By Cathy Planchart, Senior Project Manager

Back in the days when I was an in-house bank marketer, I was asked to create a customer testimonial campaign to bring in more commercial banking business. I was so excited to move forward. One of the bank’s clients had already been identified as a potential subject and creative ideas began swirling in my head. Before launching into creative development, I stepped back to look logically at the bigger picture, ask important questions and create a comprehensive project plan. In doing so, I was taking a strategic marketing approach.

Being strategic means planning and setting goals before acting. By doing so, projects tend to be carried out more effectively and achieve desired outcomes, resulting in long-term success. Planning also tends to yield greater operational and budgetary efficiencies. Below are some strategic planning steps I follow, where I use the customer testimonial campaign for commercial banking as an example. Nevertheless, this process is universal and can work for projects of any size or type.

Step one: Establish the goal

Setting a goal is basically answering the question, why are we investing our time and money to do this? What result(s) are we seeking? My favorite kind of goal is a S.M.A.R.T. goal: i.e., one that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. A specific goal includes the kind of (commercial banking) business desired, such as loans or deposits. For example, let’s say the goal was loans. This is a good start, but could get more detailed by specifying the type of loan(s): commercial real estate, term loans, lines of credit, etc.

Next, the goal needs to be measurable; that is, expressed as a number or quantifiable. This is where key performance indicators (KPIs) are identified. Articulate a goal for how many commercial loans you need or a target for loan dollar volume.

Once the number is nailed down, consider if it is achievable. This may depend on multiple factors like interest rates, the state of the economy and market demographics. External factors may impact success even with the best customer testimonial campaign. Explore these considerations and adjust accordingly.

Relevancy has to do with aligning the campaign goal to the larger goal of the financial institution. Does the bank’s strategic plan include growing the commercial loan portfolio?

The final piece of a S.M.A.R.T. goal is that it is time-bound. By when will the customer testimonial campaign generate the volume of commercial loans desired?

For example, the S.M.A.R.T. goal for the customer testimonial campaign may be expressed as follows: “Increase the dollar volume of commercial loans by 10 percent year over year.” To quote Ken Blanchard, “Knowing where you are going is the first step to getting there.” Establishing a S.M.A.R.T. goal at the beginning of a project outlines what to measure and when, which, in turn, helps to determine whether success is achieved. What’s more, the campaign’s success will support the larger objectives of the financial institution, which helps make the case for getting the project approved in the first case.

Step two: Identify the audience

Gone are the days of “spray and pray” marketing. Today we have the data and technology to deliver our message with precision to the right person via the most appropriate channel. The challenge is to clearly define the target audience. There is myriad demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral attributes which can be used for targeting, allowing for a high degree of specificity when building custom audiences.

For the customer testimonial campaign, after talking with the commercial banking team, we determined our audience was C-suite executives, owners and presidents who are decision makers at their companies. Our preferred demographic included those aged 35-60, college educated and married. Regarding business size, our target was small and midsize businesses and middle market companies with $1-25 million in annual revenue. The types of companies included C&I and B2B, such as manufacturing and engineering businesses, as well as professional service providers. Our final criteria were geographic: we determined we would only seek out companies located within the bank’s market coverage area.

Step three: Craft the message

To begin crafting the marketing message, put yourself in the customer’s shoes and think about what their pain points might be. For the customer testimonial campaign, one scenario was a business struggling to grow because they did not have the capital required to purchase new equipment. Then, we matched the product or service being offered as the solution to the customer’s problem. In this case, it would be a commercial loan. We developed a brief customer testimonial story illustrating the problem and solution, and the unique value proposition of our offering. When crafting the message, always be sure to keep the customer and their needs front and center.

Step four: Choose the media

First and foremost, media choices must be aligned with the profile of the target audience. Where do they go online? Do they listen to podcasts? On which social media platforms do they engage, and when? What publications do they read? Do they consume traditional broadcast media, television and radio? Identify all suitable communication channels, focusing on those that will best showcase the message.

Every media plan includes a budget and a schedule. When choosing media, dream big. If the corresponding budget is too expensive, then dial back the number of channels, frequency, and/or duration. Remember to allocate sufficient funds for creating the ads in various formats when employing an omnichannel approach. Using a combination of channels will increase reach and the likelihood the ad will be seen multiple times. For the customer testimonial campaign, the chosen media included digital display ads, paid search, social media, print ads in specific business publications and broadcast TV.

Step five: Implement the plan

This is where the rubber meets the road. Using the information gathered in steps one through four, it is time to prepare a marketing brief. The creative team will use this roadmap to bring the campaign to life, developing the assets needed for deployment in the various channels chosen. The ads must be visually appealing, stand out and grab the viewer’s attention. Focus on quality content and design to provide a captivating and memorable (potential) customer experience.

Carefully consider the call to action so these potentially new customers have the best experience possible upon their first interaction. For the customer testimonial campaign, rather than using the bank’s general telephone number, a specific phone number and email address was established to provide a customized response to an inquiry. And before implementation begins, be sure data collection processes are in place for all KPIs to measure results against goals.

Step six: Measure the outcome

Once the campaign is underway, set a routine schedule for evaluating the campaign’s performance by collecting data on the established KPIs. For example, review website analytics and data available on social media platforms. Some website analytics include the number of visits to the campaign landing page, bounce rate and traffic source (e.g., search, social media, etc.). Social media measurements include click-through rate, cost per click, impressions, reach and engagement rate.

For the customer testimonial campaign, we monitored how many people followed the call to action by emailing and/or calling the bank. Then, we drilled down to see if they were the “right” people—i.e., members of our target audience—and we improved the audience description based on the data collected. Review all results and optimize the strategy by adjusting media mix, frequency or even creative assets to shift budget and efforts in the direction of what is having the most impact. Testing, measuring, analyzing and optimizing are key to campaign success.  

The importance of being strategic when tasked with a marketing communications project cannot be overstated. The start of a new project can be marked by feelings of excitement, which tend to ignite creative energy. Still, the strategic marketer will pause to methodically articulate the goal, identify KPIs and create a detailed plan for implementation, all before launching in.

To quote Benjamin Franklin, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” With a strategic marketing plan in place, you will realize better results and ensure effective and efficient use of your marketing budget.

MKP communications inc. is a New York-based marketing communications agency specializing in merger/change communications for the financial services industry.