Successful marketing always begins with an understanding of the customer.

In this article, we present effective marketing strategies that leverage the unique differentiators community financial institutions have to offer their clientele.

Establishing the technology underpinning a hybrid distribution model is the first, essential step to competing in this new environment. But once you have the capabilities, you must then communicate them to your existing clients and prospects. Here are three steps to marketing across the digital-branch divide:

1. Assess your audience’s needs
2. Customize campaigns based on channel preference
3. Develop an integrated marketing strategy

Step 1: Assess your audience’s needs

Before deciding how far to go with implementing a hybrid banking model, conduct some basic market research to understand the evolving needs of your own customer or member base in a digital-first world.

You can engage a marketing consulting firm to conduct a segmentation analysis of your member or customer base. The firm should also be able to help you conduct surveys to gather the voice of the consumer and identify your target market’s preferred mode of engagement.

Depending on various demographic factors like age, profession, education, income, and geographic location, your clientele may be more comfortable interacting in either the digital or physical realms. Identify your different audiences within your client base, and then segment individual households by their preferred banking channels—digital, branch, or hybrid.

Step 2: Customize campaigns based on channel preference

Once you’ve identified and segmented your clientele based on their banking preferences, you can begin crafting unique journeys and engagement strategies. Make sure to leverage data analytics to personalize your digital offerings and marketing messages.

Assuming your digital banking interfaces are already optimized for ease of use, convenience, and security, start by emphasizing the many benefits of digital banking. Focus on specific attributes of your mobile apps and online banking platform, like identity protection, security and safety, online transactional capabilities, and convenient customer service.

While it’s important to focus on the digital channel in your marketing, don’t ignore those consumers who prefer to visit a branch for their needs. Educate them on all they can do via the digital channel, while providing reassurance that they will always have access to personalized, expert service to assist with their more complex banking interactions.

Step 3: Develop an integrated marketing strategy

At the brand level, focus on crafting a cohesive message that trumpets your institution’s omni-channel capabilities and the seamless experience users enjoy when navigating among digital and physical touchpoints.

For example, you can showcase how a customer or member can start a loan application online, finish it on their mobile device, receive approval via text message, and then obtain funding at their local branch. Seamlessly.

To keep it local, develop campaigns that emphasize the branch’s role as a hub of the community. Make your local staff’s community service and volunteering efforts a central focus of your campaigns. Make sure to support local nonprofits, small businesses, and the unique needs of your community to help drive engagement and increase branch traffic.

Lastly, make sure to promote your digital and branch services through multiple channels of engagement, such as social media, email, and traditional media to promote the benefits of a hybrid banking model.

A brave new world

Consumer behavior has changed dramatically in the post-Covid environment, and community financial institutions must embrace the new reality. Financial consumers desire convenience, flexibility, and access above all else, and banks and credit unions must develop strategies for growth through a consumer-centric lens.

Incumbent institutions have certain advantages in this new financial landscape, including their physical presence, geographic convenience, and a strong service culture. As a marketing leader, you can drive the conversation around what it takes to succeed in a post-pandemic world. By emphasizing a hybrid model that delivers the benefits of both digital and physical channels, community banks and credit unions can continue to survive—and indeed thrive—in this brave new world.