations, and embrace the channels where customers and employees live.
Tomorrow's post will continue on this topic and will provide a partial roadmap for delivering your unique vision and value proposition to clients and employees. But as you work toward organizational transformation and adoption in a digital age, focus on the following themes. Think like your customer. Become your own employee. Ask yourself:
Remember that happiness is defined by shared expectations. For customers, set expectations early and often as you look to form a lasting financial relationship across their lifecycle and lifestyle. For employees, demonstrate why decisions are being made to show how they will impact their day-to day job and why it's important. Show them how to perform in a changing environment, encourage collaboration and innovation, push what's possible, and grow them as a valuable contributing member of the team. Make their LinkedIn profile sing.
As you develop your plan, continually remind yourself that, "The greatest enemy of a good plan is the dream of a perfect one." - Von Clausewitz. Try new things. Innovate. Collaborate. Live your brand and good things will follow.
Interested in learning more? See how digital marketing can provide 1-to-1 experiences throughout the financial services customer lifecycle. Sign up for Any Journey is Possible, and you'll receive a series of cross-channel communications powered by Marketing Cloud. Experience the possibilities first hand! You'll see emails, ads, mobile messages, recommendations, and more that a customer would see.
About Matt: As a Master Business Consultant within the Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Matt delivers transformational strategies focused on unlocking the moments of value that exist between customers and their journey with your Financial Institution's sales, service and marketing efforts. He has 23 years experience leading digital in consultancies, agencies and technology companies. He relishes spending time with his wife and two sons, traveling, writing and producing an art show. @mclement
